Louisa May Alcott illuminated by The Message
As a result of her unusual upbringing, Louisa May Alcott learned to see God not in the pulpit or the congregation but in nature and everyday life as an accessible and loving Father and Friend. It was that innate part of her being which poured forth from her pen. In Little Women Alcott writes, “Many wise and true sermons are preached us every day by unconscious ministers in street, school, office, or home….”
"My favorite of the sampled devotions used a story from Little Women. In the book, Miss Alcott shows Beth lovingly mothering the cast-off, tattered old dolls of her sisters. This story is paired with verses from Psalm 9, which are translated by The Message as: God’s a safe-house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times. The moment you arrive, you relax; You’re never sorry you knocked. (Psalm 9:9:10, The Message) ...The story is sweet–“Beth the good” doing good even in her play. The verses chosen are reassuring. God is a sanctuary for us like Beth was to the dolls."
-Lisa Hopewell, Hopewell's Library of Life
Susan Bailey is an author and blogger, professional musician and speaker whose writing appears regularly in The Catholic Free Press, CatholicMom.com and the Association of Catholic Women Bloggers; she has also written for Catholic.net, Catholic Online. She has sung on CatholicTV, EWTN and at World Youth Day 2002. Susan maintains two blogs: Be as One and Louisa May Alcott is My Passion. Her first book, River of Grace: Creative Passages Through Difficult Times will be released by Ave Maria Press October 30, 2015.
The Literary Portals to Prayer series is the first truly new resource for personal prayer in years. Designed to be a prayer-starter in the "Lectio Divina" tradition, the portal has a passage from the Bible side-by-side with a selection from an author whose work has stood the test of time. Each turn of the page ties together literature and scripture with an insightful theme.
