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Genesis #1
And It Was Good: Reflections on Beginnings
Book #1 of The Genesis Trilogy. This special reissue of a classic work of spirituality from the author of A Wrinkle in Time offers life-transforming insights on the rich heritage of the Bible and shows how the characters of this ancient text are relevant for living the good life now. Includes a new reader's guide.In the first book of her Genesis Trilogy, beloved author Madeleine L'Engle casts long, loving, and perceptive glances not only at the created universe but also at its Creator. L'Engle often crafted stories that dealt with the complexities of the universe, navigating time and space, religion and science, with uncanny ease and insight. This skill--most famously demonstrated in A Wrinkle in Time--is showcased in this nonfiction work, And It Was Good, through her ability to see the connection between Made and Maker at every level. She examines the vast beauty, order, and complexity of our world with enthusiasm and reverence, illuminating the characteristics of God, the first poet.Madeleine L'Engle possesses the same ambidextrous skill of storytelling as other literary giants, including C.S. Lewis and George MacDonald. Her fictional stories appeal to generations of readers, and are equally embraced in both the secular and religious markets. But it is her ability in her nonfiction to engage with the historical text of the Bible through a dynamic unpacking of protagonists, antagonists, and matters of faith that establishes The Genesis Trilogy as a highly treasured collection of spiritual writings. And It Was Good beautifully approaches both the biblical text and creation itself with an intelligence and sensitivity that appeals to all seekers looking for a fresh communion with God in the natural world.
229 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1983
About the author
Madeleine L'Engle
187 books9,442 followersMadeleine L'Engle was an American writer of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels: A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. Her works reflect both her Christian faith and her strong interest in modern science.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
November 18, 2016
I'll just say two things about this book because my rating says most of it.
One, my dad and I were reading this book together. I read aloud to him. I've read many books to my dad over the years, and my mom overhears me all the time. Never once has she sat down to listen too. Until this book. She actually stopped what she was doing (once my mom is doing something, she, like most moms, is unstoppable) and sat to listen! More than once! Most recently, she had intense mouth surgery and wanted to rest. She was doing laundry (see note above about unstoppable moms) and ended up listening to the rest of the book (over 10 pages).
Two, there are several passages L'Engle wrote that stuck with me and gave me a different perspective on my faith and on my life. I can't ask more than that from any book.
That's it :) My love for L'Engle is apparent in even a cursory scan of my other reads and TBRs.
One, my dad and I were reading this book together. I read aloud to him. I've read many books to my dad over the years, and my mom overhears me all the time. Never once has she sat down to listen too. Until this book. She actually stopped what she was doing (once my mom is doing something, she, like most moms, is unstoppable) and sat to listen! More than once! Most recently, she had intense mouth surgery and wanted to rest. She was doing laundry (see note above about unstoppable moms) and ended up listening to the rest of the book (over 10 pages).
Two, there are several passages L'Engle wrote that stuck with me and gave me a different perspective on my faith and on my life. I can't ask more than that from any book.
That's it :) My love for L'Engle is apparent in even a cursory scan of my other reads and TBRs.
March 30, 2023
This magnificent and inspirational book by Madeleine L'Engle is a little treasure as she explores what it means to have faith, grounding it in the Bible's book of Genesis, which she describes as a book of contradiction and paradox—just like the lives we live today. This is the first of a three-part series examining the mighty lessons of Genesis.
And if you think Genesis is boring, think again. The first book of the Bible has stories about sex, the supernatural, violence, murder, and the strange, sci-fi like story of Enoch disappearing from the face of the Earth. It should be a bestseller!
But L'Engle does so much more than recount, for example, Adam and Eve being summarily kicked out of the Garden of Eden. She delves into these big and bold Old Testament stories with a twist. She uses her novelist's fertile imagination to wonder what these characters were thinking and feeling and doing between the lines of the Bible, and the result is Wondrous. Read a short story embedded right in the text about what it was like for Eve to give birth to Cain—the first baby ever born, as well as a story about what Cain's life was like.
Later in the book, there is the story of Abraham obeying God's word to sacrifice his son Isaac, a dreadful act that was interrupted when the angel told him to stop. A ram whose horns were caught in the thicket was sacrificed instead. Poor ram! L'Engle has written a wonderful poem from the ram's point of view that adds such richness to this biblical story of horror.
Here is the best part: The point in her recounting of the Genesis stories is to relate how much these ancient characters have to tell us about our own lives today.
In addition, much of the book includes L'Engle's own faith discoveries and contemplations, including her thoughts on how the Earth was formed, evolution, temptation, miracles, free will, the Second Coming, forgiveness, knowledge, astrophysics, and the universe. She doesn't shy away from those hot-button issues that can get so many in trouble. Her thoughts and explanations are clearly written and understandable and often poetic. At no point does she tie herself up in philosophical knots.
Bonus: Find out how to pray—truly talk to God, including the meditative Jesus Prayer, contemplative prayer, intercessory prayer, and more.
And if you think Genesis is boring, think again. The first book of the Bible has stories about sex, the supernatural, violence, murder, and the strange, sci-fi like story of Enoch disappearing from the face of the Earth. It should be a bestseller!
But L'Engle does so much more than recount, for example, Adam and Eve being summarily kicked out of the Garden of Eden. She delves into these big and bold Old Testament stories with a twist. She uses her novelist's fertile imagination to wonder what these characters were thinking and feeling and doing between the lines of the Bible, and the result is Wondrous. Read a short story embedded right in the text about what it was like for Eve to give birth to Cain—the first baby ever born, as well as a story about what Cain's life was like.
Later in the book, there is the story of Abraham obeying God's word to sacrifice his son Isaac, a dreadful act that was interrupted when the angel told him to stop. A ram whose horns were caught in the thicket was sacrificed instead. Poor ram! L'Engle has written a wonderful poem from the ram's point of view that adds such richness to this biblical story of horror.
Here is the best part: The point in her recounting of the Genesis stories is to relate how much these ancient characters have to tell us about our own lives today.
In addition, much of the book includes L'Engle's own faith discoveries and contemplations, including her thoughts on how the Earth was formed, evolution, temptation, miracles, free will, the Second Coming, forgiveness, knowledge, astrophysics, and the universe. She doesn't shy away from those hot-button issues that can get so many in trouble. Her thoughts and explanations are clearly written and understandable and often poetic. At no point does she tie herself up in philosophical knots.
Bonus: Find out how to pray—truly talk to God, including the meditative Jesus Prayer, contemplative prayer, intercessory prayer, and more.
November 20, 2023
This was a fascinating book for so many reasons. L’Engle has a tendency to say things here that seem intentionally controversial (“my religion is subject to change without notice”, “I am still agnostic, but before I was an unhappy one and now I’m a happy one”, “God will redeem all things”, etc.). This was intriguing because she almost desired people to be put off by what she said and then (over the course of the paragraph, conversation, or the length of the book) came to elaborate in a way that felt theologically sound.
There were several chapters in particular I found challenging and insightful. I think reading and engaging with theological perspectives that don’t align with our own is such a healthy practice as people of faith. When we surround ourselves exclusively with others who interpret scripture in exactly the same way we do there is a tendency to fall under the illusion that our perspective is “right”. When we arrogantly believe that we are exempt from falsely interpreting scripture we trap ourselves in a dangerous theology. For me, this book included great examples of hermeneutics that often made me uncomfortable and challenged me in the best way possible.
There were chapters that showcase L’Engle’s out-of-the-box thinking, like the chapters written as short story narratives of the first birth and the murder of Abel. These were thoughtful in ways I feel often only “creatives” are able to be, but L’Engle begins with the challenge that we are all called to be co-creators as we experience God. It was convicting to me about how often I am willing to truly co-create as I attempt to understand God.
I would have loved to sit down and have coffee (or tea) and pick her brain on some of the points she left unexplored – like what she meant by saying that (in defense to being called a universalist) she doesn’t believe all people are “saved” but she does believe “God will redeem all things”. She makes this statement at several points in which the context gives credence to people accusing her of being universalist, so I would have liked to explore this a bit more in this book, but perhaps she elaborates in her other works. I have my own assumptions, but it would have been interesting to read her own perspective.
I won’t say I walked away in alignment with all of L’Engle’s interpretations (though often I was), but more than anything I finished reading feeling simultaneously challenged and encouraged. I want to (and likely will) keep reading the series.
Some of my favorite quotes:
“I deepen my faith, not only by exercising it, but by reading scripture, and contemplating the mighty acts of God. And perhaps most of all, by being near people of faith, for faith is beautifully contagious.”
“I am gradually learning to turn everything over to God, sometimes, grudgingly, often argumentatively (like my favorite Old Testament characters), but I am still learning.”
“I learn my lessons slowly, seldom once for all. Continually they have to be learned and relearned, not with solemnity, but with awe and laughter and joy.”
“When we lose our sense of wonder we become dissatisfied with who we are… It is this awareness of the marvelousness of creation which helps to keep dissatisfaction away; rejoicing in and being wholly satisfied with being God’s co-creators is a prayer of protection.”
There were several chapters in particular I found challenging and insightful. I think reading and engaging with theological perspectives that don’t align with our own is such a healthy practice as people of faith. When we surround ourselves exclusively with others who interpret scripture in exactly the same way we do there is a tendency to fall under the illusion that our perspective is “right”. When we arrogantly believe that we are exempt from falsely interpreting scripture we trap ourselves in a dangerous theology. For me, this book included great examples of hermeneutics that often made me uncomfortable and challenged me in the best way possible.
There were chapters that showcase L’Engle’s out-of-the-box thinking, like the chapters written as short story narratives of the first birth and the murder of Abel. These were thoughtful in ways I feel often only “creatives” are able to be, but L’Engle begins with the challenge that we are all called to be co-creators as we experience God. It was convicting to me about how often I am willing to truly co-create as I attempt to understand God.
I would have loved to sit down and have coffee (or tea) and pick her brain on some of the points she left unexplored – like what she meant by saying that (in defense to being called a universalist) she doesn’t believe all people are “saved” but she does believe “God will redeem all things”. She makes this statement at several points in which the context gives credence to people accusing her of being universalist, so I would have liked to explore this a bit more in this book, but perhaps she elaborates in her other works. I have my own assumptions, but it would have been interesting to read her own perspective.
I won’t say I walked away in alignment with all of L’Engle’s interpretations (though often I was), but more than anything I finished reading feeling simultaneously challenged and encouraged. I want to (and likely will) keep reading the series.
Some of my favorite quotes:
“I deepen my faith, not only by exercising it, but by reading scripture, and contemplating the mighty acts of God. And perhaps most of all, by being near people of faith, for faith is beautifully contagious.”
“I am gradually learning to turn everything over to God, sometimes, grudgingly, often argumentatively (like my favorite Old Testament characters), but I am still learning.”
“I learn my lessons slowly, seldom once for all. Continually they have to be learned and relearned, not with solemnity, but with awe and laughter and joy.”
“When we lose our sense of wonder we become dissatisfied with who we are… It is this awareness of the marvelousness of creation which helps to keep dissatisfaction away; rejoicing in and being wholly satisfied with being God’s co-creators is a prayer of protection.”
Read
January 15, 2021Did not read. This was for my 2021 book challenge but didn't pan out the way I hoped. It was from the early 1980s and showed it in the way L'Engle is noodling around with thoughts about faith and religion and personal approaches. Most of it was unexceptional and, I must admit, occasionally inspiring. However, there was enough of a New Agey feel and approach that made it feel just relativist enough that it kept kicking me out of the book mentally. No need for that! I can continue enjoying her fiction instead.
July 25, 2025
Another paradigm shifting work from my friend and mentor Madeline.
Every time I engage with her work it as if she whispers:
Yes, this way - deeper into the unknowing, where all you have been taught unravels, and all you have hoped to be true about you, God, and the universe shines like uncut gems - hidden deep in the cavern of your heart.
She teaches me to embrace the Great Mystery and every chapter stirs my heart and imagination to God. She also some of the most paradigm shifting thoughts about time.
Every time I engage with her work it as if she whispers:
Yes, this way - deeper into the unknowing, where all you have been taught unravels, and all you have hoped to be true about you, God, and the universe shines like uncut gems - hidden deep in the cavern of your heart.
She teaches me to embrace the Great Mystery and every chapter stirs my heart and imagination to God. She also some of the most paradigm shifting thoughts about time.
April 7, 2018
This is a very lovely book full of inspiring thoughts from one of my favorite childhood authors. I thank my friend Courtney for giving me this book for Christmas!
March 5, 2025
ML’s nonfiction has yet to disappoint. Makes me appreciate her children’s books even more. The book reminds me of having coffee and discussion with someone from a completely different part of the country, on a different end of the Christian spectrum but walking away knowing she is a fellow pilgrim and a sister in Christ.
April 1, 2022
I always knew L'Engle for her fiction. I've fallen for her nonfiction though. She's so logical. We laid on similar conclusions. Every word asks for grace for all of humanity. This look at Genesis, etc. was thoughtful and helpful.
August 8, 2012
A truthful account of how L'Engle has struggled with her own faith and Christianity. Not preachy, or even necessarily a book of philosophy, but a book of discovery. A refreshing read.
March 22, 2021
I really enjoyed this read; L'Engle's work is well-written, but it doesn't try to be hyper-polished or hide under a veneer of an academic structure. Instead, And It Was Good embraces a more essayistic side which, for me, just made it feel more human. So many scholars write with such certainty, and while there's a time and a place for that, it's nice to see that some smart people doubt, too. Because of this, I thought And It Was Good was a really nice change of pace from some of the more intellectually rigorous theological texts I've read.
I was also a big fan of how L'Engle focuses upon the mysticism inherent in Christianity in a much more personal, accessible way. Her definition of faith is a large and beautiful one, encompassing an ability to admit she is wrong and asserting that there is always room to more fully know God. In the process, she writes with a humanity and empathy that often seems to be lacking in the church as I know it today; we are so caught up with what God means for us that we do not stop to think about who God is. Or, if we do bother to think about who God is, we rush to limit and define el (to take a page out of L'Engle's book), to proclaim that God must be X or must be Y.
I also loved And It Was Good's thoughtfulness on the issues of its day. I found it particularly reassuring that a text published in 1983 could so clearly be trying to work through questions of social justice and how religion and science can and should mesh, particularly because many of these questions seem to still linger, albeit in a slightly different form. L'Engle's willingness to accept change encourages me as I try to work through expanding my own view of what it means to love others.
I was also a big fan of how L'Engle focuses upon the mysticism inherent in Christianity in a much more personal, accessible way. Her definition of faith is a large and beautiful one, encompassing an ability to admit she is wrong and asserting that there is always room to more fully know God. In the process, she writes with a humanity and empathy that often seems to be lacking in the church as I know it today; we are so caught up with what God means for us that we do not stop to think about who God is. Or, if we do bother to think about who God is, we rush to limit and define el (to take a page out of L'Engle's book), to proclaim that God must be X or must be Y.
I also loved And It Was Good's thoughtfulness on the issues of its day. I found it particularly reassuring that a text published in 1983 could so clearly be trying to work through questions of social justice and how religion and science can and should mesh, particularly because many of these questions seem to still linger, albeit in a slightly different form. L'Engle's willingness to accept change encourages me as I try to work through expanding my own view of what it means to love others.
November 4, 2024
read during duration of vikings game.
felt like a convo w a friend. lots and lots of underlining
felt like a convo w a friend. lots and lots of underlining
January 25, 2021
I happened upon this book at the recommendation of a friend. Reading L’engle is like a fine meal. There is so much to appreciate in her language and imagination.
This would be a fitting book for a Bible study group yearning to see the greater story through Genesis. She brings to life the biblical characters and God’s unending merciful presence.
This would be a fitting book for a Bible study group yearning to see the greater story through Genesis. She brings to life the biblical characters and God’s unending merciful presence.
April 11, 2018
And it WAS good. I’m still trying to figure out how I really feel about L'Engle— I was not a big fan of A Wrinkle in Time (I know, I know), but I did enjoy this one (even if her random, scattered writing style frustrated me at times) and found much of it resonating with me. This one is an interesting and introspective look at Genesis with many thoughts, retelling, and questions sprinkled throughout. It’s one I couldn’t rush through, but enjoyed coming back to in small doses over the last month.
September 12, 2019
Very poignantly written. Reminds me that the current situation, which may seem so futile and hopeless, is only one small part in a much larger, much more encompassing story that God has written for us.
February 5, 2024
This is a tough book both to categorize and to rate. It is part memoir, part short story, part poetry, part theological pondering. There are probably more parts I am overlooking. I found several passages to be quite profound and I am eager to continue the trilogy. At this season of life and this season of the culture in which I live, I find myself especially hungry to hear from the hearts and minds postured like L'Engle's - rooted in humility, awe, faith, and wonder.
April 7, 2024
Finally got through this gem. Great nighttime reading.
L'Engle has a way of bringing truth to life in a way that facts just can't measure up to. I'm grateful to her for bringing some of these Genesis stories to life.
L'Engle has a way of bringing truth to life in a way that facts just can't measure up to. I'm grateful to her for bringing some of these Genesis stories to life.
January 4, 2020
So this was a great time to finish this book as I am in Genesis as I begin reading through the Bible this year chronologically. Madeline always gives me so much to think and pray about as she helps me encounter the story in Scripture. Putting the second book on my TBR.
November 28, 2021
This author always helps me look at things I think I'm familiar with in a different way, which I appreciate.
November 30, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this. L’Engle brought genuine insight to the Book of Genesis, with a wonderful mixture of thoughtfulness, humanity, and wry humor.
October 4, 2024
This was one of those books that you have to carry around with a highlighter because you can't bear to forget what you've just read. I'm so glad I stumbled over this book in a thrift store.
Did Not Finish
June 29, 2026Might come back to this someday, but it is just rather meandering and speculative which is not quite what I was hoping for.
August 20, 2026
It was good!
August 27, 2026
Each Madeleine L'Engle book I read becomes my favorite until I read the next one.
September 16, 2026
“Nothing ever happens to us alone. It happens to God, too.”
“The only reason I can find for all the shouting about how God created is that it allows some people to stop thinking, to settle back into the safety of their rut, to stop thinking about what it is really all about. What it is really about is that creation is God’s. It is el who has made us, and not we ourselves”
“it takes both male and female to complete the image of God”
“God created, and it was joy: time, space, matter. There is, and we are part of that is-ness, part of that becoming. That is our calling: co-creation”
“The words which have taught me most richly come in logical progression: ontology: the word about being; ousia: the essence of being, that which is really real; ananda (also sent me as a gift by a reader): that joy in existence without which the universe will fall apart and collapse”
“Quanta, the tiny subatomic particles being studied in quantum mechanics, cannot exist alone; there cannot be a quantum, for quanta exist only in relationship to each other. And they can never be studied objectively, because even to observe them is to change them”
“the word kything, found in an old Scottish dictionary of my grandfather’s, to express this communication without words, where there is “neither speech nor language.” To kythe is to open yourself to someone. It is, for me, a form of intercessory prayer, for it is to be utterly vulnerable.”
“We do not love each other without changing each other. We do not observe the world around us without in some way changing it, and being changed ourselves.”
“Safety was never part of the promise. Creativity, yes; safety, no. All creativity is dangerous”
“To write a story or paint a picture is to risk failure. To love someone is to risk that you may not be loved in return, or that the love will die”
“Who is this el, this Creator? Who was it to whom Jesus was always referring, and to whom he was always faithful? Who was it to whom Jesus prayed? There are so many preconceptions encrusting our idea of the Father to whom Jesus turned in prayer, in joy, in anguish, that it is almost impossible to remove all the barnacles of tradition and prejudice which have accumulated over the years, and see and hear el freshly.”
“We all have our own images, and they nourish us, but ultimately the Lord to whom we pray is beyond all images, all imagining.”
“What do you mean by religion?” And then with astonishment I heard myself saying, “My religion is subject to change without notice.”
“As God has revealed elself throughout history, our concept of the Creator has changed and deepened. If we close ourselves off to revelation we are, in a real way, silencing God. If God is I will be what I will be (which is what el replied when Moses asked “Who are you?”) then our understanding of el’s ways has to be open, too.”
“if I assume that my concept of God is final, I have fallen for Satan’s temptations, because if I decide that my concept of God is final, then I am falling into hubris.”
“We are most free when we are most willing to acknowledge our interdependence. Adam and Eve were free until they saw each other as separate and autonomous, and afraid of their Creator.”
“Adam and Eve lost their joy, their radical amazement at the wonders of being, simply being, being Adam and Eve, being Namers. They no longer looked at the world around them and said, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.””
“One of my favourite Hassidic tales ends, “God made man because he loves stories.” And story is where we have learned to look for truth.”
“When we try to protect God, all we do is stop our understanding of God from growing and deepening, because if we are open to new discoveries in the world within or without, it might change our comfortable image of God.”
“Why do people who are Christian feel so zealously that they have to protect God from truth? How can a scientific discovery, no matter how radical, be upsetting to a Creator who made all things, who is all Truth?”
“Faith consists in the acceptance of doubts”
“Throughout recorded history there have been totally different perceptions of reality. To the ancient Hebrews, a hierarchy of gods did not, for a long time, seem inconsistent with their God is one and God is all. The”
“Any single one of us, alone, cannot be the image of God; discovering that image within us is not a do-it-yourself activity. Before I can be an icon of the image of God, I must be with someone else, hand in hand.”
“In the Garden of Eden there was no separation of sacred and secular; separation is one of the triumphs of the devil”
“Part of the meaning of the incarnation is that Jesus en-Christed everything, giving it again the sacredness it had when the Word first spoke all of creation into being.”
“Story, unlike theories of science which are always open to change, is timeless. The story of Adam and Eve may have different things to say to different generations in different places, but it always has something to say”
“Divine discontent is to accept to our sorrow that we are not what we have been created to be. We have fallen far short of our small part in the image of God; we are less than we are. Once we are aware of this we can open ourselves to our Creator, saying, Help me to be what you want me to be.”
“We are all meant to be light-bearers, but for Lucifer it was not enough to bear the light. Long before the Garden, Lucifer wanted to be the Light”
“Within the structure that restricts rather than the structure that frees we lose our ability to make choices. But if we make no choices, we lose our creativity, we lose touch with real life, we lose more of the image of God, we abdicate our own human nature.”
“The wind of the Spirit can be balmy and tender, but it can also be fierce, can lash waves to mountainous heights, can become a tornado which creates destruction in its path. We rightly equate the Holy Spirit with wind—the word for spirit is the same as the word for wind in Hebrew: ruach. This wildness is the maternal aspect of the Trinity!”
“When I was writing that old story of Adam and Eve, I was both Adam and Eve. And I am also Cain and Abel. Scripture is not only the living Word of God, it is also my story, and your story. In the pages of Genesis, and all through the Bible, we recognize ourselves. It is God showing us who we are, and who el wants us to be. If we are to have the courage to recognize ourselves as God reveals us to ourselves, we must have the courage to face ourselves, not only the parts which we like or of which we approve.”
“Jung’s feeling that we have completely misunderstood the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. We have interpreted it literally instead of mythically. For, Jung points out, what this doctrine is really doing is attempting to return the feminine to the Godhead.”
“One young woman told me that her relations with her mother were not good, yet her mother always knew when something was wrong, and would call her. She would try to pretend that everything was all right, because she didn’t want her mother to be worried; she felt that she had to protect her mother. I told her that perhaps she needed to “kill” her mother, in order to be able to share with the real person, whose intuitive love did not need to be protected from whatever was troubling her daughter”
“Does it sound incredible to say that when we receive Communion we are eating the entire universe?”
“We have strayed far from the reality of those peoples of the world who live close to the land, who listen to the language of the birds, the singing of the trees, the message of the clouds in the sky”
“The world has many centers, one for each created being, and about each one lies his own circle. You stand but half an ell from me, and yet about you lies a universe whose center I am not, but you are….And I, on the other hand, stand in the center of mine. For our universes are not far from each other so that they do not touch; rather, God has pushed them and interwoven them deep within each other.”
“This fragmenting of the Trinity is reflected in the fragmenting of our own personalities, our fear of our subconscious minds, our intuitive selves”
“Compassion means to be with, to share, to overlap, no matter how difficult or painful it may be.”
“Why can you go back if they can’t? What about the cherubim with the flaming sword?” “Only man was thrown out of the Garden,” he said. “It’s different for me. I threw myself out, so it’s still open to me and my friends.” He indicated some of the other winged creatures. He grinned. “I’ve been thrown out of better places than that.”
“What is your name?” At that moment a storm started to blow up and there was a tremendous crash of thunder, so loud that it silenced the birds. In this thundering silence the Lord God said, “I will be that I will be.” This didn’t make any sense, and I wasn’t sure I’d really heard him because of the strange silence, so I asked again, “Yes, but do you have a name?” “I am.” This was as confusing as NoName saying he was Not, and I certainly didn’t regard it as an answer. It also made me think of my identity crisis, so I asked him, “Who am I?” And the Lord God said, “Certainly I will be with thee.”
“In cold weather my brother’s nose ran constantly, and our mother would wipe it distastefully and tell us that in the old days it had never been cold and had rained only at night. There had been enough to eat and to spare, and they didn’t have to worry about clothes and nobody knew the difference between work and play and the giants didn’t come lumbering around to steal dinner just as it was ready.”
“O Lord, my God. I think I could have loved my baby brother.”
“What happened? What turned the people’s hearts to wickedness? We don’t know. Very likely it was the same things which turn people’s hearts to wickedness today, discontent with who they were and what they had, so that they were easy prey for the temptations of hubris; selfish pride and greed and envy; boredom, lust, violence—all of which result in other people being treated as things”
“John Wesley was a brilliant preacher, and one day after he had preached a great sermon, he was approached by someone who told him what a magnificent sermon it was. “Yes, I know,” he replied. “The devil has already told me.””
“That’s the first thing the Old Testament heroes have in common: When God spoke to them, they recognized the Lord’s voice, and they listened, and they obeyed. They might argue; they might obey reluctantly, but they obeyed.”
“How did Noah, and those to come after him, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel, how did they know that it was the voice of the Lord they were hearing, and not the voice of the tempter?”
“God does not ask us to believe the reasonable things”
“However, if I am totally immune from the projections of the ecthroi, from the horror of great darkness, from terror anticus, then I immunize myself also from the visions which the Lord sends. And I must trust the Lord and el’s angels to guard and protect me.”
“Rainer Maria Rilke said that he was afraid that if he vanquished his demons, his angels would leave him, too.”
“we live by revelation”
“You have referred to your agnostic period. What happened to get you out of it?” And I reply, joyfully, that I am still an agnostic, but then I was an unhappy one, seeking finite answers, and now I am a happy one, rejoicing in paradox. Agnostic means only that we do not know, and we finite creatures cannot know, in any intellectual or ultimate way, the infinite Lord”
“If we are free to fail, we are also free not to fail. We are free to love God, and to be obedient to el’s will.”
“Our free will is most evident when we are being co-creators with God”
“They were not surprised to see angels, even though they laughed at their messages”
“we never “use” the Jesus Prayer. It uses us.”
“in all cultures it is made clear that the recitation of the holy words is never for the individual; it is for the salvation of all people, the redemption of the entire universe. The interrelationship is so total that at the death of a single person the galaxies quake. And the laughter of one child is part of the singing of the stars.”
“Now I am able to accept my not-knowing—and yet, in a completely different way, in the old biblical way, I also know what I do not understand, and that is what my agnosticism means to me now. It does not mean that I do not believe; it is an acceptance that I am created, that I am asked to bear the light, knowing that this is the most wonderful of all vocations.”
“Perhaps it is because I am a storyteller that I need sign, symbol, sacrament, that which takes me beyond where my mind can go alone.”
“I am when I am paying least attention to myself,”
“I wish that the church demanded more of us. The human psyche thrives on creative demands, and if we aren’t given real ones, we fall for illegitimate ones, like those imposed by some of the sects”
“There is only one purpose for punishment, and that is to teach a lesson, and there is only one lesson to be taught, and that is love. Perfect love banishes fear”
“To hand God our sins is far more difficult than any other kind of prayer”
“Jesus did not speak in the language of proof, but in the language of story”
“Knowing that we cannot define God, why do we try to put limits on el? How can we limit el’s love? It is we who are limited, not God”
“One of the most fascinating aspects of reading the Old Testament is to see the perception of God changing throughout the ages”
“Grandfather George again: “It is the heart that is not yet sure of its God that is afraid to laugh in his presence.””
“William Temple: “It is a great mistake to think that God is only or chiefly interested in religion.””
“God’s purpose. God’s plan. The Great Dance, the ancient harmonies, weaving and interweaving to make the pattern perfect.”
“Abelard gathered up the little creature in his hands. It lay for a moment breathing quickly, then in some blind recognition of the kindness that had met it at the last, the small head thrust and nestled against his arm, and it died. It was this last confiding thrust that broke Abelard’s heart. He looked down at the little draggled body, his mouth shaking. “Thibault,” he said, “do you think there is a God at all? Whatever has come to me, I earned it. But what did this one do?” Thibault nodded. “I know,” he said. “Only—I think God is in it too.” Abelard looked up sharply. “In it? Do you mean that it makes Him suffer, the way it does us?” Again Thibault nodded. “Then why doesn’t He stop it?” “I don’t know,” said Thibault. “Unless—unless it’s like the Prodigal Son. I suppose the father could have kept him at home against his will. But what would have been the use? All this,” he stroked the limp body, “is because of us. But all the time God suffers. More than we do.””
“How else do we pray, except to the Maker of ourselves who loves us enough to be part of us?”
“Jesus taught me about story, the truth of story, and that story is light. Sometimes the light of the story seems veiled or shadowed, no matter how we struggle to seek for its meaning.”
“Perhaps this story tells us more about the nature of man’s understanding of God than it does about God elself. The story is staggering in its simplicity. It never falters. Its very straightforwardness, its lack of explanation is one of the most difficult things about it.”
“CAUGHT IN THE BUSH Asked to leave Eden where I, with all the other beasts, remained after the two human creatures left, I moved to the gates. The cherub with the flaming sword drew aside to let me by, folding his wings across his eyes. I trotted along a path which led through the woods, across a desert, made a long detour around a lake, and finally climbed a mountain till trees gave way to bushes and a rock. An old man raised a knife. He stood there by the rock and wept and raised his knife. So these are men, I thought, and shook my head in horror, and was caught within the springing branches of a bush. Then there was lightning, and the thunder came, and a voice cried out to me: My son, my son, slain before the foundation of the world. And then I felt the knife. For this I came from Eden; my will is ever his, as I am his, and have my life in him, and he in me. Thus the knife pierced his own heart, in piercing mine, and the old man laughed for joy.”
“Our paradoxes and contradictions expand; our openness to God’s revelations to us must also be capable of expansion. Our religion must always be subject to change without notice—our religion, not our faith, but the patterns in which we understand and express our faith”
“The only reason I can find for all the shouting about how God created is that it allows some people to stop thinking, to settle back into the safety of their rut, to stop thinking about what it is really all about. What it is really about is that creation is God’s. It is el who has made us, and not we ourselves”
“it takes both male and female to complete the image of God”
“God created, and it was joy: time, space, matter. There is, and we are part of that is-ness, part of that becoming. That is our calling: co-creation”
“The words which have taught me most richly come in logical progression: ontology: the word about being; ousia: the essence of being, that which is really real; ananda (also sent me as a gift by a reader): that joy in existence without which the universe will fall apart and collapse”
“Quanta, the tiny subatomic particles being studied in quantum mechanics, cannot exist alone; there cannot be a quantum, for quanta exist only in relationship to each other. And they can never be studied objectively, because even to observe them is to change them”
“the word kything, found in an old Scottish dictionary of my grandfather’s, to express this communication without words, where there is “neither speech nor language.” To kythe is to open yourself to someone. It is, for me, a form of intercessory prayer, for it is to be utterly vulnerable.”
“We do not love each other without changing each other. We do not observe the world around us without in some way changing it, and being changed ourselves.”
“Safety was never part of the promise. Creativity, yes; safety, no. All creativity is dangerous”
“To write a story or paint a picture is to risk failure. To love someone is to risk that you may not be loved in return, or that the love will die”
“Who is this el, this Creator? Who was it to whom Jesus was always referring, and to whom he was always faithful? Who was it to whom Jesus prayed? There are so many preconceptions encrusting our idea of the Father to whom Jesus turned in prayer, in joy, in anguish, that it is almost impossible to remove all the barnacles of tradition and prejudice which have accumulated over the years, and see and hear el freshly.”
“We all have our own images, and they nourish us, but ultimately the Lord to whom we pray is beyond all images, all imagining.”
“What do you mean by religion?” And then with astonishment I heard myself saying, “My religion is subject to change without notice.”
“As God has revealed elself throughout history, our concept of the Creator has changed and deepened. If we close ourselves off to revelation we are, in a real way, silencing God. If God is I will be what I will be (which is what el replied when Moses asked “Who are you?”) then our understanding of el’s ways has to be open, too.”
“if I assume that my concept of God is final, I have fallen for Satan’s temptations, because if I decide that my concept of God is final, then I am falling into hubris.”
“We are most free when we are most willing to acknowledge our interdependence. Adam and Eve were free until they saw each other as separate and autonomous, and afraid of their Creator.”
“Adam and Eve lost their joy, their radical amazement at the wonders of being, simply being, being Adam and Eve, being Namers. They no longer looked at the world around them and said, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.””
“One of my favourite Hassidic tales ends, “God made man because he loves stories.” And story is where we have learned to look for truth.”
“When we try to protect God, all we do is stop our understanding of God from growing and deepening, because if we are open to new discoveries in the world within or without, it might change our comfortable image of God.”
“Why do people who are Christian feel so zealously that they have to protect God from truth? How can a scientific discovery, no matter how radical, be upsetting to a Creator who made all things, who is all Truth?”
“Faith consists in the acceptance of doubts”
“Throughout recorded history there have been totally different perceptions of reality. To the ancient Hebrews, a hierarchy of gods did not, for a long time, seem inconsistent with their God is one and God is all. The”
“Any single one of us, alone, cannot be the image of God; discovering that image within us is not a do-it-yourself activity. Before I can be an icon of the image of God, I must be with someone else, hand in hand.”
“In the Garden of Eden there was no separation of sacred and secular; separation is one of the triumphs of the devil”
“Part of the meaning of the incarnation is that Jesus en-Christed everything, giving it again the sacredness it had when the Word first spoke all of creation into being.”
“Story, unlike theories of science which are always open to change, is timeless. The story of Adam and Eve may have different things to say to different generations in different places, but it always has something to say”
“Divine discontent is to accept to our sorrow that we are not what we have been created to be. We have fallen far short of our small part in the image of God; we are less than we are. Once we are aware of this we can open ourselves to our Creator, saying, Help me to be what you want me to be.”
“We are all meant to be light-bearers, but for Lucifer it was not enough to bear the light. Long before the Garden, Lucifer wanted to be the Light”
“Within the structure that restricts rather than the structure that frees we lose our ability to make choices. But if we make no choices, we lose our creativity, we lose touch with real life, we lose more of the image of God, we abdicate our own human nature.”
“The wind of the Spirit can be balmy and tender, but it can also be fierce, can lash waves to mountainous heights, can become a tornado which creates destruction in its path. We rightly equate the Holy Spirit with wind—the word for spirit is the same as the word for wind in Hebrew: ruach. This wildness is the maternal aspect of the Trinity!”
“When I was writing that old story of Adam and Eve, I was both Adam and Eve. And I am also Cain and Abel. Scripture is not only the living Word of God, it is also my story, and your story. In the pages of Genesis, and all through the Bible, we recognize ourselves. It is God showing us who we are, and who el wants us to be. If we are to have the courage to recognize ourselves as God reveals us to ourselves, we must have the courage to face ourselves, not only the parts which we like or of which we approve.”
“Jung’s feeling that we have completely misunderstood the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. We have interpreted it literally instead of mythically. For, Jung points out, what this doctrine is really doing is attempting to return the feminine to the Godhead.”
“One young woman told me that her relations with her mother were not good, yet her mother always knew when something was wrong, and would call her. She would try to pretend that everything was all right, because she didn’t want her mother to be worried; she felt that she had to protect her mother. I told her that perhaps she needed to “kill” her mother, in order to be able to share with the real person, whose intuitive love did not need to be protected from whatever was troubling her daughter”
“Does it sound incredible to say that when we receive Communion we are eating the entire universe?”
“We have strayed far from the reality of those peoples of the world who live close to the land, who listen to the language of the birds, the singing of the trees, the message of the clouds in the sky”
“The world has many centers, one for each created being, and about each one lies his own circle. You stand but half an ell from me, and yet about you lies a universe whose center I am not, but you are….And I, on the other hand, stand in the center of mine. For our universes are not far from each other so that they do not touch; rather, God has pushed them and interwoven them deep within each other.”
“This fragmenting of the Trinity is reflected in the fragmenting of our own personalities, our fear of our subconscious minds, our intuitive selves”
“Compassion means to be with, to share, to overlap, no matter how difficult or painful it may be.”
“Why can you go back if they can’t? What about the cherubim with the flaming sword?” “Only man was thrown out of the Garden,” he said. “It’s different for me. I threw myself out, so it’s still open to me and my friends.” He indicated some of the other winged creatures. He grinned. “I’ve been thrown out of better places than that.”
“What is your name?” At that moment a storm started to blow up and there was a tremendous crash of thunder, so loud that it silenced the birds. In this thundering silence the Lord God said, “I will be that I will be.” This didn’t make any sense, and I wasn’t sure I’d really heard him because of the strange silence, so I asked again, “Yes, but do you have a name?” “I am.” This was as confusing as NoName saying he was Not, and I certainly didn’t regard it as an answer. It also made me think of my identity crisis, so I asked him, “Who am I?” And the Lord God said, “Certainly I will be with thee.”
“In cold weather my brother’s nose ran constantly, and our mother would wipe it distastefully and tell us that in the old days it had never been cold and had rained only at night. There had been enough to eat and to spare, and they didn’t have to worry about clothes and nobody knew the difference between work and play and the giants didn’t come lumbering around to steal dinner just as it was ready.”
“O Lord, my God. I think I could have loved my baby brother.”
“What happened? What turned the people’s hearts to wickedness? We don’t know. Very likely it was the same things which turn people’s hearts to wickedness today, discontent with who they were and what they had, so that they were easy prey for the temptations of hubris; selfish pride and greed and envy; boredom, lust, violence—all of which result in other people being treated as things”
“John Wesley was a brilliant preacher, and one day after he had preached a great sermon, he was approached by someone who told him what a magnificent sermon it was. “Yes, I know,” he replied. “The devil has already told me.””
“That’s the first thing the Old Testament heroes have in common: When God spoke to them, they recognized the Lord’s voice, and they listened, and they obeyed. They might argue; they might obey reluctantly, but they obeyed.”
“How did Noah, and those to come after him, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel, how did they know that it was the voice of the Lord they were hearing, and not the voice of the tempter?”
“God does not ask us to believe the reasonable things”
“However, if I am totally immune from the projections of the ecthroi, from the horror of great darkness, from terror anticus, then I immunize myself also from the visions which the Lord sends. And I must trust the Lord and el’s angels to guard and protect me.”
“Rainer Maria Rilke said that he was afraid that if he vanquished his demons, his angels would leave him, too.”
“we live by revelation”
“You have referred to your agnostic period. What happened to get you out of it?” And I reply, joyfully, that I am still an agnostic, but then I was an unhappy one, seeking finite answers, and now I am a happy one, rejoicing in paradox. Agnostic means only that we do not know, and we finite creatures cannot know, in any intellectual or ultimate way, the infinite Lord”
“If we are free to fail, we are also free not to fail. We are free to love God, and to be obedient to el’s will.”
“Our free will is most evident when we are being co-creators with God”
“They were not surprised to see angels, even though they laughed at their messages”
“we never “use” the Jesus Prayer. It uses us.”
“in all cultures it is made clear that the recitation of the holy words is never for the individual; it is for the salvation of all people, the redemption of the entire universe. The interrelationship is so total that at the death of a single person the galaxies quake. And the laughter of one child is part of the singing of the stars.”
“Now I am able to accept my not-knowing—and yet, in a completely different way, in the old biblical way, I also know what I do not understand, and that is what my agnosticism means to me now. It does not mean that I do not believe; it is an acceptance that I am created, that I am asked to bear the light, knowing that this is the most wonderful of all vocations.”
“Perhaps it is because I am a storyteller that I need sign, symbol, sacrament, that which takes me beyond where my mind can go alone.”
“I am when I am paying least attention to myself,”
“I wish that the church demanded more of us. The human psyche thrives on creative demands, and if we aren’t given real ones, we fall for illegitimate ones, like those imposed by some of the sects”
“There is only one purpose for punishment, and that is to teach a lesson, and there is only one lesson to be taught, and that is love. Perfect love banishes fear”
“To hand God our sins is far more difficult than any other kind of prayer”
“Jesus did not speak in the language of proof, but in the language of story”
“Knowing that we cannot define God, why do we try to put limits on el? How can we limit el’s love? It is we who are limited, not God”
“One of the most fascinating aspects of reading the Old Testament is to see the perception of God changing throughout the ages”
“Grandfather George again: “It is the heart that is not yet sure of its God that is afraid to laugh in his presence.””
“William Temple: “It is a great mistake to think that God is only or chiefly interested in religion.””
“God’s purpose. God’s plan. The Great Dance, the ancient harmonies, weaving and interweaving to make the pattern perfect.”
“Abelard gathered up the little creature in his hands. It lay for a moment breathing quickly, then in some blind recognition of the kindness that had met it at the last, the small head thrust and nestled against his arm, and it died. It was this last confiding thrust that broke Abelard’s heart. He looked down at the little draggled body, his mouth shaking. “Thibault,” he said, “do you think there is a God at all? Whatever has come to me, I earned it. But what did this one do?” Thibault nodded. “I know,” he said. “Only—I think God is in it too.” Abelard looked up sharply. “In it? Do you mean that it makes Him suffer, the way it does us?” Again Thibault nodded. “Then why doesn’t He stop it?” “I don’t know,” said Thibault. “Unless—unless it’s like the Prodigal Son. I suppose the father could have kept him at home against his will. But what would have been the use? All this,” he stroked the limp body, “is because of us. But all the time God suffers. More than we do.””
“How else do we pray, except to the Maker of ourselves who loves us enough to be part of us?”
“Jesus taught me about story, the truth of story, and that story is light. Sometimes the light of the story seems veiled or shadowed, no matter how we struggle to seek for its meaning.”
“Perhaps this story tells us more about the nature of man’s understanding of God than it does about God elself. The story is staggering in its simplicity. It never falters. Its very straightforwardness, its lack of explanation is one of the most difficult things about it.”
“CAUGHT IN THE BUSH Asked to leave Eden where I, with all the other beasts, remained after the two human creatures left, I moved to the gates. The cherub with the flaming sword drew aside to let me by, folding his wings across his eyes. I trotted along a path which led through the woods, across a desert, made a long detour around a lake, and finally climbed a mountain till trees gave way to bushes and a rock. An old man raised a knife. He stood there by the rock and wept and raised his knife. So these are men, I thought, and shook my head in horror, and was caught within the springing branches of a bush. Then there was lightning, and the thunder came, and a voice cried out to me: My son, my son, slain before the foundation of the world. And then I felt the knife. For this I came from Eden; my will is ever his, as I am his, and have my life in him, and he in me. Thus the knife pierced his own heart, in piercing mine, and the old man laughed for joy.”
“Our paradoxes and contradictions expand; our openness to God’s revelations to us must also be capable of expansion. Our religion must always be subject to change without notice—our religion, not our faith, but the patterns in which we understand and express our faith”
October 11, 2020
I love her and that's that!
August 14, 2019
I had not had this on my radar before finding it in a Used Book Store last year. I tucked it into my morning read pile and read a few pages at a time. I love L'Engle's gentle words and the way that she used the Book of Genesis (and in fact, only the first few stories - I gather it is a three book series for the entire book) as a launching point to work out ideas on faith, life, love, pain, and grace.
January 13, 2019
Lovely!
I love L’Engle’s writing, but especially enjoyed this book as I’m reading through Genesis. I love her thoughtful approach, and openness to learning. “My religion is subject to change without notice.” I have grown out of some parts of my religion and into a closer walk with the Lord without losing my faith. What a wonderful gift to have those words to describe my journey. I don’t think she would mind my borrowing them.
I love L’Engle’s writing, but especially enjoyed this book as I’m reading through Genesis. I love her thoughtful approach, and openness to learning. “My religion is subject to change without notice.” I have grown out of some parts of my religion and into a closer walk with the Lord without losing my faith. What a wonderful gift to have those words to describe my journey. I don’t think she would mind my borrowing them.
May 23, 2020
Check out my review on BookTube! https://youtu.be/cMQ1dTwsekc
Re-reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle made me curious about the author herself so I started reading her memoirs. It was through her memoirs that I found a kindred spirit and her presence now appears often among my recent reads.
And It Was Good: Reflections on Beginnings is the first in The Genesis Trilogy and its essays and stories cover creation to Abraham.
I read all my books with a pen in hand, but it was essential for this book. One of the themes I found interesting within the book was the idea of the feminine and masculine being present together in the image of God.
Genesis 1: 26-27, Madeleine used this passage to illustrate that "both male and female go to make the image of God." Later in the text, she discusses that although many take the assumption of Mary into heaven literally, she appreciates the viewpoint that it shows an attempt to return the feminine to the Godhead. She feels it's important to understand both the feminine and masculine within each of us.
She continues with the image of God, later discussing how we co-create the image of God hand in hand with others.
"Any single one of us, alone, cannot be the image of God; discovering that image within us is not a do-it-yourself activity. Before I can be an icon of the image of God, I must be with someone else, hand in hand."
We are our most free when we see this interconnection and interdependence yet our society today values independence and speaks badly of those who rely on the help of others to survive. This attempt to be independent pushes us further apart from one another. Madeleine feels it's imperative to move closer together so that our circles may overlap once again.
I'm curious what she'd think of our current situation with such separation between those who are different. One of the things I really appreciate about my new formal presence on YouTube are the channels like Lukas's (Totally Pretentious) in which people are free to have open discussions articulating their thoughts and beliefs without any pressure to conform or convert others to a specific viewpoint. This is the respectful discourse that is not only possible but needed in our world to build community.
"Compassion means to be with, to share, to overlap, no matter how difficult or painful it may be."
I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in viewing Genesis from a different perspective. Madeleine L'Engle is a creative with a deep fascination with science and brings her whole self into this book creating a very unique spin on things.
Re-reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle made me curious about the author herself so I started reading her memoirs. It was through her memoirs that I found a kindred spirit and her presence now appears often among my recent reads.
And It Was Good: Reflections on Beginnings is the first in The Genesis Trilogy and its essays and stories cover creation to Abraham.
I read all my books with a pen in hand, but it was essential for this book. One of the themes I found interesting within the book was the idea of the feminine and masculine being present together in the image of God.
Genesis 1: 26-27, Madeleine used this passage to illustrate that "both male and female go to make the image of God." Later in the text, she discusses that although many take the assumption of Mary into heaven literally, she appreciates the viewpoint that it shows an attempt to return the feminine to the Godhead. She feels it's important to understand both the feminine and masculine within each of us.
She continues with the image of God, later discussing how we co-create the image of God hand in hand with others.
"Any single one of us, alone, cannot be the image of God; discovering that image within us is not a do-it-yourself activity. Before I can be an icon of the image of God, I must be with someone else, hand in hand."
We are our most free when we see this interconnection and interdependence yet our society today values independence and speaks badly of those who rely on the help of others to survive. This attempt to be independent pushes us further apart from one another. Madeleine feels it's imperative to move closer together so that our circles may overlap once again.
I'm curious what she'd think of our current situation with such separation between those who are different. One of the things I really appreciate about my new formal presence on YouTube are the channels like Lukas's (Totally Pretentious) in which people are free to have open discussions articulating their thoughts and beliefs without any pressure to conform or convert others to a specific viewpoint. This is the respectful discourse that is not only possible but needed in our world to build community.
"Compassion means to be with, to share, to overlap, no matter how difficult or painful it may be."
I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in viewing Genesis from a different perspective. Madeleine L'Engle is a creative with a deep fascination with science and brings her whole self into this book creating a very unique spin on things.
March 10, 2021
If you want to understand why so many Episcopal priests and laity are obsessed with an author who is primarily known for her YA fiction, it probably does NOT make sense to start with her non-fiction. So first of all, my bad. But I put this one down a little over half-way through and probably won’t be picking it up again.
This book contains Madeline L’Engle’s meditations on the first few bits of Genesis- the various creation myths, and Abraham. The meditations come from a distinctly Christian perspective- L’Engle finds the Trinity throughout a decidedly non-Trinitarian text. The devil and associated fallen angels appear throughout, despite these characters not really appearing at all in Genesis. And there’s a general “Love wins, God is good at all times” cheer running in the text, even when it seems out of place, especially in the pre-Abraham myth section.
There are some good bits- L’Engle makes a few attempts at expanding some stories with her own fiction, which tends to be entertaining. But unfortunately, those bits get lost in her meandering thoughts, and loads of half-baked ideas that get tossed out without much examination or development, including a one-paragraph reference to ancient aliens. (Is that pre-flood reference to angels having relations with human women actually a story about aliens? Who knows! Look at those crazy drawings in Peru! Peru sure is a strange place. But anyway, Noah!) L’Engle further dabbles in trying to make the early chapters of Genesis into a historical record (one day in your eye is a thousand in mine, so maybe those seven days really were millions of years), when it seems much more realistic and satisfying to try to find insight into early Jewish philosophical or moral belief in Genesis’ narrative and leave it at that.
I’m the first to admit that my dissatisfaction probably stems from the fact that I was hoping for a very different book. And that book has been written well by many others, so it’s a bit unfair for me to fault L’Engle for not writing it. But even for what it is, some more editing would have been in order.
I might still try to read A Wrinkle in Time to give L’Engle a fair shot. But this one ain’t doing it for me, and it’s going back to the library before I sink any more time into it.
This book contains Madeline L’Engle’s meditations on the first few bits of Genesis- the various creation myths, and Abraham. The meditations come from a distinctly Christian perspective- L’Engle finds the Trinity throughout a decidedly non-Trinitarian text. The devil and associated fallen angels appear throughout, despite these characters not really appearing at all in Genesis. And there’s a general “Love wins, God is good at all times” cheer running in the text, even when it seems out of place, especially in the pre-Abraham myth section.
There are some good bits- L’Engle makes a few attempts at expanding some stories with her own fiction, which tends to be entertaining. But unfortunately, those bits get lost in her meandering thoughts, and loads of half-baked ideas that get tossed out without much examination or development, including a one-paragraph reference to ancient aliens. (Is that pre-flood reference to angels having relations with human women actually a story about aliens? Who knows! Look at those crazy drawings in Peru! Peru sure is a strange place. But anyway, Noah!) L’Engle further dabbles in trying to make the early chapters of Genesis into a historical record (one day in your eye is a thousand in mine, so maybe those seven days really were millions of years), when it seems much more realistic and satisfying to try to find insight into early Jewish philosophical or moral belief in Genesis’ narrative and leave it at that.
I’m the first to admit that my dissatisfaction probably stems from the fact that I was hoping for a very different book. And that book has been written well by many others, so it’s a bit unfair for me to fault L’Engle for not writing it. But even for what it is, some more editing would have been in order.
I might still try to read A Wrinkle in Time to give L’Engle a fair shot. But this one ain’t doing it for me, and it’s going back to the library before I sink any more time into it.
February 24, 2016
Madeleine L'Engle has been a steady presence throughout my life. She was not a perfect person, nor a perfect writer but that does not diminish her impact on my life or her writings on my own opinions and ideas. I prefer my heroes to be honest instead of perfect. And this is a very honest book. It flows from one thought to the next with barely a thread of continuity and yet it all comes from one mind and heart and it all points to One so that it holds together, each truth building on the next and reinforcing the previous.
If you are very sure of your theology this will be an uncomfortable to book read. If you are dogmatic about your religious beliefs, you will find much to be offended at and plenty to criticize. Even if you agree with L'Engle's basic premise you will probably find yourself shaking your head here and there. But isn't that what the best books do? Make you question and squirm? This is one squirmy book and I highly recommend it to everyone.
If you are very sure of your theology this will be an uncomfortable to book read. If you are dogmatic about your religious beliefs, you will find much to be offended at and plenty to criticize. Even if you agree with L'Engle's basic premise you will probably find yourself shaking your head here and there. But isn't that what the best books do? Make you question and squirm? This is one squirmy book and I highly recommend it to everyone.
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