Finally

Well, I'm about to finish my book, The Spiral Staircase, by Karen Armstrong, and frankly there's nothing much in there as far as tips about writing. Toward the end, however, she says something that I thought quite appropo to what we have been learning. Her book is about her travels through finding herself after having spent 7 yrs. as a nun, and after Googling her I find that she has written several books about different religions. Her quote which touched me follows.

"Like the words of a poem, a religious idea, myth, or doctrine points beyond itself to truths that are elusive, that resist words and conceptualization. If you seize upon a poem and try to extort its meaning before you are ready, it remains opaque. If you bring your own personal agenda to bear upon it, the poem will close upon itself like a clam, because you have denied its unique and separate identity, its own inviolable holiness. I found this to be true in my study of literature. As soon as I had stopped trying to use it to advance my career, it began to speak to me again. Now I was having the exact same experience with theology."

Maybe sometimes we try too hard instead of letting things just evolve to a point we're ready to absorb and understand them. Of course, when "Teacher" says "do it," you can't always wait for the "aha" moment. OUR teacher has been very flexible about letting us do things at our own pace, and that is very much appreciated! Thank you, Kim.