Madeleine L'Engle: An Epic in Time

Links for Learning

Finding Curriculum Connections for High School Teachers and Students

This month’s Links for Learners will support high school curriculum in:

• Religion—ecumenism; the Incarnation
• English—literature; children's writers
• Creative Arts—poetry, dance, sculpture

Finding Links for Discussion Group Leaders and Participants

Look for connections for use in programs outside the classroom, such as:

• Parish sacramental preparation programs and CCD classes; young adult discussion programs; seasonal discussion groups; RCIA programs.
• Parents will also find this material useful in initiating discussion around the dinner table, in home study, at family activities or as preparation for parent/teacher meetings.

Understanding Basic Terms in This Month’s Article

Look for these key words and terms as you read the article. Definitions or explanations can be researched from the article itself, or from the resource materials cited throughout the Links for Learners.

Newbery Award Catholic Religious differences

Episcopalian Creative Arts

Anglican Incarnational activity

Creative Arts as Incarnational Activity

In his book, The Sacraments: How Catholics Pray, Father Thomas Richstatter presents the sacraments as the liturgy of the Church, the way we as a Church pray. Liturgy is the public prayer of the Church, with Jesus as the foundation of all the sacraments. The Church is his Body, the visible sign of his invisible presence in our world. The life of the Church, says Richstatter, is the incarnational activity that reveals Jesus to the world. Sacraments, then, exist in the context of this public prayer.

We are also familiar with the life of a Christian believer as incarnational activity. The Christian lives in such a way that her life reveals something of God and his love for us. Incarnational activity makes the invisible visible to us. It reveals something of the invisible God to us.

Sacramentals are other revelatory signs. Holy water, candles and incense enhance the symbolism of liturgy and prayer. We know how a picture, a statue, an icon can remind us of Jesus and his saints.

Madeleine L'Engle encourages us to think more broadly about incarnational activity. Writing, dance, painting, sculpture, music are creative expressions that offer us a glimpse of our invisible God. L'Engle sees her writing as incarnational, revelatory of God. For her it is a form of contemplative prayer. "To paint a picture or to write a story or to compose a song is an incarnational activity," she says.

How can creative expressions such as music, dance and art reveal God to us? How can they contribute to our prayer life, to our public prayer as a Church?

Discuss creative activity as incarnational activity. Select a favorite book, a treasured poem, a musical composition or a popular song, a beautiful painting or work of art. Share with your class or group what qualities of the divine may show through in the work you chose. If you yourself are a writer, an artist, a performer, talk about what your creative expression may reveal of God's love. Parents can engage their children by talking to them about one of their favorite bedtime stories.

In the classroom students may have access on the Internet to Webshots.com, which offers downloadable photos of nature, places of interest and diverse peoples. Choose a photo that offers you a glimpse of God and share your feeling about it with your classmates.

For L'Engle, the artist, the performer who professes faith in Jesus reveals Jesus to the world when she is most open to serving her talent. "You have to serve your gift," says L'Engle. "When I'm really writing, I'm listening, and I'm not in control." L'Engle says further, "Often, when we listen to the work, it takes us places we have no idea where we're going. Surprises always follow." Have you had a similar experience when working on or responding to a creative activity? Have you opened your heart and "listened" so deeply that you were surprised where you ended up? Did you share this with anyone? L'Engle told her interviewer, "I wanted my children to … learn about life and love from me." Who learns about life and love from each of us? What incarnational activities in our lives reveal something of Jesus to those around us?

For additional activity, research the life of an artist, a creative person. Learn more about the life of Madeleine L'Engle, or choose another person from your own interests or from A&E's Biography. Check out other winners of The Newbery Award for children's writing, or other children's authors recommended by the American Library Association. For information on the spirituality of creative work, see Channeling the Muse, offered by Grace Cathedral of San Francisco.

We All Need Heroes

"What would you do without heroes?" L'Engle asks. "We wouldn't have anything to aim for." Talk about your heroes. They may be real-life individuals, or perhaps fictional characters you keep coming back to. What makes them heroic to you? What qualities stand out above the ordinary, flawed characteristics we all share?

Here are several possibilities to help guide your thinking:

Include in your discussion of heroes several individuals or fictional characters like Piaf who may not appear heroic to most. Talk about how God may work through them so that they reveal something of his love in spite of apparently contradictory circumstances.

Further Resources

Cathedral of St. John the Divine, where L'Engle is writer-in-residence

Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg—a resource for writers

Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott—a resource for writers

The Sacraments: How Catholics Pray, Father Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M., St. Anthony Messenger Press

Try accessing some of these Internet sources for further reference. Be aware, however, that some of these sites may charge for downloading articles contained within the site’s archives.