Book of a Thousand Days

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

Good book, good book (happy dance)! Inspired by the fairy tale "Maid Maleen" and medieval Mongolia (kept making me think of a couple things I'd read of Kazakhstan for one of my classes), I think this is my favorite of Shannon Hale's YA since Goose Girl. They both appeal to my desire to be known, understood and protected without having to tell people whatever it is I want known directly to their face. Yes, that's kind of an unhealthy desire. But, even in its perversion, I think it provides a glimpse of God's understanding of us, so far beyond what we could ever tell Him. Maybe that's why it seems so romantic and lovely in story form. And it's not like the main character in either story could have solved all the problems by herself with better active communication (or at least, she couldn't know that she could), or like either of them were particularly passive and helpless -- I only mention it and say it's an unhealthy desire because, as another book reminded me, I can forget that my husband can't magically read my mind, and that I shouldn't love him any less for that. But in relation to God, it makes a lot of sense. And our romance here on earth often mirrors that, albeit dimly. Every so often we understand each other better than we understand ourselves...

"Oh Master, grant that I may never seek...
...to be understood, as to understand..."