Exploring the Intersection of Faith and Art Through the Lens of Walking on Water

Daniel G Keohane: My first nonfiction from L'engle after ready a biography of her. This is a sweet, sometimes rambling journey through her views on art, writing, and faith, and how the three can often be very intertwined. Short interesting book with some great points. Well narrated, too.

United States on Sep 01, 2023

Joel Crumbley: Buy this book. Seriously. There is so much gold inside of it I'm saving it with my other favorite books to read, and WILL be going back through it again and again. Jesus is so much more cosmic than the church seems to realize, but she taps into this truth many times in clarity and strength. Great work for artists of any kind to read if they don't want to just reproduce "Chaos from chaos." Do yourself a favor, indulge in this book.

United States on Aug 26, 2023

John David Zechiel: I enjoy Madeleine L'Engle's children's stories and appreciate that she writes "Christian themes" without writing them as explicitly religious, so I was interested to hear more discussion of her faith and how she approaches her craft. This book is definitely from her heart and is thought provoking at times with acute insights. That said, it feels like she kind of just poured out her thoughts stream-of-consciousness in front of a typewriter and didn't bother to organize or edit them. It also reveals a kind of "squishy" "new-agey" approach to her faith (which could definitely be summed up as Anglican, haha), but it is insightful as to her heart and philosophy of art. Worth a read to get your intellectual juices flowing, but I wouldn't take it as gospel.

United States on Apr 27, 2023

KOB: I love basically everything Madeline L'Engle has written. This book is a thoughtful explanation. of the inseparability of art and religion for a Christian. It examines how the recent loss of humanity's collective imagination deprives us of the wonder of creation and the active suspense of disbelief that faith requires. She comments on the role of art in prayer and how the true task of the artist is to be a servant, one who creates cosmos in the chaos. This clearsighted reflective book is incredible!!! Also go read Ring of Endless Light by her because it's life-changing!

United States on Mar 12, 2023

Nancy Kimball: As a creative writer, I loved so much about this book, even when it made me cringy or challenged some of my intellectual superiority that needs some adjusting. I had at least two things to highlight, flag, star or reread in every single chapter, and this will stay on my keeper shelf right beside Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Her perspectives are profound, well presented, and I found them to be alarmingly timely in our current time despite having been written some time ago. I needed to read slowly, and appreciate that this book, while only in part, rips straight into the heart of the question is there a difference between Christian art and art. Is the distinction necessary, needed, and sometimes even possible? Quotes that have stuck in my brain from this book are:
"If I leave the story for a day, it leaves me for 3."
"Keep the clock wound." - On the important of writing every day or even in seasons of non-inspiration.
"Would I want the children to see?"
And just everything about "serving the work" and "Feeding the Lake."
HIGHLY recommend, primarily for those who share the Christian faith in any denomination, but lots of deep thought and...

United States on Sep 23, 2022

Thoughtful shopper: As both a Christian and an artist, I really wanted to like this book. The first chapter is excellent but then it seems to descend into a stream of conscious ramble. I think it is also quite dated. I have 2 chapters to go. I am forcing myself to read them.

United Kingdom on Jun 01, 2022

Cindy B.: I had not realized that L’Engle was a Christian. I’d read A Wrinkle in time as a young child, almost 18 years before I came to faith. When I saw this book in a search for “Christian creativity” I was intrigued. It is a wonderfully deep book, but pleasant and easy to read. L’Engle’s faith is built on sound doctrine, and I found great insight into what being a Christian artist or writer is all about.

Canada on Mar 29, 2020

Sally: Lovely book that connects the beautiful things in life - art and faith.

Canada on Sep 14, 2019

Amazon Customer: This is a beautifully written, fascinating exploration of what it means to be a Christian, and to create art. L'Engle focuses on writing, as that's her medium, but many of the underlying principles hold true for the other expressive arts as well - visual arts, acting, and so forth. L'Engle also weaves in a discussion of faith itself, of what it means to be human, as co-creators of the world with God. I have never highlighted a book as much as I did this one, so many amazing passages, resonating with deep truth.
Highly, highly recommend, and especially recommend for anyone with an interest in living in this world as a Christian artist.

Australia on Aug 09, 2017

TLChurcher: Madeleine L’Engle is best known for her children’s fantasy series, A Wrinkle In Time and other works of fiction. However, in this truly inspiring book, she writes her own reflections on her Christian faith and shares some of the background to her writing process of some of her novels. Whether you are a writer or an actor or an illustrator or creative on another level, this book will speak to you. On the other hand, if you are spiritually minded of any faith, this will enliven your faith and perhaps even inspire you to test your creative juices once more. The author explains how we lose our child-like creativity, forgetting how to ‘walk on water.’ Madeleine shows us how faith and art intermingles when she writes, ‘I have often been asked if my Christianity affects my stories, and surely it is the other way around; my stories affect my Christianity….’ She also writes, ’I learn that my feelings about art and my feelings about the creator of the universe are inseparable. To try to talk about art and about Christianity is for me one and the same thing, and it means attempting to share the meaning of life, what gives it, for me, its tragedy and its glory. It is what...

United Kingdom on Mar 02, 2014