As I was reading it was easy for thoughts like, "Is this really orthodox?" or "Where is she going with this?" to float across my brain. But much like Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, this book is a tonic. Madeleine L'Engel's writing is thoroughly Christian in the same way that other mystics are - she is good about pointing out that often we obsess over facts when scripture is about truth. She writes about the value of story and points to the story telling Savior. I don't agree with everything she says, sometimes because it makes me too uncomfortable and as she would point out that's exactly what the words of Truth do.

But like other mystics of the faith she reopens me to the mystical, wondrous beauty of Christianity. And as the title would indicate, the Rock is central to this memoir, her story, and writing. For her and this book I am grateful.

Made it halfway and could not hear anymore. She is wise and has wonderful thoughts but it was like a diary of thoughts that never take me anywhere or provide much meat to the life of faith.

Sort of a sequel to Walking on Water. Some more lovely reflections on faith and art. I don't always agree with her, but I love her passion and transparency.

Really enjoyed this book, even though she rambles quite a bit. It's a reflective narrative that follows her recovery process from a spiritual perspective after a gruesome car crash. I was really touched by the way she unpacked all the theological queries and doubts she went through as she pondered what had happened to her. I wanted to read it again when I was done, and might do so in the future.

I enjoyed this one and learned some things, but I don’t think it was her best. There were some rants that I didn’t enjoy and some straying from the topic.

My second read. Classic Madeleine. Spiritually uplifting, perfect for these dark times.

“Jesus taught by telling stories, parables, myths, and his stories were true, though not everybody could hear them. Jesus came to show us through his stories what it is to be human and what it is to be heroic and to understand heroes. He told stories to show us how to counteract our sins and imperfections with love, rather than anger; to show us how to rejoice, to laugh, to heal; and the world couldn’t stand true humanness, and tried to kill it” (203).

“Story makes us more alive, more human, more courageous, more loving. Why does anybody tell a story? It does indeed have something to do with faith, faith that the universe has meaning, that our little human lives are not irrelevant, that what we choose or say or do matters, matters cosmically” (207).

The Rock that is Higher contains L'Engle's reflections from about 5 years after her husband's death. On the way to a lecture, a truck hit the car L'Engle was riding in and nearly killed her. She wrote this book as she dealt with a long, frustrating, painful recovery. In this book, L'Engle explores the nature of story and truth. Story conveys truth, and the truth conveyed by story goes beyond that of mere facts.

L'Engle's main source of inspiration in these reflections is the Bible. This puts her in a very interesting position on the question of whether or not the Bible is literally true. In her opinion, it seems, the literal truth of the Bible does not matter as much as the stories and the truth contained in them. Focusing on story rather than fact gave L'Engle strength through the process of her recovery. A list of facts does not convey meaning, but narrative, story, does, and it is through story that we understand the world.

There are some great nuggets of wisdom sprinkled throughout; however, the writing rambles and feels incredibly jumbled.

I finished this forever ago but forgot to rate it 5/5 love it Maddie

I must read L’Engle’s nonfiction very slowly for there is much to digest. I rarely agree fully with every point she makes, but I aways find my thinking challenged by her words and take away much that ultimately gives me clarity on matters I had not known needed her help.

In this book we see Madeleine in her 70s, sharing an apartment with her college-aged grand-daughters, reading her prayer book morning and evening, and making a life for herself after Hugh's death. Crosswicks now belongs to her son and daughter-in-law. Most of her books were written during the cold war, whereas here she has lived to see the end of the Soviet Union and many other changes in the world. It's not unlike meeting Katherine again in A Severed Wasp after reading A Small Rain and other reunions we experience throughout Madeleine's writings. Many of the stories deal with her recovery from a bad car accident and how it affected her perspective.