Author Archives: Lisa M. Nolan

Part II: Simone Weil on School Studies in_Waiting for God_ (The Essays)

In the second half of Simone Weil’s, Waiting for God, there are several extensive essays on the love of God. While the first essay on school studies might seem out of place; it is in keeping with her main focus, but approached from the point of view of our love for God, rather than God’s […]

Part I: The Way of Simone Weil: _Waiting For God_(The Letters)

This Easter I was praying at home — typically I would be traveling back and forth to church during the Triduum, starting with the foot washing on Holy Thursday and ending with the Saturday vigil. I would be singing, sitting still, looking around to see who I knew and trying to maintain a sense of […]

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

I was so excited about Housekeeping that I suggested, or rather insisted, my 11 year old read it. She read about four pages and said it was too confusing. I could not let it end there as I felt this was a book she would like. “Why is it too confusing?” I asked.  She said […]

Where Poetry Ends and Prayer Begins, Christian Wiman’s _My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer_

In short, My Bright Abyss is structured loosely as short prose entries, which include Wiman’s poetry and the poetry of other poets, and his life experiences nested together as expressions of his thoughts on religion.