Nourishers

“To be a librarian, particularly a librarian for young adults, is to be a nourisher, to share stories, offer books full of new ideas.”

–Madeleine L’Engle, Margaret A. Edwards Award Acceptance Speech, June 27, 1998.

Quoted in Journal of Youth Services in Libraries, Volume 12, no. 1, Fall 1998.

Letting Go

“I’ve found that when you give up on using your mind to solve a problem–which your mind is holding on to like a dog with a chew toy–writing it down helps turn off the terrible alertness.  When you’re not siphoned into the black hole of worried control and playing fretful Savior, turning the problem over to God or the elves in the glove compartment harnesses something in the universe that is bigger than you, and that just might work.”

–Anne Lamott, Grace (Eventually), p. 27

“Sometimes, when you’re lucky, you get to a point where you’re sick of a problem, or worn down by tinkering with it, or clutching it.  And letting it go, maybe writing it down and sending it away, buys you some time and space, so maybe freedom and humor sneak in–which is probably what you were praying for all along.”

–Anne Lamott, Grace (Eventually), p. 32

Forgiveness is a choice

“Forgiving is a choice that brings healing–probably more to the giver than to the recipient.  When we forgive, we do not change the circumstances or injustices of the past.  What we change is the future–for ourselves and for the ones we have forgiven.  It is the most freeing choice we can make.”

–Carol Kent, A New Kind of Normal

Meaning in Pain

“I finally figured out that I had a choice:  I could suffer a great deal, or not, or for a long time.  Or I could have the combo platter:  suffer, breathe, pray, play, cry, and try to help people.  There was meaning in pain; it taught you how to survive with a modicum of grace when you did not get what you wanted.”

–Anne Lamott, Grace (Eventually):  Thoughts on Faith

Brokenness

“It really is easier to experience spiritual connection when your life is in the process of coming apart.  When things break up and fences fall over, desperation and powerlessness slink in, which turns out to be good:  humility and sweetness often arrive in your garden not long after.”

–Anne Lamott, Grace (Eventually):  Thoughts on Faith