Book #3: How Can We Keep From Singing
My son, Snowman, gave me a book for Christmas, How Can We Keep From Singing: Music and the Passionate Life, and it has been wonderful. Joan Oliver Goldsmith is a freelance writer and an enthusiastic amateur singer, one who is well-trained and thoughtful about music and her own life.
I want to share something that touched me from the final chapter, in which she writes about learning a piece of music that stretches all her limits:
Life's sacred assignments constitute a customized curriculum--structured and designed for each individual...
I want to know my course assignment now. The simple act of naming it forces me to notice what's happening in my life. It also gives me a learner's perspective: Of course I'm not good at this yet--that's why it's been assigned to me.
I have friends who would say the spiritual curriculum is the will of an intentional, personal God. I have friends who would say you create the curriculum with your own energy. I'm not driven to assign causality. But I do believe the evidence of my eyes and my years. The spiritual curriculum is real.
Since I'm in a place just like that, I appreciated the way she put it.
Oh yeah, that is great. Thanks for sharing it!
Posted by: towanda | Sunday, January 20, 2008 at 03:55 PM
Songbird, I have this on my hold list at the local library. This sounds like a book very much up my alley. Because of you sharing it, I found out about it. Thank you.
Posted by: Cathy | Sunday, January 20, 2008 at 05:40 PM
That is very good. I like the thought that I'm not good at it yet, which is why I've been "assigned" it! That's so sensible.
Posted by: Jan | Sunday, January 20, 2008 at 08:47 PM
I would love this book, I'm going to have to look for this at MY library too (I gotta start using the library).
Posted by: Diane | Monday, January 21, 2008 at 09:58 AM
Lovely, and so well articulated.
"The spiritual cirriculum is real."
Posted by: Sue | Monday, January 21, 2008 at 02:19 PM
My spiritual curriculum right now reminds me of seminary - no way can I ever get through all the "reading" assignments, I just have hope I am choosing the "right" ones to read...(that is if reading is a metaphor for all that I have to do...) - anyway, great quote...thinking of you these days...
Posted by: mompriest | Monday, January 21, 2008 at 05:03 PM