"Luci Shaw is a legend" —Christianity Today This captivating collection of poems by beloved author Luci Shaw, reflects on daily ideas and activities as they arrive, bit by bit, to illuminate us with their wisdom and enlarge on the meanings of human experience. Like small messages from beyond, these incidents call us to pay attention. In An Incremental Life, Shaw breathes life into the simpleness of the every-day and finds God in the memory of the mundane. Through her verses, she explores the intricate tapestry of existence, from the tender memories of childhood to the profound questions of mortality. Her poems are like windows opening to the soul, inviting readers to pause, reflect, and savor the beauty of the world around them. INCREMENTS I live by increments, single breaths of an ambient air, marking off hours, days. Apprenticed to grace, I tread statio in sequentiae, edging every step forward before venturing the next. Staggering up towards the stony crests of the foothills, dusty, I am almost undone with weariness, only half believing that the view will widen. In my falling upward into your home, O Faithful One, stay with me, your wind music playing the ear of my mind like an instrument. "This is how life happens, one day at a time, in increments! And God is in each of them for us," Luci Shaw
Author
Luci Shaw is a poet, essayist, teacher and retreat leader. Born in England in 1928, she has lived in Australia and Canada and (since 1950) in the United States. She is the author of a number of nonfiction books, including God in the Dark and Water My Soul. Her first book of poetry, Listen to the Green, was published in 1971. It was followed by several others, including Polishing the Petosky Stone, Writing the River, The Angles of Light and, most recently, Accompanied by Angels and What the Light Was Like. Her poems have appeared in publications such as Books & Culture, The Christian Century, Crux, Image, Radix, Rock & Sling, Nimble Spirit and Weavings. Musical settings for several of her poems have been composed by Knut Nystedt, Alice Parker, Frederick Frahm and Allen Cline. Many of her poems have also been anthologized. Currently, Shaw serves as Writer in Residence at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, while based in Bellingham, Washington, with her husband, John Hoyte. She also travels widely to speak and teach on topics such as poetry, journaling and the Christian imagination. Her website reflects some of her many other interests—wilderness camping, sailing, gardening and nature photography. [From Amazon's Luci Shaw page]
