Reflection In October

The trees are kindling fires on the hillsides.
In the telescopic eye of a vulture, I see myself,
a tiny woman walking beside a pond.

Oh, to be in the place I am: ducks floating,
pulling light after them. One skids, feet out,
wings beating, sliding in beside itself
on water so frail even light can cut it.
But it holds her up, it holds her up,

and the grass is transmitting messages
like a song which hasn’t yet been written.
A minor key still offers melody. Beauty
comes to me as if for the first time, singular and shy,
a song leaking through the seams of the world.

—Jeanne Murray Walker

Copyright © 2012 by the author or Christianity Today/Books & Culture magazine.Click here for reprint information on Books & Culture.

Also in this issue

Books & Culture was a bimonthly review that engaged the contemporary world from a Christian perspective. Every issue of Books & Culture contained in-depth reviews of books that merit critical attention, as well as shorter notices of significant new titles. It was published six times a year by Christianity Today from 1995 to 2016.

Our Latest

How ChatGPT Revealed a False Diagnosis

Luke Simon

A devastating cancer diagnosis wrecked a young couple. But after five years of uncertainty, a chatbot changed everything.

Excerpt

We Can’t Manifest the Good Life

Elizabeth Woodson

An excerpt from Habits of Resistance: 7 Ways You’re Being Formed by Culture and Gospel Practices to Help You Push Back.

Tearing Apart ‘The Old Thread-bare Lie’

Black journalist Ida B. Wells exposed Southern lynching.

The Bulletin

Rafah Crossing, Trump’s IRS Lawsuit, Don Lemon’s Arrest, and MAGA Jesus

Mike Cosper, Clarissa Moll

Palestinians cross into Egypt, Trump’s leaked tax documents, former CNN anchor arrested, and MAGA Jesus vs. the real Jesus.

News

European Evangelicals Tailor Anti-Trafficking Ministries

As laws and attitudes on prostitution differ from country to country, so do the focuses of local nonprofits.

Review

Women Considering Abortion Need to Hear the Truth

Becoming Pro-Grace rightly challenges churches to greater compassion but fails to equally uphold the rights of unborn children.

Saying ‘Welcome the Stranger’ Is Easy. Hosting a Toddler Is Not.

A conservative pastor I know opened his home to children whose parents were deported. His witness has me examining my comfortable life.

News

Died: Claudette Colvin, Unsung Civil Rights Pioneer

As a teenager, Colvin challenged Montgomery’s segregation law and prevailed.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube