“language is given to man so that he mightcreate, destroy, and perish, andreturn to the immortal, to the mistressand mother, that he might bear witness to what hehas inherited, learned from her, her the mostdivine, the all-sustaining love.” — An excerpt from “Im Walde” by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843) In the essay On Fairy-Stories by J.R.R. …
Will and Lu travel to Seville for their second honeymoon, exactly during Semana Santa (Holy Week). It’s a wonderful mix of magical realism, time travel, and doppelgängers, with vivid imagery that reminded me of the film The Grand Budapest Hotel. I could imagine myself in Seville, capturing a picture of a café painted bright yellow, …
The Wayfinder by Adam Johnson is a mind-blowing, unputdownable Polynesian epic. While the book is about a specific group of people in the ancient Tongan Kingdom, exploring their beautiful culture and sometimes difficult practices, it is highly relatable to today’s world and to each individual. It is a vast book that has the universe and …
“… most of my life I have found myself standing alone, fighting for my corner. Thankfully I have had the resilience and determination to stand by my beliefs, and now I also have Lance as my wingman, supporting me, as he promised when we got married.”– Ruth Shaw, Three Wee Bookshops at the End of …
“Lange lieb’ ich dich schon…” — Friedrich Hölderlin “I have loved you for a long time…” wrote Hölderlin in his poem Heidelberg. But how long is a long time? How about twenty years? It was in 2005 when I first visited this enchanting, romantic city with my sister. We were tourists then, right before I …
I’m back from the trip to friends’ wedding. The wedding was very inspiring, loves were flowing everywhere. The reason we gathered there was to celebrate the love between the newly-wed. Love is a decision and they made the decision in front of us, what a privilege to have witnessed that. Besides, I saw what mother …
What is Christmas to you? As for me, Christmas is when God left His paradise home. This picture is particularly vivid this Christmas after reading the book “Die Weisheit der Lilien” by Weifan Wang. A book that I encountered in a public bookcase not long ago. “When Adam left paradise, we human began to feelthe …
Today I accompanied 3 funerals on the organ. It was a very special day to accompany funeral on 19.12. Around 90% of the funerals that I played, bereaved families wish to have Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Von guten Mächten” (By Gracious Power) at the funeral. This poem is originally written for his fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer-Weller, in …
“Hugh and I were married at St. Chrysostom’s Church on January 26, 1946. … …There in the chapel of the church, Hugh and I made promises, promises which for forty years we have, by some grace, been able to keep.” – Madeline L’Engle Madeline was writing this memoir while accompanying her husband Hugh going through …
Out of the Hitler Time trilogy is semi-autobiographical novels by Judith Kerr. The first book When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit is about 9 years old Anna and her family’s escape from Hitler in 1933. Her father was a fierce anti-Nazi writer, the Nazis burned his books and put a price on his head. All he …