I was going over some notes I took from a few books I’ve read over the years. I thought I would share five of these quotations with you today.
“Autumn”
Appropriately, we’ll begin with a description of autumn by Joyce Rupp from the book The Circle of Life co-authored with Macrina Wiederkehr. You might want to gaze at the photo above for a few moments:
“In this lovely season of autumn when the dance of surrender is obvious, we find large spaces left where something beautiful once lived. As one by one the leaves go, a precious emptiness appears in the trees. The naked beauty of the branches can be seen, the birds’ abandoned nests become visible. The new spaces of emptiness reveal mountain ridges. At night if you stand beneath a tree and gaze upward, stars now peer through the branches. This is an important autumn lesson–when certain things fall away, there are other things than can be seen more clearly.” (p. 167)
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“Mistakes”
As many of you know, I admire Abraham Lincoln very much. Although I’ve read countless books about him, here’s a little story about him I had never heard before from Pulitzer Prize winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin, a leading authority on Lincoln. It’s from her book The Leadership Story: How Four Kids Became President. The four “kids” are Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson. One quality all four “kids” possessed that helped make them good leaders was their ability to learn from their mistakes. Here’s a mistake Lincoln made in his early years as a young politican.
“On certain occasions, however, Lincoln’s humor could be mean-spirited. After Democrat Jesse Thomas had ‘indulged in some fun’ at Lincoln’s expense, Lincoln ‘imitated Thomas in gesture and voice, at times caricaturing his walk and the very motion of his body’ and viciously mocking the ‘ludicrous’ way Thomas spoke. Soon the ‘skinning of Thomas’ became ‘the talk of the town.’ Realizing he had badly overstepped, Lincoln went to Thomas and wholeheartedly apologized. For years afterward, the memory of that misstep filled Lincoln with deep regret.” (p. 31)
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“Tenderness”
Here are some beautiful words on tenderness by Howard Hanger from his book Drink Deeply with Delight:
“The problem comes when you begin to equate brute force with inner strength. Pushiness with power. Bullying with potency. The problem comes when you assume that the only way to express strength is to push people around… Some of the toughest and most powerful actions in life are those which appear to be the weakest. Love, for instance. Mercy for another. And tenderness. When you express tenderness… real tenderness… you are putting your neck on the block. You are placing yourself in one of life’s most vulnerable places. In effect, you’re laying out your heart where it can be stomped flat… Yet, as frail and fragile as tenderness may appear, it can be one of the most potent and live-giving things you can do.” (p. 106)
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“Grief”
In April 1956, C. S. Lewis, British writer and confirmed bachelor, married Joy Davidson, an American poet with two small children. After only four years of happiness together, Joy died of cancer, leaving Lewis inconsolable. He kept a journal of his struggles with loneliness, grief, and faith. It is entitled A Grief Observed and is one of the finest things I’ve ever read on grief. Here is his description of the pain of Joy’s absence in his life:
“At first I was very afraid of going to places where Joy and I had been happy–our favorite pub, our favorite wood. But I decided to do it at once–like sending a pilot up again as soon as possible after he’s had a crash. Unexpectedly, it makes no difference. Her absence is no more emphatic in those places than anywhere else. Her absence is not local at all… The act of living is different all through. Her absence is like the sky, spread over everything.” (p. 11)
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“Pleasure”
Many years ago a friend gave me a book by J. Ruth Gendler entitled The Book of Qualities. It is a collection of 99 very brief descriptions of qualities–both inner aspects of the psyche (like fear or doubt) or qualities outside of ourselves (like the wind or service). Gendler personifies these qualities, that is, she describes each quality as a person. One of my favorites is Pleasure.
“Pleasure is wild and sweet. She likes purple flowers. She loves the sun and the wind and the night sky. She carries a silver bowl full of liquid moonlight. She has a cat named Midnight with stars on his paws… Many people mistrust Pleasure, and even more misunderstand her. For a long time I could hardly stand to be in the same room with her. I went to bed early to avoid her. I thought she was a gossip and a flirt and she drank too much. In school we learned she was dangerous, and I was sure that she would distract me from my work. I didn’t realize she could nurture me… As I have changed, Pleasure has changed. I have learned to value her friendship.”
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For reflection:
Did any sentence in any of the five quotations stand out for you today? If so, which? If you want, you can even tell why.
Is there anything you’d like to say about any of the topics: autumn… mistakes… tenderness… grief… pleasure?
Do you ever copy quotes from the books you read? What do you do with them afterwards?
Do you have a quote from something you’ve read that you would like to share with us below?
PS: Before the video, I am asking for your prayers for a women’s summit called SHINE for which I will be a panelist. The summit, on November 6th, is sponsored by our SND’s in the Toledo region. It features Katie Holmes, actress and filmmaker and a graduate of Notre Dame Academy in Toledo. The summit brings together women of all faiths, ages, and backgrounds to honor five women who exemplify the “five pillars of SHINE”: Support, Honor, Inspire, Nurture and Empower.” For more details, go to our SND website: sndusa.org. Click on Regions… Toledo… Then scroll down to SHINE. Thank you for keeping this event in your prayers!
I began this reflection with autumn. I’ll end with autumn too. This is pianist Roger Williams’ famous rendition of “Autumn Leaves”–against a background of lovely autumn foliage.
(Disclaimer: I am recommending only this video “Autumn Leaves.” I am not recommending the other videos that automatically pop up after this one. Viewer discretion is advised.)
I invite you to write a comment below!
32 Responses
Good morning, Melannie…
Good morning, all…
All of these book excerpts are just terrific (ps: you read great books!), but the words about autumn are my favorite. The idea that beauty can become visible through loss is profoundly wonderful.
May God’s light SHINE through you and all the attendees!!!
Lincoln’s regret and Lewis’ grief resonated the most with me this morning.
Roger William’s Autumn caused me to listen to George Winston’s Autumn, a different sound for the same season: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKmqyQUDehs
Giddy up & God Bless!
“when certain things fall away, there are other things than can be seen more clearly.” This really spoke to me as it can be applied to much more than things. When I substitute the word “things” with people or activities or feelings or … My goodness, the list can go in and on and shows me just how profound the goal of simplicity can be. Thank you for this truly thought provoking quote! God bless you and keep you.
As I read these reflections, my dearest friend of 38 years lies dying in a hospital in Cork, Ireland. (Melannie, you are a favorite of his because of your down to earth spirituality)
The autumn reflection and the one on grief touch my heart today. It takes great faith in a moment of grief to believe that “when certain things fall away, there are other things than can be seen more clearly”.
Thank you Melannie.
Good morning, thank for the reminder that I need to go back and read some of the Journaling I have done.
All these quotes are interesting.
The one from the Circle of Life about Autumn caught my attention the most.
It is beautiful as we consider the beauty of each season, and how it prepares us for a peek at the next season’s beauty.
Letting go is a lesson I seem to keep relearning.
I will pray for success at your conference.
The one about grief touched me most today.
Thank you for all of them.
Take care, Margaret
Thanks Sr Melanie, for sharing your words of wisdom on five important subjects.
Beautiful thought that unless the tree sheds it leaves, you cannot see the stars. The call to shed something to see something. Comforting to read that even someone as noble as Abraham Lincoln made mistakes. There is hope for all of us to learn from our mistakes and start again.
I love collecting quotes, as one speaker (Rory Varden) said, “Good words we hear should not just be forgotten, they should be remembered and repeated”. So I do keep my quotes in a file on my computer and dip into them when I need the right words.
Thanks for the beautiful Autumn Leaves video with the beautiful soundtrack from Roger Williams. For us in Australia, we miss those magical autumn leaves in a myriad of colours and shapes.
Happy Thanksgiving Day to our Canadian readers.
Oh my, I haven’t thought about this in 50 years but was haunted by it and never told anyone except my husband.
A former close friend neighbor built their dream house in a town next to ours
a year or so after we moved 30 miles away.
They put up a rural mailbox near the edge of our town so that they could have library use free.
I was so annoyed I wrote an anonymous letter to our post office reporting it.
Thereafter I struggled with such terrible guilt , it almost made me sick.
I begged God to forgive me, but unfortunately, not in the sacrament of Reconciliation 🥲
Dear Marilyn: Please remember to give yourself some grace and it’s never too late to go to reconciliation, no matter how long ago this might have happened!! Dear friend, you touched my heart today. Blessings!!
I copy quotes from the refections I read from the Give Us This Day prayer book. I keep them in a journal, along with chapter and verse locations from Scripture which are special to me. Since my husband passed away 7 months ago I have been preparing a packet of information to help my family–all living in other states when I pass away. I recently told a dear friend here that I was telling them to give that book to her.
Great post and information Sister. I’ve always admired Sister Joyce’s work. Thank you
Thank you, Melannie for today’s post. It’s wonderful. I think that tenderness is a foundational quality. it leads to so many other human qualities like caring and love and compassion. and. and just giving and receiving of forgiveness.
I so enjoyed an inspired on the words about falling leaves and it’s example of receiving new life from loss
I can look out my Minnesota window and see exactly what is on the screen during the song…what a beautiful place to be today in the sun with red, orange, yellow, and maroon trees surrounding us. It takes my breath away. And the song is perfect.
I was struck by the words about bullying and how it does the opposite of what the person really strives for. It’s so appropriate to read and think about this at this time in our nation. May God bless America with gentleness and peace everywhere.
Thank you for another inspiring post. The photo attached to Pleasure was delightful.
Thank you for your thoughtful inclusion of each book quotation. I gleened something from each and every one of them. How playful was the personification of pleasure. The quote on grief is thankfully not one I desperately need today but it is filed for the moments when it strikes. The music video you included wrapped it all together for me. Autumn Leaves was my parents’ wedding song. While I don’t know which version was their preferred, I imagine it was this one. Thank you for writing this blog. It is invaluable and deeply appreciated.
The first reflection on autumn struck me. As I age, I sometime feel pangs of regret over what might have been and cannot be recovered. It takes effort to focus on what still can be. I need to be more realistic about the changes around me and ask for help in prayer to overcome feelings of sadness. Reflecting on the “letting go” like the leaves from the trees and seeing beyond the empty branches seem to speak to me. Thank you.
This is an important autumn lesson–when certain things fall away, there are other things than can be seen more clearly.”
Tenderness is putting your neck on the block
Sr. Melannie, thank you as always for sharing your treasure trove of quotations. I read a lot and diversely, but I don’t retain the information. Your blog today sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole on how to capture and keep (and review) the quotes and knowledge I do find over the years. Perhaps in a blog in the future you could share some tips, secrets or maybe how you got started in this practice?
I’ll be thinking of the SHINE retreat and its success as I drive past Toledo that w/e for my mother’s interment in Michigan (the funeral was a few weeks back in another State).
C.S. Lewis’ thoughts on grief touched me but also I loved the personification of Pleasure. Could totally appreciate that!
May God bless you–we are SO blessed to have you and your blog.
Karen, Thank you for all your words today…but I also want to offer you my prayers and sympathy on the recent death of your mother… Melannie
What a variety of autumn splendor with musical splashes to fit the mood!
I enjoyed the autumn poem… another quote to add to my collection!
Also one of favorite beauty quotes follows!
I hadn’t even noticed that I’d been hungry for Beauty until I ran for the moon …. Beauty is the voice endlessly calling and so we see, so we reach…. Ann Voskamp One Thousand Gifts
I took find the reading about Autumn deeply profound. The idea of revealed beauty when the leaves have fallen is deeply touching
I have just retired and as I mourn my professional life, I am reminded to look fur the new beauty emerging.
Thank you
Autumn & the rendition of “Autumn Leaves”…Tenderness, Grief & Pleasures they have taken on a different meaning for me over the years. Heaven knows I’ve made my share of Mistakes & Thankfully & Hopefully learned from them.
Thank you, Sr. Melannie, for all of the wonderful topics you give us to ponder!!!
Thank you for this post, all the books have great take aways. Prayers for your upcoming summit.
My favorite is the quote from Autumn ~ “when certain things fall away, there are other things that can be seen more clearly”. So many ways to interpret that and find new meanings.
All of the quotes were thought provoking.
Thank you, Sr. Melannie
Good afternoon Melannie.
I look so forward to your blog each week. They are always such an inspiration.
The Shine event will be in my prayers.
I too loved the autumn quote.
This quote is from a young adult novel The One and Only Ruby: “What gifts did the world give you today? What gifts did you give to the world? “
Thank you, Melannie. This post is so moving especially because it is autumn. As Macrina Wiederkehr says, “She is the autumn struggler.” We all struggle somehow and the autumn leave teach us how to do it. I especially love the photo of the bare tree with the reflection on the spaces between the limbs. Just beautiful and so rich.
Recovering from surgery I had no energy nor a clear mind to read this blog post Monday. Opening it today was most appreciated and comforting. I especially relate to the story about Lincoln’s regret over a bullying incident. I carried guilt for many years over a sharp tongued criticism of another that hurt her very deeply and for which I was not given forgiveness. That made me very conscious of holding my tongue and instead offering tenderness.
I do keep quotes from books and articles that are profoundly meaningful. I keep three of yours Melannie in my daily prayer journal, #1 being from your Trappist friends “speak only when it improves the silence”. And the quote from c.s.Lewis about grief is deeply touching and in my quote file too.
The video of Roger Williams’ Autumn Leaves is a favorite rendition of mine for many years. Thank you for sharing that. I will keep you and your Summit partners in prayer. Sounds like a wonderful event.
“when certain things fall away, there are other things that can be seen more clearly.”
This reminded me of a scripture from the writings of St. Paul to the Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
So we see with new eyes.
Thank you for all that you do!
I have referred friends to your website, and I know they look forward to your news on Monday mornings.
Thank you!!
A: When certain things fade away, there are others that can be seen more clearly.
I was able to tell this by showing someone else the image of the “Tree Without Leaves”. And tell me your first impression when you see it. He replied: “I’m scared.”
I like to see a little further, that this tree in autumn is still a creation of God and therefore must be beautiful and worthy to be appreciated as a creature made by God, to also be able to love the creator of everything who is God.
Is there anything you would like to say about any of the topics: autumn… Errors… tenderness… pain… pleasure?
A: Autumn: I proved once again that humans are different, according to the objectivity or spirituality of each person.
Do you ever copy quotes from the books you read? What do you do with them afterwards?
A: I copy them and upload them to an Instagram Reel, so that someone also appreciates them and knows that there is a God who loves them too.
Do you have any quotes from something you’ve read that you’d like to share with us below?
A: Yes.
The book “The Brief Questions of the Gospel”, written by Ermes Ronchi:
When Jesus asks, “What are you looking for?” he wants to know what is your deepest desire, what do you want most in your life?
It is time to ask yourself: And what do I need?, What do I lack?, Happiness?, Have I lost the freshness of loving as when I was young? (Cf. Hosea 2:16-17), Do I lack the passion of God?
You will find the living Jesus in the Eucharist. He is always inviting you and available. Go to meet him with faith, he is your friend. (p. 14