A couple of things that have been stirring in my soul lately…
Wondering why the buildings and architecture and cathedrals of Italy and Paris were so beautifully moving and why we do not attempt the same kind of ornate beauty today.
Wondering who my teachers are? My teachers are old, many of them are dead. Recently I asked Brian, “Who is the next C.S. Lewis?” Many of the authors shaping our lives and theology are ancient history, who is next?
Ive also been wondering why my love for art begins in ancient Greece and Rome but ends with Impressionism. How come modern things don’t move me the same way old things do? Perhaps I am an old soul?
Then I read this post, a fairly recent entry from Donald Miller on his blog:
I follow several writers on twitter and noticed one of them consistently tweets about television. Every night the writer tweets about some reality show they are watching or repeats a line from a sit com. I’d not think much of it except the writer I am thinking of is exceptionally talented and I wondered to myself if this weren’t a brain as able as Flannery O’Connor or Ernest Hemmingway, sitting on the couch, destined to release book after book of half-developed ideas. In other words, I wondered if this writer weren’t great soil being used to plant “just okay” seed. I wondered this while I was sitting on the couch, watching television. It was enough to make me stand up and turn the thing off.
No culture in history has been more distracted. If you are wondering why there are no more C.S. Lewis’ in the world, no more stories as good as Tolkien’s, no cathedrals as great as the gothic’s, no music as moving as Pachelbel’s, it may be because the writers of these books, the tellers of these stories, the architects of these buildings and the composers of these symphonies are sitting on their couches watching television. I wonder what’s on tonight.
I am in NO WAY hating on television. I love shows and find them inspiring and something creatively re-charging. But this blog post by Miller HIT HOME hardcore.
I find myself with unfulfilled dreams. If this is the year I am to be courageous then perhaps I need to rethink my 6:00 – 10:00 pm line-up, which has (sadly) come to consist of dinner, facebook, twitter and television; peppered with an occassional attempt at reading or scripture memory.
I think its time to turn things inside out.
annielauriewalters.com 
Good writing, Friend! You know I think Miller is a modern-day Lewis. Loved this post that I linked to from Twitter which I was checking from the couch while….of course, watching tv.
Thanks P! Let’s see if I follow through!
Um, I loved it… And all your blogs. But seriously, the people at the CS Lewis Institute talk about Tim Keller being this generation’s Lewis. And yes, I miss/crave what you crave… I kind of wish there were groups that sat around, thought deeply, and waxed poetic on the ways of the world… 🙂
Ashley that sounds like an awesome idea!! Maybe we should start something. But is has to be at a cafe somewhere so that the cafe can be famous one day! 🙂