What I’m Reading

Alice Bass, an actor and creativity expert I featured last spring, tagged me with a book meme a couple of weeks ago. (Sorry, Alice, that I’m just now getting to it.) Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

The nearest book on my desk is one I’m slowly savoring called It was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God (Square Halo Books). It’s a collection of essays edited by Ned Bustard, who I featured in December. Page 123 falls in the middle of a piece titled “Why We Need Artists” by Tim Keller, founding pastor of Manhattan’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church, known for its arts program.

So, here we go. Page 123, 5th sentence and then the next three:

“There is a sort of schizophrenia that occurs if you are listening to Bach and you hear the glory of God and yet your mind says there is no God and there is no meaning. You are committed to believing nothing means anything and yet the music comes in and takes you over with your imagination. When you listen to great music, you can’t believe life is meaningless. Your heart knows what your mind is denying.”

Keller’s next sentence explains why we need artists. You’ll have to wait until Thursday’s post for that one.

Now, for step #5, I’m tagging these people:

Crystal writes fiction and nonfiction with humor and warmth. I love her voice. She used to write book reviews, too, because she is a voracious reader. She will have a fun and interesting read, no doubt.

Byron from Hearts and Minds Books always has something wonderful on his desk. I hope he has time to do this.

With his book, Chandler Branch, Executive Director of Soli Deo Gloria, may continue the music theme of Keller’s quotation above, but maybe not.

Plus, two other gifted writers I know, both of whom have major projects on their desks right now: Towles and Colin.

So, what are you reading?