Customer Reviews

To Sing You Must Exhale

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I thought this was a great book! The poems are very well done, and the illustrations are great. The cover art is one of the things that I love about this book. I think Mrs. Mulderink has written a great book and everone should read it!

Ms. Mulderink's honest prose is always a deeply joyful perspective of our life in Him. "To Sing You Must Exhale" invites us to rest a while in the steady Love that never loses sight of each of us. These beautifully crafted verses are worthy of reading aloud to one another; the exquisite illustrations by Victor KyNam make it doubly a gift for mind and soul.

With beauty and grace, Kathryn Mulderink writes in a way that both uplifts and inspires.

I have been truly touched by this work. The sheer honesty and openess speaks right to my heart. Thank you Kathryn for allowing the Holy Spirit to work through you in this way.

If you are a lover of poetry this book will be a favorite, if you aren't, this book will convert you.

Wow! Kathryn has brought a very deep subject down to an understandable level, in which we find new avenues to approach our loving and merciful God. Through life's trials and joys Kathryn reveals her very soul to us and allows us to explore our relationship with God more deeply. Thank you for bringing to light this beautiful poetry.

As Marty Barrack states in the Foreward of "To Sing You Must Exhale," "poems bypass the intellect and write directly upon our hearts." Kathryn Mulderink's poetry is beautiful, meant to be read, savored, re-read, and pondered in the heart and soul. Mulderink describes herself as a "thirtysomething homeschooling mother of seven" who offers this slim book of verse composed over the course of twenty years as a gift to all who receive it. In her poetry, she explores the soul's reaching out for God and God's response.

"To Sing You Must Exhale" is divided into three parts: "From Hearts of Stone," "Leaping with the Heart," and finally, "The Beating Heart of God." Each section corresponds to a stage on our spiritual journey as we search for union with God.

Mulderink's writings are truly Catholic. While they speak to the universal longing of the soul for God, they do so firmly within the Catholic experience of faith. The Eucharist as True Presence is a prevalent theme (very appropriate as this is "The Year of The Eucharist" in the Catholic Church), as is Marian Devotion. Included in the collection are a few poems that were written for a particular event or person and are more formal and traditional in nature. These are Mulderink's weakest efforts. As most any artist can tell you, it is very difficult to force creativity. It is when the Spirit is flowing through you and the inspiration comes from God that the work takes on a life of its own. Fortunately for us, the Spirit was hard at work in the vast majority of Mulderink's verse. God has used her words to help bring us to God.

Any review would be incomplete without a mention of the illustrations by Victor Kynam, a seminarian "who dedicates all his art to the Holy Trinity and the Blessed Virgin Mary." His black and white line drawings, many with intricate undertones and hidden images, only add to the experience of the verse. Both words and pictures unite in a mystical prayer to God.


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