Just Think: Nourish Your Mind to Feed Your Soul

"Find a way to be a link in the chain, to make what you've learned available to someone else. What can you pass on?" ~Nancy J. Nordenson Nancy J. Nordenson draws on her own inner wisdom to solve issues in her own life. She also loves to read, as is evidenced by the many books she mentions. She quotes Jane Austen, Viginia Woolf, Gustave Flaubert, Dodie Smith and many others. She also includes passages from the Psalms. "Giving written form to thoughts is a concrete way of paying attention to them. It is also a way to untangle and expand them. Sometimes anchoring and examining thoughts through writing is the only way we can discover what we really do think and feel about a subject." ~Nancy J. Nordenson I enjoyed Nancy's insightful approach and her wisdom is encouraging. If you feel trapped in everyday responsibilities, this book will give you many ideas for escaping the chaos and for finding a peaceful retreat. Here are the main topics: A Mind for Life - God, Integrity, Abundance, Powerful Thoughts. The Needed Balance of Faith and Reason/Heart and Mind Forward Movement - What's Next? Breadth of Life, Fullness of Thought - The well-stocked mind, books by your bed Accommodations for Thought - Solitude, A Season for Everything Mental Readiness - Captured on Paper, Preference for Knowledge Befogged - Clarity, Melancholy, Boredom Self-Knowledge - A Student of your own life Truth - A Sometimes Skeptic Questions and Answers - Unexpected Discovery Stretch and Strain - Simple/Complex Lifelong Learning - The Round Table of Counsel Rhythm: Work and Rest Action - Choose the Way The Pursuit of Wisdom I liked her ideas about distraction being the enemy of sustained productive work. She notes: "physical separation from distraction is the first line of defense..." That would work if my new kitten would decide if she wants to be inside the house or outside on the deck, for I do believe I can hear her meowing for both while I'm trying to write. She reminds me of my own nature, sometimes I want to be reading and doing everything else at the same time. This entire book basically is encouraging women to become more fully active in their intellectual lives and not to ignore their need to be entranced by a delicious book. She also focuses on a woman's spiritual development and draws much of her inspiration from books she has read, her own wisdom and biblical stories and principles. Just Think is amusingly enough a book that makes you think about what you want to think about in the near future. You might end up with a list of books to read after seeing all the quotes! ~The Rebecca Review

"Just Think: Nourish Your Mind To Feed Your Soul" was a subject of discussion on a Christian web site. What attracted me to the book was the extensive Bibliography: Dillard,Fitzgerald,Pascal,Adler,Lewis,Woolf,Emerson,et al. I have read more than half of these books over seventy plus years.It is obvious that the author has also, but as evidence her picture on the back cover, in half the time as me. God has allowed Nancy Nordenson to combine the wisdom and knowledge of these books. She has gleaned the essence from each of them to present a meaningful and rewarding reading experience,as the subtitle promises, to: "Nourish Your Mind To Feed Your Soul." In Chapter Four under a subtitle "In The Game" she discusses living vicariously and how important it is for our growth to experience life from writing our own resume to riding a train. Then she paints this picture: "If you wanted to learn about trains....by reading a stack of books...you could learn a great deal....But unless you traveled by train, you couldn't learn a number of things: the smell inside the train car; the feel of the upholstery; the gentle rocking as the train speeds along; the sound of the whistle as the train moves through a crossing;the sight of people at a small town station waiting either to board or to greet disembarking friends or family;...." And the last page of chapter six where she compares information and knowledge with an antipasto: "Information is like individual small bowls, each filled with olives, peppers, provolone cheese, salami or olive oil dressing. In contrast, knowledge is like those same ingredients all placed into one large bowl, tossed gently, and allowed to marinate until the flavors are married and a complete antipasto salad is ready to be enjoyed." By absorbing the wisdom from this book, and turning it over to God for His direction,I allow myself to be guided to accomplishments of expectations I have allowed to lie dormant much too long. Nancy Nordenson has written a book to read and study; and a bibliography to savor much like that antipasto salad of knowledge.

I couldn't put Just Think down once started. This book is a fresh,inviting & healthy journey to explore the depths of human knowledge. Nordenson assists the reader in learning to examine this knowledge by light of day and light divine. She also extends grace to those who have fallen into dull routines and self-limitations. The reader will be alternately delighted by quotations from a vast array of writers, both classic and contemporary, and pushed deep into reflection by the challenges found in these beautifully crafted pages.

In "Just Think -- Nourish Your Mind To Feed Your Soul", I appreciate getting permission from the author to think, dream, investigate, imagine, and ponder. Daily life may dictate an obligation to be relentlessly busy, but Ms Nordenson catches my attention and I can stop for a minute to think. She lets me breathe. She kindly hands me free admission into the life of the mind, encourages me to explore, and gives me some directional pointers along the way. Since this is a book that I can pick up for short sections and easily-scanned quotes, I feel invited to come back whenever I want. Highly readable and personally encouraging!