Eucharisteo

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

Picture a dazzling spring day in the Pacific Northwest. In a small classroom at a Christian college, five senior English majors sit in a semi-circle, attentively listening to their professor as she elaborates on medieval theology. The course? Chaucer and his contemporaries.

This was my last English class in undergrad, and I remember it well. Not only were Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales entertaining, but the history surrounding his tales is remarkable.
We studied the Crusades, of course, and we studied contemporary theology. After all, the church had a lot of influence in Chaucer’s society, so he slipped in all kinds of references to Christian living and Augustinian thought. Continue reading →

Review: From Congress To The Brothel: A Journey Of Hope, Healing, And Restoration

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

From Congress To The Brothel: A Journey Of Hope, Healing, And Restoration by Linda Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A few weeks ago, Linda Smith came to our church and spoke about her journey from working in the US Congress to founding Shared Hope International–an organization that works to end human trafficking both stateside and overseas and that also works to help rescue trafficking victims and rehabilitate them. (Such sterile words for such vital work!) After service, I had the privilege of taking her out to lunch to talk about her work, and I walked away with a copy of this book. Continue reading →

Review: One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Content wise, this is a wonderful book–life changing even. However, I know that the style that Ann Voskamp uses won’t resonate with all readers–could even turn some people off by it–so that’s why I dropped a star. Continue reading →

Committed to Writing? (Don’t Do What I Do…)

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

The jaunty jingle of my cell phone alarm pleasantly drew me from my sleep, and I awoke, refreshed, my heart full of gratitude. Our two cats lifted sleepy heads, blinked slowly, and fell right back to sleep. With ease, I slipped from my bed and changed from night clothes into running gear before hopping onto the treadmill. Continue reading →

I am Edmund.

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

We all know the story. There were four children named Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy who were sent to live in the country in a large manor. The youngest, Lucy, stumbles upon a magic wardrobe that opens into a strange land blanketed with snow that is called Narnia. She returns, tells her siblings, and none of them believe her. Continue reading →

Review: The Scene Book: A Primer for the Fiction Writer

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

The Scene Book: A Primer for the Fiction Writer by Sandra Scofield

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Scofield’s approach to fiction writing is very accessible. She includes multiple examples from various texts to illustrate the different principles she discusses in this book, which I enjoyed because there were so many different styles of writing included. Continue reading →

Remembering to Breathe

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

by Calliopejen1, from Wikimedia Commons

I’m standing on a worn wooden floor, marked with dents and silvery grey streaks. Two walls of this large room are lined with floor to ceiling mirrors, and the outside wall is covered in large picture windows. It’s an unusually warm spring day, and I can feel sweat on the small of my back from the warm-up. I snap my heels together à la Dorothy Gale, and the steel taps on the bottoms of my shoes click pleasantly. The sound blends in to the other clicks around the room as the rest of the class fidgets between songs. Continue reading →

Eliza Doolittle Day

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

By William Bruce Ellis Ranken (1881-1941)
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

“What am I fit for? What have you left me fit for? Where am I to go? What am I to do? What’s to become of me?”
(Pygmalion Act 4, Line 51)

Eliza Doolittle’s words echo regularly in my mind. This is my refrain in young adulthood. No longer a child, still establishing myself as the mythical Adult, I wonder what is to become of me. Continue reading →

give thanks

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

“Eucharist [thanksgiving] is the state of the perfect man. Eucharist is the life of paradise. Eucharist is the only full and real response of man to God’s creation, redemption, and gift of heaven.”
-Alexander Schmemann Continue reading →

Snowkissed

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Ellayne Shaw

This is the first time that I want to kiss you.
I look at the snow fluffed around our feet in soft mounds.
My breath escapes my lips in wisps and clouds, mingling with yours.
In a moment, this space will be gone,
And I will have lost you.
A snowflake falls on my glove, brilliant and perfect.
My eyes look up to meet yours, but you look past me.
You’re far away, and I tread the waves of what could have been.

Confession: when I first found this poem tucked into a folder on my laptop, I did not recognize it, but I know that I wrote it, probably a couple of years ago. I don’t write poetry often, but here ya go.