BOOK REVIEW: When the Heart Waits

I said to my soul, be still and wait...

So the darkness shall be the light,

and the stillness the dancing,

T. S. Eliot

This fragment from a T.S.Eliot poem is the appropriate introduction to Sue Monk Kidd’s personal journal, WHEN THE HEART WAITS. Ms. Kidd is best known for her bestselling novels, The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings. I loved both novels, but as an inspirational writer, she hits a personal chord with me.

WHEN THE HEART WAITS is the author’s year long journey during a midlife crisis, going from the depths of feeling that life has no meaning to starting to find the unique person she was meant to be. In a world of quick fixes, Ms.Kidd learns the lesson of active waiting from a found cocoon.

The use of the cocoon as a metaphor for rebirth is not uncommon, but Ms. Kidd puts the emphasis on the fact that the larva is waiting, alone, in the dark. The waiting during a dark period of life is the important part of the growth.

The book is filled with relatable literary references. Naturally we see quotes from Thomas Merton and Henry Thoreau, but Frank L. Baum’s Tin Man is an example of how we can shut off our physical feelings and Rapunzel teaches us that we have the power to help ourselves. (Why didn’t she cut her hair and use it as a ladder to climb down. She allowed other people to.)

Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus is often quoted. I have used this charming, little book as a simple explanation of death. Ms. Kidd uses it  to illustrate how frightening growth can be, but also how rewarding.

One of my favorite quotes in the book comes from the author herself:  

“People who want life hammered down into tight, legalistic certainties seem to me to be the people most insecure inside. Frankly, the folks who frighten me the most are those who are dead certain about everything, who have all the answers and no questions.”

 We are reminded that the creature that emerges from the cocoon is unique onto itself.

Contemplative spirituality should be an important part of our lives, whether we are at the morning, afternoon or evening phase of life. As we age we are changing. Sue Monk Kidd points out that  quiet, self reflection helps us to become the being that God has planned for us. WHEN THE HEART WAITS is an inspirational book written by an author of great talent and spirituality.

William Blake summed it up perfectly:

                      “To see the World in a Grain of Sand                         And Heaven in a Wild Flower,                         Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,                         And Eternity in an hour.”