Roots and Sky
I am not an outdoors kind of person. After being outside for fifteen minutes, I’m usually done. I don’t hunt or fish or hike mountains. And I certainly don’t plant gardens. That’s why this month’s book selection is somewhat ironic. In Roots and Sky (Revell Publishing, $13.99), author Christie Purifoy chronicles a year at Maplehurst, an old Victorian farmhouse in Pennsylvania. She writes about Christmas snows and summer squash, of starry nights and Advent scriptures, of soil and seeds and the kingdom of heaven. I may not love the outdoors, but I love beautiful writing, and Roots and Sky is a true work of artistry.
Rather than write a paragraph extolling the wonders of Roots and Sky, I have decided to simply share a few sentences with you.
“This spring day rings with joy…Filled to the brim with joy, I know that the kingdom of heaven is in our midst. I know that the earth, once lost to sin and death and darkness, is returned to us. And to God, its rightful King…Not fully perhaps. Night still cast its shadow. Yet that shadow is shrinking steadily. One day it will disappear altogether, and this Easter joy will be everything. Then we will know what we have only glimpsed, what we have only tasted here and there. We will know we have come home.”
My soul doesn’t sing when I see a sunset or hear rolling thunder. Nature doesn’t usually inspire me to proclaim the greatness of God. Like Mary at the Annunciation, my heart is most prone to magnify the Lord when I encounter marvelous words. Perhaps that’s why when I read passages like the above quote from Roots and Sky, I want to whisper, “Magnificat anima mea Dominum” to the world.
My soul doth magnify the Lord, indeed.
– Darrel Holcombe, Owner
Sanctuary Christian Books and Gifts
Colonial Promenade, Alabaster
