Hidden Art | Edith Schaeffer | DD 141

Welcome to the Dear Daughters Podcast in 2021!

If there is one thing I learned over the last year, it is the importance of stepping back from the news and media to re-engage in a habit of reading spiritual classics. The authors who I’ll be featuring on the podcast have fought the good fight and remained faithful to the end. There’s just so much we can learn from them. I want to invite you to come along with me this season and dive into the wisdom of these faithful followers of Jesus.

This next book is oh so lovely. It’s Hidden Art by Edith Schaeffer. Here are a few interesting facts about Edith:

Edith Rachel Merritt Schaeffer was born November 3, 1914, and died March 30, 2013. She was a Christian author, wife of Francis Schaeffer, and mother of Frank Schaeffer and three other children. In 1970, Edith and Francis founded L’Abri in Switzerland. L’Abri is a Christian organization that hosts guests worldwide. In the ’60s, L’Abri’s guests included backpackers, hippies, and even celebrities like Timothy Leary and Eric Clapton. Barry Hankins, a professor of history and religion at Baylor University, wrote, “Without L’Abri, Schaeffer would never have drawn the audience that made his many books possible.” He said that without Mrs. Schaeffer, “there would have been no L’Abri.” Hankins described Mrs. Schaeffer like this: “On one hand,” he said, “she held a very traditional, biblical view about women’s subservient role. On the other, she was assertive, even competitive with her husband ... She embodied marriage equality … She would never use the term, of course, but in some ways, she was the model of a sort of evangelical feminism.”

I am most enamored by Edith’s idea of hidden art at home. She believed that we were all created by the Creator to be creative, whether that’s gardening or decorating or painting or writing … Don’t you just love that?

Edith wrote, “Art in various forms expresses and gives opportunities to others to share in and respond to things which would otherwise remain vague, empty yearnings.” How do you like to create?

My hope is that you find ways to both express and share in many forms of art every day. And I pray that you are forever in awe of the Creator.

SHOW NOTES Get a copy of Hidden Art by Edith Schaeffer. Or consider a vintage copy of some special books from my own library featured in my online shop. Learn more about L’Abri today. Learn more about Mobile Loaves and Fishes and Community First! Village in Austin, TX. Visit the Community Art House to buy the notecards! The artwork for some of the cards was created by Robert Maresh. He was inspired by his very own tiny home and hopes that his art embodies the beauty that can be found at the Village. Download the FREE 2021 Goal Guide that I created just for you. Listen to my 2021 Hopeful playlist on Spotify. Get encouragement in your inbox each week: Sign up for my newsletter! Join my home church, Austin Christian Fellowship, online. Listen to more of Sara Davis Regan’s music.

Order your copy of The Grace Guide: Live Your One Beautiful Life,a guide for extending God’s grace to yourself and others.

My book, Dear Daughters, is a template for those multi-generational conversations and relationships you’re craving. Get a copy of Dear Daughters: Love Letters to the Next Generation.