Nancy Gibbs Richard
Autor(a) de Poems and Prayers
Obras por Nancy Gibbs Richard
Gathered in Love and Light 2 exemplares
Etiquetado
Conhecimento Comum
- Sexo
- female
- Locais de residência
- "Windsor, California, USA", "Portland, Oregon, USA"
Membros
Críticas
A Small Steadying Sail of Love por Nancy Gibbs Richard
I had to write the author after reading this extraordinary book of poetry. These poems really touched my heart. The photography is lovely and brightens the book nicely. These spiritual poems are perfect jumping off places for meditation. When grieving or weary or tired or joyful, I can find a poem that I want to relax in. This is a very special book, one I will read over and over. I have to say that I slept really well after spending an evening absorbed in these wonderful words.
How often in life’s turmoil do we turn to the still, calming power of the Inner Light? When I find myself tossed, or just jostled, by life’s storms, I’ve discovered the same inner strength reflected in the poetry, meditations and photos of a small book by Friend Nancy Gibbs Richard.
The book’s title, A Small Steadying Sail of Love, is a metaphor that illuminates much of the book’s content. It requires a short explanation for land-lubbers. Sailors know that a “Steadying Sail”, which is indeed small, is used to ride out tempests that would overwhelm normal sails or even no sails at all. The purpose of a steadying sail, as Nancy explains, is to safely position the boat to survive, to keep it upright and headed into the wind so that it doesn’t capsize. She emphasizes that a steadying sail doesn’t move the boat forward into the storm, but saves it for a later, safe voyage. Nancy, a member of Multnomah Friends Meeting in Portland, hopes that her book will offer just such sustaining strength through the steadying power of prayer and love.
Since I encountered her book, I have made it a daily companion. For me, each day needs to begin with a “steadying sail.” And some turbulent, worrying times require it ‘round the clock for days. What a difference these poems can make. So I keep this little book an arm’s reach away most days. It sits on my desk. It is on the table next to the bed. It is one of two or three books I choose to take with me on trips…just in case. The “Steadying Sail” is at the ready for all of my voyages, whether in safe harbor or on rough seas. And, of course, I have given copies to others similarly “at sea”.
As a teen, Nancy came to admire R.H. Blyth’s four-volume study of Japanese Haiku. While her poetry doesn’t share the formal structure of Haiku, it certainly is alive with its simple, direct and, at times, surprising images. A friend, who is also a Quaker, once told Nancy that her verses combine the confrontational power of both Quaker Query and Zen Koan.
I find particular poetic truth and power in Nancy’s images about prayer. One poem speaks of learning and trusting that God will “pray me through the hard places.” Her words offer me a new perspective on prayer. Prayers aren’t answered, they are conduits through which we are “prayed through” by the power of the Divine Spirit. She repeats and expands the idea when she writes of entering deeply and repeatedly into prayer. She concludes that when prayers are written “upon your heart.. the day may come when you find that the prayer is praying you.”
After you experience Nancy’s poems and photographs, it comes as no surprise that she says these words are prayers “praying her, “praying her through”. And for her readers as well, they pray us through.
Clearly the power here, in this small, steadying said, in this small steadying book, is the spiritual power of both prayer and love to help us survive life’s storms.
I have a couple quibbles about editorial decisions made about the book. Only at the very end, in the acknowledgements which follow the index, do we learn that Nancy is a Quaker. She was a member of Redwood Forest Friends Meeting for 25 years before coming to Portland in 2011. Several of her images are “Quakerly.”… (mais)
The book’s title, A Small Steadying Sail of Love, is a metaphor that illuminates much of the book’s content. It requires a short explanation for land-lubbers. Sailors know that a “Steadying Sail”, which is indeed small, is used to ride out tempests that would overwhelm normal sails or even no sails at all. The purpose of a steadying sail, as Nancy explains, is to safely position the boat to survive, to keep it upright and headed into the wind so that it doesn’t capsize. She emphasizes that a steadying sail doesn’t move the boat forward into the storm, but saves it for a later, safe voyage. Nancy, a member of Multnomah Friends Meeting in Portland, hopes that her book will offer just such sustaining strength through the steadying power of prayer and love.
Since I encountered her book, I have made it a daily companion. For me, each day needs to begin with a “steadying sail.” And some turbulent, worrying times require it ‘round the clock for days. What a difference these poems can make. So I keep this little book an arm’s reach away most days. It sits on my desk. It is on the table next to the bed. It is one of two or three books I choose to take with me on trips…just in case. The “Steadying Sail” is at the ready for all of my voyages, whether in safe harbor or on rough seas. And, of course, I have given copies to others similarly “at sea”.
As a teen, Nancy came to admire R.H. Blyth’s four-volume study of Japanese Haiku. While her poetry doesn’t share the formal structure of Haiku, it certainly is alive with its simple, direct and, at times, surprising images. A friend, who is also a Quaker, once told Nancy that her verses combine the confrontational power of both Quaker Query and Zen Koan.
I find particular poetic truth and power in Nancy’s images about prayer. One poem speaks of learning and trusting that God will “pray me through the hard places.” Her words offer me a new perspective on prayer. Prayers aren’t answered, they are conduits through which we are “prayed through” by the power of the Divine Spirit. She repeats and expands the idea when she writes of entering deeply and repeatedly into prayer. She concludes that when prayers are written “upon your heart.. the day may come when you find that the prayer is praying you.”
After you experience Nancy’s poems and photographs, it comes as no surprise that she says these words are prayers “praying her, “praying her through”. And for her readers as well, they pray us through.
Clearly the power here, in this small, steadying said, in this small steadying book, is the spiritual power of both prayer and love to help us survive life’s storms.
I have a couple quibbles about editorial decisions made about the book. Only at the very end, in the acknowledgements which follow the index, do we learn that Nancy is a Quaker. She was a member of Redwood Forest Friends Meeting for 25 years before coming to Portland in 2011. Several of her images are “Quakerly.”… (mais)
Estatísticas
- Obras
- 3
- Membros
- 15
- Popularidade
- #708,120
- Avaliação
- 5.0
- Críticas
- 2
- ISBN
- 1
- Marcado como favorito
- 1