When my father died when I was seventeen, I pondered heaven and God’s plan for el’s complex and contradictory children, and it seemed to me evident that nobody I know, certainly including myself, was ready for heaven after this mortal life in which we are all, one way or another, bent and broken. There may be a handful of people who are prepared for the unveiled vision of God. But most of us are not, most of us still have a vast amount to learn. I don’t know how God plans to teach me all that I need to know before I am ready for the Glory, but my faith is based on the belief that I don’t have to know. I have to know only that the Maker is not going to abandon me when I die, is not going to make creatures who are able to ask questions which simply cannot be answered in this life, and then drop them with the questions still unanswered.
– A Stone for a Pillow, by Madeline L’Engle
Thank you. That is a marvelous choice of a quote to honor her. And what she expresses there is at the very heart of my own convictions and faith. So, thank you for sharing that; I hadn’t seen it before.
Thanks. I stumbled upon The Genesis Trilogy at some point, and I think you would really appreciate it. She uses the stories of Genesis as a starting point to explore various reflections and recollections on the subjects of God, faith, and the world. She has a really lovely perspective — wise, insightful, humble, often playful — and it’s nice to see it expressed in her own words, not just indirectly through her characters.
I really did grow up on her novels; I borrowed a copy of A Swiftly Tilting Planet a few weeks ago, but hadn’t had a chance to reread it yet. I think I’ll do that this weekend. The world is emptier without her, but fuller because of her.