i finally finished this book that i've had for awhile, "one thousand gifts" by ann voskamp. it took me awhile to get through, but i finally closed the back cover the other night with a long exhale.
this was not an easy book. i will say this: it was exquisite. i mean, its like pure poetry much of the time. she writes about her simple farm life, her maternal and domestic orbit from day to day, but the way she writes it and tells it makes it feel so cosmic and artful. in a sense, this extravagantly gorgeous way of writing serves her point well: that every moment is latent with opportunities for giving thanks. but it is also a bit heavy handed at times, almost beating the reader over the head with beauty.
that's really my only complaint. that, and the fact that the writing is so poetry-like that it took me forever to read because i wanted to linger on every image and play of words.
but those complaints are minor, when lined up against the message of the book: that one of the key elements of living a good life is being thankful all the time and for everything. she argues, quite exquisitely, that if we can learn how to give thanks for all the little unnoticed gifts, as well as all struggles and difficulties, then we will learn to trust more, we will learn to live more. living fully and living in the immense love of God is all about being willing to live in true gratitude to God for the gift of each breath and each moment and each messy, broken situation. it's all about giving thanks.
and so, i liked it. i was moved by it. i was challenged by it. i was changed by it. and, of course, i am thankful for it.
but now i'm on to some lighter fiction to give my brain a rest.
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