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A review by cydneydaniel
A Light So Lovely: The Spiritual Legacy of Madeleine l'Engle, Author of a Wrinkle in Time by Sarah Arthur
5.0
I loved this book.
If you’re familiar with Madeleine L’Engle at all, you know how special she was. This book explores her spiritual legacy, and how she paved the way not only for Christian writers and artists to come after her, but for all of us struggling to find the space between “both/and” with our faith and interactions with others.
I came to Madeleine later than many other people on my life who love her. My in-laws encouraged me to pick up A Wrinkle in Time, and I read all five books on the series in less than 2 weeks. I was enamored and obsessed, and of course I wanted to know everything I could about Madeleine.
This book just felt like a conversation about a deeply joyful, curious, flawed, wonderful human being. It doesn’t shy away from her failures and shortcomings, and it is careful not to idolize her or make her seem like she had all the answers. She didn’t. But she lived gloriously, faithfully, and without fear of asking questions.
I learned so much from this short autobiography, and I’m always learning from Madeleine’s life. I can’t wait to share this with others, and hopefully revisit one day.
Quotes that I'm still thinking about:
"Meanwhile, technology in the service of science shows no signs of slowing down: artificial intelligence being "trained," even now, to do everything from drive our cars to diagnose our illnesses. An idol in the making, perhaps, and what is far too quickly idolized can be demonized- or worse yet, weaponized. By that light, holding faith and science together, as we move into the future, is a key Christian practice that we dare not miss or ignore. If I am not training my children in the kind of humility and wisdom that recognizes both the dangers and gifts of human knowledge, then I'm failing to equip them in faithful discernment." pg 118 (in the context of embracing both science and faith)
"The place I have grief around Madeleine is that there's still this idea that she didn't do anything wrong. That other people were too sensitive. That they needed to get over it because it was in the service of almighty art, of the almighty story, of the almighty thing that was being created. But I don't think that anything we create trumps the people whom we love and who love us. We don't get to stomp all over their humanity in service of some mythic humanity. Learning how to hold that tension will be the work of a lifetime." pg 165. (Quote by Sarah Bessey)
"Madeleine taught us that we don't abandon spiritual habits just because we're in a season of struggle and doubt. We keep attending to those practices, day in and day out. This is not the same as legalism, in which we obey certain commands in some misguided attempt to be on God's good side. Instead, it requires deep humility to trust... God has promised to show up in the middle of these daily habits." pg 190
If you’re familiar with Madeleine L’Engle at all, you know how special she was. This book explores her spiritual legacy, and how she paved the way not only for Christian writers and artists to come after her, but for all of us struggling to find the space between “both/and” with our faith and interactions with others.
I came to Madeleine later than many other people on my life who love her. My in-laws encouraged me to pick up A Wrinkle in Time, and I read all five books on the series in less than 2 weeks. I was enamored and obsessed, and of course I wanted to know everything I could about Madeleine.
This book just felt like a conversation about a deeply joyful, curious, flawed, wonderful human being. It doesn’t shy away from her failures and shortcomings, and it is careful not to idolize her or make her seem like she had all the answers. She didn’t. But she lived gloriously, faithfully, and without fear of asking questions.
I learned so much from this short autobiography, and I’m always learning from Madeleine’s life. I can’t wait to share this with others, and hopefully revisit one day.
Quotes that I'm still thinking about:
"Meanwhile, technology in the service of science shows no signs of slowing down: artificial intelligence being "trained," even now, to do everything from drive our cars to diagnose our illnesses. An idol in the making, perhaps, and what is far too quickly idolized can be demonized- or worse yet, weaponized. By that light, holding faith and science together, as we move into the future, is a key Christian practice that we dare not miss or ignore. If I am not training my children in the kind of humility and wisdom that recognizes both the dangers and gifts of human knowledge, then I'm failing to equip them in faithful discernment." pg 118 (in the context of embracing both science and faith)
"The place I have grief around Madeleine is that there's still this idea that she didn't do anything wrong. That other people were too sensitive. That they needed to get over it because it was in the service of almighty art, of the almighty story, of the almighty thing that was being created. But I don't think that anything we create trumps the people whom we love and who love us. We don't get to stomp all over their humanity in service of some mythic humanity. Learning how to hold that tension will be the work of a lifetime." pg 165. (Quote by Sarah Bessey)
"Madeleine taught us that we don't abandon spiritual habits just because we're in a season of struggle and doubt. We keep attending to those practices, day in and day out. This is not the same as legalism, in which we obey certain commands in some misguided attempt to be on God's good side. Instead, it requires deep humility to trust... God has promised to show up in the middle of these daily habits." pg 190