The Cultivating Reader – Literary Leaf-Mould provides a fresh source of recommended books gathered from classic and contemporary authors. I will introduce you to varied genres through the ages–classic literature, poetry, and inspiring non-fiction. You may find just the right choice for a book club luncheon or tea, because breaking bread together over a good read builds fellowship. My prayer is for you to set aside time alone or with friends to linger over good words.
“These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
—John 16:33 (NASB)
I was scrolling through cat videos and vintage recipes, never expecting the mildly shocking collection of photos on my friend’s page. Daniel had posted roadside images of a van with a smashed front end and broken windshield; a man grinning in the dim light next to a recently deceased, very large bull moose; and Daniel in a kitchen holding a long piece of moose tenderloin.
The paragraph above the photographs revealed a story of gratitude. Daniel writes:
What was slated for a quiet evening was adventurously derailed when I received an urgent call from my favorite Native American, Clint, informing me he had hit a moose, and to come quickly to harvest the meat.
What an adventure!
Clint’s van is not ok.
The moose was very much not ok.
But we are harvesting as much of the meat as possible.
The boys and I spent an hour on the side of the highway cutting up the meat, and are now home and processing it.[1]
I’ve heard family tales of moose vs. automobile and they rarely have a happy ending. The animal’s near-black coat blends in with the night and they are nearly impossible to see as they slowly amble across the road. And a moose is very tall and heavy, so if your car collides with one, the animal will not just bounce off of the windshield. The gravity of the situation (no pun intended) was not lost on me and I was happy to see that Clint was fine.
I’m confident that he was grateful to survive a potentially dangerous accident, but I smiled when I thought about Clint’s response to the event. Daniel asked if he could share the story and photos on social media and his friend replied, “Make a great post out of it! What a story!” Clint found the silver lining of an unexpected adventure with a friend and a freezer full of meat for the oncoming winter. How many people might instead hit a moose with their car, miraculously walk away, but only focus on the broken car?
We have all been in that day or week or even season of tribulation. Every plate you are spinning comes crashing down and you feel helpless to piece them back together. We may not see gratitude as an act of courage, but the ability to see goodness and hope in the darkest of times is a brave choice.
Here I have selected books with characters who have lived through all manner of difficulties and sorrows, but then chose gratefulness and searched for meaning in the moment. You will also find two childhood classics to revisit and read aloud to teach the next generation about the gift of gratitude. I pray that they can be an inspiration to you!
1. To understand simple gratitude in a Holocaust camp, read The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom.
Amid shouts of other prisoners exchanging information from solitary confinement cells, Corrie hears, “Betsie ten Boom is in cell 312. She says to tell you that God is good.”[2] What a testimony! Finding the flicker of blessing amidst the darkness of evil is possible and few stories bring that truth forward like Corrie’s account of her family’s imprisonment during WWII. Her sister Betsie’s daily practice of gratitude is soul-deep inspiring.
2. Attend to the link between meaning and hardship in Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl.
This is another true account of survival in Hitler’s internment gulags. Frankl was a clinical psychologist at the time of his capture and he lived in a succession of camps where he observed his fellow prisoners’ emotional coping mechanisms. He discovered that those who found meaning in misery had a higher survival rate. He believed that we cannot avoid suffering, but we can change our perspective by searching for significance in the moment. Frankl’s straightforward story of suffering and redemption of the moment will challenge you in unexpected ways.
3. Revel and reflect poetically on the life of Christ in Accompanied by Angels by Luci Shaw.
This slim volume of Shaw’s poetry illuminates the life of Christ from Incarnation to Resurrection with her characteristic gift of brevity and emotion. Each poem reads like a meditation on the greatest example of eucatastrophe in history-the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
4. Learning how suffering leads to redemption and gratitude in The Deepest Place by Curt Thompson, M.D.
If we reflect on the life of the apostle Paul, we can grow to understand that suffering can help us understand God’s steadfast love and constant presence. Thompson bases his thesis on Romans 5:1-5, where Paul writes on tribulation, perseverance, character, and hope. The experience of hardship enables us to minister to others around us and draw them closer to Christ. Your endurance and experience can be used by God to comfort other people.
5. Find friends who feel fresh gratitude in their burrows and boats in the classic Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.
C.S. Lewis wrote, “It certainly is my opinion that a book worth reading only in childhood is not worth reading even then.”[2] This delightful story fits that description perfectly! Main characters Mole, Ratty, Badger, and Toad embody the indomitable human condition and illustrate true patience, generosity, and gratitude between dear friends. Fresh delights every time I read it!
6. Simple joys in bygone days are found in the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Growing up in the wilderness of 1800s America was a story of resilience and determination. Blizzards, locusts, and sickness were a part of life, but the snows melted, the swarms abated, and Laura’s family strengthened in resolve after every challenge. Gratefulness was the glue that held life together! The first book in the series is Little House in the Big Woods where Laura was born in 1867. I read the series so many times when I was little and always admired Laura’s brave determination.
We are foolish to think that our lives will be spared from difficulty. How we respond to those times will either weigh us down or we can refocus our hearts and souls to the One who walks through the fire with us.
[1] I am grateful to Daniel Foucachon, founder of Roman Roads Press and his friend, Clint Hughes, for permission to share their adventure in my column.
[2] Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place, Chosen Books.
[3] C. S. Lewis, Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories, “Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What’s to Be Said.”
The featured image, “Winter Solitude,” is courtesy of Julie Jablonski and used with her kind permission for Cultivating.
Annie Nardone is a lifelong bibliophile with a special devotion to the Inklings and medieval authors. She is a Fellow with the C.S. Lewis Institute and holds an M.A. in Cultural Apologetics from Houston Christian University. Annie is the Director of Visual Artists for The Cultivating Project and columnist for Cultivating Magazine. She is founding board member, managing editor, and author for the apologetics quarterly, An Unexpected Journal. Her writing can also be found as travel blogger for Clarendon Press U.K., with published poems at Calla Press and Poetica.
She holds a MA in Cultural Apologetics from Houston Christian University, and is a Fellow with the C.S. Lewis Institute. Annie writes for Cultivating, Literary Life, and Clarendon House Books, and is a managing editor and writer for An Unexpected Journal. Annie collaborated on three books in 2022, published by Square Halo Books and The Rabbit Room. She recently designed a curriculum detailing the intersection of theology, the arts, and history and is a Master Teacher for HSLDA. She resides in Florida with her Middle Earth/Narnia/Hogwarts-loving family, and an assemblage of sphynx cats and feline foundlings.
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