“What if Jesus had a message that truly could save the world, but we’re prone to miss the point of it?” (3) This question resounds through Brian McLaren’s latest book, The Secret Message of Jesus. With wild-eyed wonder, contagious hope, and a compassionate spirit, McLaren invites us to consider the hopeful possibilities of God’s kingdom – possibilities that may remain unrealized because of our failure to grasp Jesus’s message; possibilities that may have arisen by our comfortable acceptance of the status quo; possibilities that may exist because of our willing partnership with systemic powers of evil in government, politics, and religion. This is an exciting and accessible introduction to Jesus' kingdom message. For my extended analysis, click HERE.
Disclaimer: I rarely read Christian fiction, but Bethany House was kind enough to send me a copy of this book. River Rising is a haunting tale of a black orphan, the Reverend Hale Poser, who returns to his birthplace in Pilotville, Louisiana in 1927 in an attempt to uncover his parents' identity. Upon his arrival, two notable events occur: (1) his simple faith takes on miraculous dimensions, and (2) a black baby who Reverend Poser helps deliver vanishes. This leads to a frantic search to find the baby. This search leads to an unforeseen twist in the second and third acts of the book which I won't give away. Dickson's writing style is perfect for this well-paced story patterned after the lives of Moses and Jesus.
In preparation for a series on the beatitudes, I pulled out this classic, and discovered anew why it is, indeed, a classic! Its age has not diminished its relevance. Kraybill demonstrates how the kingdom of Christ is driven by values that completely contradict the "common sense" of the world. Jesus resisted cultural expectations in his temptation in the wilderness. He offered a vision and values that harmonized with God's kingdom. He knew that kingdom values would be rejected by the dominant culture - including the religious one. "He was aware that a cross was the inevitable outcome of His aggressive love for others which frequently violated social norms" (297). This book offers fantastic cultural, historical, and social insights from Jesus' day and our own. A great book!
Crosby views the beatitudes as badges of honor for those in the household of faith. The opposite of blessing in this case is not curse, but shame. Those who seek to follow in the way of Jesus will seek to progress in embodying the values of the beatitudes. The result will be a deep, rich spirituality in harmony with Jesus' kingdom vision. This will also result in a rejection by the dominant society whose values are threatened by kingdom values. Another great book!
“The thesis of The Hidden Lives of Congregations is that congregations are living organisms that follow universal principles of systemic relationships” (1). Thus, the church is like a family, but with one important difference: “it... requires structures that make it more permeable than a biological nuclear family allows. For one thing, congregations need to be forward-looking in their perspective, which entails being willing, at times, to leave the past – including values, property, and relationships – in order to realize a vision and to fulfill its mission, in ways a family cannot. A family that does that disintegrates, but a congregation that does not do that stagnates” (8-9). Through the use of systems thinking, Galindo promises to help leaders understand two things: “First, leaders will discover how a congregation works and why it sometimes doesn’t work. Second, leaders will have a clearer understanding of their leadership roles within the congregation” (1-2). Most importantly, a leader will discover the subtle power of hidden forces in the life of a congregation that arise from the congregation's lifespan, size, spirituality style, and identity. This book is chock full of leadership insights. I wish I had read this book years ago. I highly recommend it! [Note: In the future, I hope to write an extended analysis of this book.]
"From Socrates to Schwarzenegger," Rowlands creatively uses popular science fiction movies to teach about deep issues in philosophy. He argues that most sci-fi is really "sci-phi": "Sci-phi is the genre that deals with philosophical issues, disputes, problesm and arguments through the medium of science fiction" (vii). Although I find some of his conclusions overly materialistic, nihilistic, and existential, I love the journey - the way he arrives at his conclusion. Having seen every movie he refers to at least once - and usually more than once - I am a fit student for his ruminations. This book was loads of fun!
This is an accessible, profound, and practical treatment of Jesus' beatitudes. Howell offers practical insight on how the beatitudes should shape our spiritual formation. Great book!
“Reality is made up of circles but we see straight lines” (73). Too often, we “see only individual actions and miss the structure underlying the actions” (77). Building on the insights of systems thinking, Senge provides insights on how to create a learning organization and gather, nurture, and impart a shared vision. The chapter on building a shared vision is worth the price of the whole book!
This is a creative resource to help an organization think and work through its "stuckness." It provides a few helpful tools, but is a little "too cute" at times and perhaps overly simplistic. However, I think that's also part of its appeal.
This is a fascinating book about our relationship to things. We depend upon things for our physical as well as emotional needs. Akhtar discusses acquiring, collecting, and using things. He demonstrates the difference between a collection and clutter. He describes how a thing takes on sentimental or nostalgic value - we exalt what we have lost and certain things remind us of our loss. He has a wonderful discussion on what defines an object as sacred or secular and how this duality can be reconciled if God has created all things. He also discusses sexy things, hybrid things, and fake things. He concludes by showing how growing older demands that we let go of things, and ultimately, death turns us into a thing - a cadaver. Sometimes insightful, sometimes unsettling, always interesting - this was a fun read!
Kakalios teaches basic physics through the use of the Silver Age comic book heroes and villains. He predominantly illustrates through characters which conform to the laws of physics. He grants every hero and villain one "miracle exception" which allows them to initially possess their extraordinary powers. (Let’s face it: radioactive spiders, lightning bolts, gamma rays, mutations, and chemical spills rarely bring positive results!) But after one "miracle exception" he approaches them from a standpoint of basic physic principles. For my extended analysis, click HERE.
Coincidences usually occur when we focus on a narrow area of information. Infinitely small changes can lead to incredibly large consequences. Statistics are often misleading (the average American has one testicle and one ovary!). There are incredible patterns in the seemingly random. If the fourth dimension exists, it makes sense of a lot of weird phenomenon. Infinities may come in infinitely many sizes. These are just a few of the deliciously delightful ideas proposed in this book. Lots of geeky fun!
I read this during the most turbulent flight I have ever experienced. My plane was heading into a record storm. In the midst of all the bumps and jerks I experienced a strange serenity which I believe was the product of reading this book. Merton is one of the most profound writers I've ever read. Each reading of his books exposes greater depths of truth and experience. I come away from his books longing to know and experience the life of which he speaks, and yet, realizing that I have so far to go. Great stuff! I will be reading this again!
Lennertz wrote this collection of short stories about his life for his eleven-year-old daughter. His memories spurred a lot of my own. I was reminded of how delightful the growing-up years can really be. Sometime in the future, I hope to do the same for my children.
Peterson invites us to "practice resurrection." If the resurrection is true - and I certainly believe it is - then the risen Jesus walks among us in and through the Spirit of God. This reality is meant to influence us, indeed, transform us. Essentially, this distinguishes Christian spirituality from all others - we believe that the living Christ is for us, with us, and in us for our good and the good of the world. Peterson recounts the resurrection stories to demonstrate how the risen Christ changes things and people. He finds packaged spiritualities focused on control and escapist theologies which undermine ordinary life to undermine formation-through-resurrection. Short, sweet, and to the point - a good example of practical theology centered on the profound mystery (and surprise) of Jesus' resurrection.
Witherington argues that all schools of theology are strongest at the point in which they overlap with historic orthodoxy and weakest when they do not. In other words, he suggests that it is the distinctives of theological schools which are the most strained. And yet, it is these distinctives that define the schools. He brilliantly exposes the tenuous nature of the distinctives of Calvinism, Dispensationalism, and Wesleyan Perfectionism. By doing so, he proves that we should place more emphasis on common ground than on distinctives. Amen! Great book!
Contrary to Crossan's claims, the idea of resurrection was not something which ancient people could easily accept. Christian claims of Jesus' resurrection were met with scorn, surprise, suspicion, and rejection. Greek belief in the immortality of the soul despised the idea of bodily resurrection. Ancient pagan stories of people "eating with the dead" are not signs of belief in resurrection - but proof that individuals believed they were interacting with the dead, not the living! The resurrection of Jesus was a complete surprise to all - including Jesus' followers. It is this event which best explains the rise of the Christian faith. Even more, it is this event which is the basis for continued eschatological hope, and the experience of transformation in the present. For Crossan, what the resurrection texts say is not as important as what effect they produce. This complete dissociation of event and meaning not only smells of docetism, but ultimately, irrationality. Certainly, the resurrection is a historical singularity. This fact makes it impossible to fully evaluate it with the tools and methods of historical research alone. But this is exactly what the early Christians preached - the uniqueness, and thus, the unique significance and meaning of the resurrection. If the resurrection was just another mundane event, it would not have been perceived as important! Ernst Troeltsch's principle of analogy (since one has not observed a resurrection in one's experience, it is therefore implausable to argue this in the past) does not - indeed, cannot - apply to the resurrection. In the end, the resurrection cannot be "proven" by the historical method, but it can be assessed as probable or improbable. Crossan declares it is impossible - a verdict informed by what his metaphysical perspective denies. Wright declares it highly probable. Incorporating the historical method alone forbids either scholar to come to a certain conclusion. In the end, one's answer about the reality of the resurrection and its meaning is judged by faith - which is as it should be, for faith is the arbiter of all final meanings in our society, both secular and sacred.
Children's sermons are the perfect way to create multi-generational worship. They provide a tangible way to show children that they hold an important place in the church community. As a bonus, they also impact the adults. The simple, spontaneous, honest faith of children is delightful for adults to observe. Adults also benefit from simple, concrete presentations of spiritual truths. Children need to be actively engaged. The children's sermon allows them to fully participate with all their senses. It transforms the church service from stiff, wooden, or cerebral to a place where joy happens. "Running, crawling, skipping, and wiggling not only epitomize learning by doing, but help overcome stereotypes of church as a stiff and somber place. There must be respect in worship, but there should be joy!" (106) Beth not only provides great incentive for children's sermons, but also 50 kid-tested sermons.
Quite simply, this short overview of Johannine theology is one of the most profound books I've ever read. Jesus reveals to us the mutual love and communion of God by his eternal posture "toward the Father" (John 1:18) revealed in his life and ministry. He invites us to share this love. Our mystical participation in the divine life is expressed by our love of others, especially our brothers and sisters in the faith. John's spirituality is thus a spirituality of communion that takes us to the deepest interior places (our life in God, God in us) which is manifest in an exterior movement of divine love toward others. Deep, profound, mystical, practical, theological, spiritual - this book is fantastic!
Japanese novelist, Shusaku Endo, penned this life of Jesus “for the benefit of Japanese readers who have no Christian tradition of their own and who know almost nothing about Jesus” (1). Endo is fully aware that the “religious mentality of the Japanese is… responsive to one who ‘suffers with us’ and who ‘allows for our weakness,’… [but] has little tolerance for any kind of transcendent being who judges humans harshly, then punishes them” (1). Endo’s reflections on Jesus’ sufferings are profoundly insightful. For example, the people’s desire for “signs” and “miracles” that would benefit them must have deeply grieved Jesus who wanted to share his life and love. Endo demonstrates how the Gospels do not hesitate to present Jesus as weak and helpless at the cross. He argues that only the resurrection could transform the image of powerless at the passion into the disciples’ belief that Jesus was all-powerful. His death removed the veil and allowed his disciples to see what lay hidden behind his weakness. This is a fascinating, powerful, and provocative recounting of Jesus’ life from an Eastern perspective!
“We are convinced that the good news proclaimed by Jesus, when it is properly understood, will never foster hateful faith but will make us gracious instead” (12). Amen! This book is offered as “a theology for gracious Christianity” in order to provide an alternative to the “defensiveness and mean-spiritedness that pervade so many expressions of Christian faith in America.” As recipients of God’s grace, we are to be channels of it to others. “Graciousness is a nonnegotiable dimension of Christian faith. It goes to the very core of the gospel. It is what makes the gospel good news” (17). Graciousness is the external expression of internalized grace. Perhaps the reason for the lack of external graciousness is the failure to truly internalize it. This book is a good first step to reversing the tide. Profound, yet accessible, Gracious Christianity is a great introduction to Christian belief and practice.
Anyone who has ever been critical of the church and yearned for new ecclesial life is concerned with renewal. William Abraham has provided an academic survey of contemporary proposals for renewal. Each proposal is theological in content and is concerned with ecclesiastical considerations – authentic church renewal must be more than personal and pietistic. Furthermore, renewal should not be continual. It is the health of the church that is the goal of renewal. Renewal is not an end in and of itself – it is a means to an end. Therefore, each renewal movement must have “seasons of consolidation” where “spiritual and theological gains [are] properly institutionalized and stabilized” and “[n]ew insights [are] exploited and explored” (6). Most proposals suffer from assuming that “if we can only get straight on our theory of knowledge… we will be well on our way to renewal” (39). This is misguided. It focuses on epistemology rather than soteriology. After surveying such diverse figures as Lesslie Newbigin and John Shelby Spong, Rosemary Radford Ruether and Cardinal Ratzinger, Abrahams offers brief comments on a way forward. First, he laments our tendency to whine and complain. When we do this, we forget that God is able to work in and through the most debilitated institutions. Furthermore, renewal rarely lasts long. Those who look for one “silver bullet” for renewal are doomed to frustration. Only the final renewal of creation will bring lasting and ultimate renewal. In spite of the fruitful dialogue they promote, Abraham argues that theologians who are willing to jettison the canonical standards of the ancient church are “hopelessly parasitic” in their dependence on earlier tradition (157) – they make a living off of aggressive polemics but have little positive to offer. Those who continually blame institutions possess a thin view of creation: “Institutional practices are pivotal in the life of the church. The constant appeal to abuse to knock institutions is vastly overplayed. Furthermore, institutions have been inspired and created by God. To limit God’s activity to the inner life, or to works of justice, or to the production of a holy book, is simply to deploy a thin and inadequate doctrine of creation” (157). The greatest mistake made in renewal proposals is to assume that solving epistemological problems is the precondition to ecclesial renewal. The church possesses a canonical heritage which serves soteriological functions – it is a means of grace. Reducing the “canon” to the Bible and presenting it as an epistemological norm radically distorts its intended use and wreaks havoc on attempts at authentic renewal. The last twelve pages of this book summarize Abraham’s massive and dense Canon and Criterion in Christian Theology. They alone are worth the price of the entire book!
An incredible, academic argument that we have reduced and misused the canonical heritage of the Church. We have reduced it by limiting canon to Scripture. We have misused it by changing it from an ecclesial canon - a means of spiritual transformation - to an epistemic norm. The bulk of this book is devoted to tracing this development in Church History. Abraham argues that the reduction and misuse of the canon must be corrected through the full embrace and right use of the whole canonical heritage. For my extended summary of this amazing book, click HERE.
Corporate worship is a means of spiritual formation. It shapes our theology and our lives. Songs stay with congregations much longer than sermons. Parry argues that there is a major theological gap in much contemporary worship. The Trinity is all-but-forgotten (along with - among other important themes - God's dealings with Israel, the incarnation of Jesus, resurrection, and ascension). Parry calls us back to distinctively Christian worship: "worship is about God and God is the Trinity, therefore worship is about the Trinity" (3). The first half of the book presents a robust Trinitarian theology. (Parry even includes material on perichoresis - my favorite word!) Using Irenaeus' "two arms" metaphor, he pictures becoming a Christian: "The Father draws us close to his own heart... by stretching out the hand of his Spirit which draws us to the hand of his Son. Then, grasped between the hands of Spirit and Son we are drawn to the Father and held in Trinitarian embrace" (51). He has a wonderful Trinitarian summary of mission: "the mission of the church is nothing less than the gift of sharing by the Spirit in the Son's mission to the world on behalf of the Father" (58). Parry suggests that our response of worship - recognizing worth and attributing value to God - is a reflection of the Intratrinitarian life of God: "we must see worship as originating within God himself. Within the Trinity there is eternal love and a joyous, mutual recognition of ultimate value" (86). Ultimately, neither Jesus, the Father, or the Spirit can be understood apart from their relationship with one another. This demands Trinitarian worship. Indeed, to focus on the Trinity is simply to proclaim, "Behold your God!"
"You are created to experience your true life, your genuine identity, your deepest meaning, your fullest purpose, your ultimate value in an intimate, loving union with God at the core of your being" (27). This is our true self - our true identity. Tragically, we generally find our true identity in a self of our own creation. A radically self-referenced life that finds its meaning in anything but God - whether gender, sexuality, culture, ethnicity, possessions, accomplishments, religiosity, etc. - is the hollow center of the false self. This "false self" is deeply entrenched in our way of thinking. "We are profoundly habituated to a self-referenced way of being in the world" (47). Because of this, we manipulate others to our own ends - including God. Using Colossians 2:20-3:17 as his basis, Mulholland helps us grapple with the false self and learn how to put on the true self. Our life is hidden with God in Christ. This is where we must sink out deepest roots. Any other soil is a shallow substitute. This is a very helpful introduction to a powerful and complex theme!
Peters presents every aspect of systematic theology from the perspective of "the concept of prolepsis, whereby the gospel is understood as announcing the preactualization of the future consummation of all things in Jesus Christ" (xi). We anticipate future reality because of the concrete preactualization of it in Jesus. "Jesus Christ is the future made present" (xii). The promise of future wholeness affects our broken lives in the present. "A life so integrated around Christ is a proleptci life. It is the future life actualized ahead of time. It is new life in the midst of the old life. It is beatitudinal life because it is true life. It is beatitude" (21-22). Peters has a fascinating discussion challenging the Reformation idea of "predestination" rooted in a divine decree in the past by proleptically shifting God's desire and our destiny to its rightful place of fullness - the future. Thus, predestination is really pro-destination. In short, we must begin with the future and work back toward the present. By living this way, we live a pro-volutionary (instead of revolutionary) life. This is a deep, profound, and challenging theology rooted in the future!
I read this book months ago, but I am finally listing it. This is a well-written book with helpful information about the quest for the historical Jesus, the reliability of the New Testament documents, Jesus' self-perspective, and the interaction of the Christian faith with other religions.
"Reaching decision in the church should be an articulation of faith" (23). Without falling into the errors of literalism or liberalism, Johnson demonstrates how the Bible should be involved in matters of personal and corporate discernment. Decisions should not always follow "the path of least resistance" since the church community must remain open to change. Johnson offers an extended analysis of Acts 10-15 with the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) as the ideal expression of community decision-making. As this text points out, it is not so much the decision, but the process that is important. Through Peter's experience with the Gentile Cornelius, the church is forced to reevaluate its membership delineations and reread Scripture in a fresh way. Interestingly, it is the experience of God in the redemptive work of individuals that results in revisiting old answers and reformulating new questions. "The point... is not that we necessarily decide rightly, but that we decide righteously" (151).
This is a profound book about nurturing a contemplative life patterned after the contemplative life of Jesus. It calls us to truly possess the mind of Christ in a way that is not confined to moralism but rather, mystical: "It is not enough to study [Jesus] and his attitudes from the outside. One must learn to enter into his human consciousness in order to feel and think as he does. It is not enough to look at him. One needs to look through him, even as we lend our eyes, ears, bodily sense, and mind for him to look through" (16). The first half of the book offers very helpful insights on contemplative practice. Good stuff for the wannabe mystic in all of us (well, at least, in me).
Is leadership good or bad? Most contemporary leadership resources simply assume that leadership is good. As a result of this, they fail to recognize the reality of bad leadership. In this book, author Linda Kellerman opposes the widely held view “that it is good to be a leader because to be a leader is, ipso facto, to be good” (xv). For my extended analysis, click HERE.
Incorporating Transactional Analysis, Berne argues that in social activities, there are several options for structuring time. In order of complexity - from least to greatest - they are: (1) Rituals, (2) Pastimes, (3) Games, (4) Intimacy, and (5) Activity. Because the real living of intimacy is so demanding and difficult, we substitute pastimes and games as the primary way of structuring time in social settings. Thus, games have a strong social significance. They take us beyond the boredom of pastimes without the dangers of intimacy. A bulk of Berne's book has to do with categorizing the many games we play, including, "See what you made me do," "Look how hard I've tried," and "They'll be glad they knew me."
I've always been fascinated by failure. It seems so tragic that so many people with so much to contribute fail to achieve notoriety, simply because of one bad move, wrong timing, or someone who is just a little better. This book catalogs the achievements of failure, including the numerous attempts to climb Mount Everest, the wake of failures in the National Spelling Bee, and Elisha Gray's bad timing at the Patent Office (he was beaten to it by Alexander Graham Bell). In the end, Mark Twain's refrain haunts the book: "Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident. The only earthy certainty is oblivion."
I received this as a gift and read it during our passage from Glastonbury to West Bend. It is the prequel to The Da Vinci Code. It is a well-paced, gripping, tension-filled romp. I can see why The Da Vinci Code has done so well. If it is anything like this book, it is a well-told story that is fun and easy to read. I look forward to reading its sequel - hopefully before the movie comes out. Spoiler alert (so don't read any further if you plan on reading the book): The speech given in Chapter 94 is one of the most fascinating critiques of science I've ever read. Too bad the person delivering the speech is absolutely crazy!
The Church is the ultimate enemy. Its message is intentionally deceptive. The truth is hidden in a vast web of conspiracies, secret societies, and buried documents. This is the world that Robert Langford, the protagonist of Angels & Demons and its sequel, The Da Vinci Code, inhabits. It is a thrilling world of fast-paced action, mind-boggling riddles, unfathomable mysteries... and deep theological and historical problems. Click HERE for my extended analysis.
This is a very enjoyable romp through the assorted joys and frustrations of married life. Reiser's style of humor translates well on the page. I found myself relating to a lot of his observations. I especially enjoyed his reflections on sex.
By age 24, George Harrison had everything the world could offer. The fame of the Beatles eclipsed that of Elvis. And yet, it left him empty. Thus began his search for "something more." His search led him to the East. At the heart of his search was "to reawaken love for God, and through that relationship, love for all creatures" (71). Harrison pursued God through an integration of Hinduism with his Western sensitivities. He devoted his life to chanting the name of God, seeking peace, and giving love to others. His search was full of passion and devotion. Harrison could have pursued anything - and he chose to pursue God. He was the first musician to organize a benefit concert for a social cause: the concert for Bangla Desh. I found myself inspired by Harrison's journey. I prefer his view of God over John Lennon's. Lennon said, "You have to believe in yourself. You've got to get down to your own God in your own temple. It's all down to you, mate" (97). George, on the other hand, pursued the dream of endless union with the divine, and recognized that life is ultimately empty apart from God. It is interesting to note that one of the main reasons Harrison rejected Western organized religion is that he felt it was detached from day-to-day life: "Religion is a day-to-day experience. You'll find it all around. You live it. Religion is here and now, not just something that comes on Sundays" (80); "I believe much more in the religions of India than in anything I ever learned from Christianity. The difference over here is that their religion is every second and every minute of their lives - and it is them, how they act, how they conduct themselves, and how they think" (68). He wanted a religion that encompassed all life. Too bad he met no Christian mystics who would help him see that that which he longed for could be found in Christ. It would have been interesting to have heard his reaction to this. Rest in peace, George!
George Martin has been called the "fifth Beatle." He produced every Beatles album. In this book, he reflects on the production of one of the greatest (if not "the" greatest) albums of all time. It is great fun to read of how primitive (by today's standards) the recording process was - four tracks! It is also enjoyable to learn some of the background and recording tricks of each song.
The French postmodernists are not saying what we think they are. Our bumper-sticker summaries of their philosophies misrepresents them. Smith seeks to correct this by revealing what they are really saying and then showing that "all these claims have a deep affinity with central Christian claims" (22). First, conflating truth with objectivity (modernism) is misleading. Everything is indeed interpreted through a story. The world must be interpreted or it possesses no meaning. Second, postmodernity's rejection of metanarratives is actually a rejection of modernity's narratives - namely, its an illusion that science can be done apart from "a story." In other words, science, which is so critical of the "fables" of narrative is itself grounded in a narrative. Science cannot legitimize itself through reason. The Christian metanarrative (and other religions as well) is not rejected because it lays its cards on the table for all to see. It admits that its narrative is not informed merely by the scientific method or universal, autonomous reason, but by an appeal to faith. Finally, power can be abused, but when it is directed to the best end - in the case of Christianity, to be renewed in the image of Christ - then it is power properly exercised. Along the way, Smith demonstrates that those who see postmodernism as "the boogeyman for the Christian church" do so because they "have become so thoroughly modern" (23). In contrast to "the anti-institutional mentality of post-modern 'spirituality'" he argues for "a robust, vibrant, liturgical church" as the best means to speak "meaning in and to a postmodern world" (11).
Absolutely profound book about happiness, distractions, attachments, and spiritual sight. De Mello's insights often sound more Buddhist than Christian but they definitely deserve a hearing. After all, we are called to deny ourselves and loosen attachments.
Christians are called to hope. Because of the rebirth of creation in Christ, we are people of hope with a bright future. Because hope was born in and through the cross, our hope is realistic - it embraces suffering and death and sees it transformed in hope. Moltmann provides a beautiful vision of Christian faith that weave's together the suffering of the cross, new creation, and the gift of the Spirit. He invites us to answer God's call to hope and reject anxiety. He writes, "Hope is a command. Obeying it means life, survival, endurance, standing up to life until death is swallowed up in victory. Obeying it means never giving way to the forces of annihilation in resignation or rage. ‘It is not so much our sins that bring disaster upon us; it is despair’, said Chrysostom, one of the Fathers of the church. Today, we call this frustration" (20). Great book!
Comic books are not just for kids! The best deal with profound themes. Think about it - heroes are heroes because they sacrifice themselves for the good of others, they discipline themselves to best use their talents, and they refuse to cross moral lines (even though their powers would allow them to do so, if they wished). This book captures the inspirational quality of superheroes. A number of the contributors are Christians. A couple of the chapters were outright evangelical! Good, fun, read for the hero in all of us!
"Buzzmarketing captures the attention of consumers and the media to the point where talking about your brand or company becomes entertaining, fascinating, and newsworthy" (2). "To put it simply: buzz starts conversations" (2). Hughes argues that traditional marketing methods result in traditional results. The market is saturated. It takes a lot to get a message through. The best advertising remains word-of-mouth. Get people to talk about you or your service and the buzz begins. I couldn't help as I read this to think of the catchy line from Jesus Christ Superstar: "What's the buzz? Tell me what's a'happening!" Throughout the book Hughes highlights buzzmarketing success stories. He offers a six-fold strategy of buzzmarketing: (1) Give people something to talk about with stories of the taboo, unusual, outrageous, hilarious, remarkable, or secrets revealed; (2) Get the media to pick up on your story - the best free advertising available; (3) Use a variety of media - both traditional and creative; (4) Give your all, take risks; (5) Be ultra-creative - out-think or out-spend your competition; and (6) Police your product - make sure your provide the best product. Obviously, not all these insights are applicable to growing a church, but it is certainly true that the church has "something to talk about" and should make every effort to get its message out creatively and provocatively.
On New Year's Eve, four people meet on the roof of Topper's House in London with every intention to jump to their death. They did not plan to meet one another. It just happened that they all planned to commit suicide at the same place at the same time. After a series of misadventures, they mutually decide to give life another 90 days. Over time this dysfunctional band help one another find meaning and purpose in life again. Their choice expands from the stark options of "a slow, painful death, or a quick, merciful one" (150). The lonely mother finds community. The bratty teen finds herself. The washed-up talk-show host discovers self-giving service. The frustrated musician finds success as a solo act. All in all, this is an enjoyable romp about the importance of a community - even if nothing more than a community of "despairing sinners" (312) - to accept you as your are, listen to your gripes, and love you to life... no matter how much it hurts.
Michael Crichton certainly is not making any friends with this book. In a fast-paced, action-packed thriller, Crichton tells the story of environmental groups gone crazy! ELF - the Environmental Liberation Front - an underground movement willing to hurt, destroy, and even kill in the name of its war for the environment is the chief antagonist in this book. But, it is fueled and funded by many established environmental institutions. It is this web of deceit and destruction that the protagonists uncover in this book. Along the way, Crichton allows his main characters to expose many of the lies surrounding Global Warming. Crichton footnotes the most controversial comments with articles from scientific journals. We discover that it is impossible to make long-term forecasts in weather. Think about it: we cannot get an accurate local forecast beyond about 10 days! No one can possibly predict the global climate with accuracy, given its vast complexity. There is no such thing as a perfect environment. Some environmentalists are "absolutists" who assume that there is such a thing as a perfect environment. But nature is constantly shifting, changing, adjusting. Be warned. Everybody has an agenda. The case for Global Warming is not as watertight as some would like it to be. Many are like the old preacher who gets to this point in his manuscript: Weak point... speak louder! In an appendix, Crichton offers some possible solutions to shed light on how to be environmentally conscious without abandoning reason. Sure, it might feel good to mimic the status quo, but this can be devastating in the long-run. Ignorance always finds a way to hurt others.
This book had me laughing out loud uncontrollably! Don't get me wrong... This doesn't mean it will do the same for you. If you are not a fan of sixth-grade bathroom humor - a kind of humor I still haven't grown out of - then this book will probably do nothing but disgust you. In fact, you should probably stop reading now so you don't lose your respect for me. Go on. Hit the "Back" button or click on one of your "favorites." I'll wait... Ok. Now for those of you unashamed to admit that words like "butt pus" (fluid derived from draining a perirectal abscess or a pilonidal cyst), "poo cobra" (fecal matter coiled around in the toilet and poking its head out of the bowl), and "blow chow" (a descriptive phrase for vomit) trip your trigger, here goes: I learned that snot - a form of mucus - does not just exist to gross out or amuse. This slimy material that lines various membranes in the body "aids in the protection of the lungs by trapping foreign particles that enter the nose during normal breathing. Mucus also makes swallowing easier and prevents stomach acid from harming your stomach wall" (76). I learned about the composition of farts: "An average fart is composed of about 59 percent nitrogen, 21 percent hydrogen, 9 percent carbon dioxide, 7 percent methane, and 4 percent oxygen. Less than 1 percent of its makeup is what makes a fart stink" (139). I learned to never hold in a sneeze. The air from a sneeze travels up to one hundred miles per hour. "Holding in a sneeze potentially can cause fractures in the nasal cartilage, nosebleeds, burst eardrums, hearing loss, vertigo, detached retinas, or temporary swelling called facial emphysema" (197). Finally, I learned a few more colorful phrases to describe vomit - uneat, technicolor yawn, and spill the groceries. Interesting stuff, huh? The dialogue between the writers is absolutely hilarious. For those who may be put off by all this, remember that, in one sense, this is simply science. And, on an even deeper level, this can contribute to philosophical meanderings. Consider the exchange between Mark and Billy: "Mark: we're hard-wire to launch our genes into the future before we decay in a puddle of excrement and putrescence??? You think THAT's sophomoric? That's the whole comic tragedy of life! And the central thesis of our book, yo" (161).
"Every man desires to live long, but no man would be old" (Jonathan Swift). Eventually we must face our mortality. Mary Hester Valentine writes as an old person who has recently moved into a Health Care Center. Her insights are honest, profound, challenging, and disturbing. She is both an observer and participant in the twilight of life. She helps us to understand the vast differences "between the young-old, those in their sixties and early seventies, and the old-old, those eighty and older" (17). "For no other of life's passages is finality so built in" (21). Thus, growing old is full of threats: "Illness strikes the aging when they are most vulnerable and when inner resources to endure seem in short supply. Their financial situation is suddenly threatening precarious; loneliness sets in as friends and relatives dies or move away, or they themselves become incapacitated. As a result they feel that their world is falling apart. When haunted by these ultimates many answers to life’s ambiguity are frightfully inadequate" (17). These challenges can lead someone further or closer to God. Valentine encourages the elderly that "while our daily lives may seem to be dull and monotonous, they are not unimportant to the God who has counted our every hair" (116). Jesus even sympathizes in our fear of death: "Fear of death is not forbidden us; Jesus' agony was a dreadful wrestling with the same fear. One translation of scripture says he was terrified, and both Matthew and Mark have him crying, 'My soul is sorrowful, even unto death'" (124-125). Trust in God carries the elderly in the final hours: "While everything seems to be slipping away forever, we believe that everything of value is safe in the fullness of God. We are dust, but into no other dust did he breath his Spirit" (127).
Livingston's book is chock full of practical wisdom and profound truth. Many of his aphorisms touch home without additional commentary: "It is difficult to remove by logic an idea not placed there by logic in the first place", "Any relationship is under the control of the person who cares the least" (because they have less to lose), "The perfect is the enemy of the good," "Our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses," "Not all who wander are lost," and "Only bad things happen quickly" are just a few. Livingston lost two grown adult children within the space of 13 months - one to leukemia, the other to suicide. This gives many of his reflections particularly weight and poignancy. His thoughts on happiness, expectations, death, and old age are powerful. I particular liked his comments on perfectionism: "In defense of perfectionism, it might be said that obsessive people make the world function for the rest of us. Who, after all, wants to be operated on by a relaxed surgeon, or on an airplane maintained by mechanics satisfied when their work is “good enough”? If we excel at anything, it is because we are prepared to sweat the details… The problem with perfectionists and their preoccupation with control is that the qualities that make them effective in their work can render them insufferable in their personal lives… in some settings, notably in our intimate relationships, we gain control only by relinquishing it" (43-44). This is a small book with big wisdom!
I'm not afraid to admit - I'm a huge Lost fan. I watched the first episode a few years back and have been hooked ever since. I love the mystery of the Island, the cliff-hanger endings, and myriads of twists and surprises. But even more, I love the characters. Even if the "mystery" of the Island is a bit of a let-down in the end, I have enjoyed the character development so much that the ride will have been worth it. This book on Lost features sections on the making of Lost, the possible meanings of the Island, and a very interesting section on the spirituality of the characters. "At the time of the crash, each character is lost in his or her life. The survivors are disillusioned, addicted, imprisoned, and crippled in many ways" (47). The Island offers them the opportunity to begin a new life. However, the flashbacks clearly reveal that a fresh break with the past is impossible - their past experiences and relationships haunt and influence their decisions on the Island. This book was fun but bloated. Almost half the book is unnecessary rehash. But it will do until Getting Lost : Survival, Baggage, and Starting Over in J. J. Abrams' Lost edited by Orson Scott Card is released in August.
I just finished this mammoth 981-page treatment of the Beatles from their birth to their break-up. I'm currently on a Beatles kick (this is the third Beatle book I've read this month). I absolutely love their music. There is no denying their phenomenal talent and extraordinary influence. Unlike many other albums I deeply love, I have never "burned out" on the Beatles. I still get the same thrill from Abbey Road that I did in my youth. Reading this book was an absolute blast. Spitz does not sugarcoat the Beatles. Even during the earliest days of Beatlemania, when they were presented to the public as clean-cut, witty young men, they were anything but (well, they truly were witty and young)! Endless sexcapades, pill-popping, and alcohol led to marijuana, hash, and LSD (although Paul did not partake as much as the others). John's relationship with Yoko Ono resulted in his heroin-addiction, and spiraling maniacal behavior that ultimately led to the break-up of the band. In spite of all the Beatles' troubles, before Yoko, they at least came together in recording sessions where they continually recaptured the magic. When John brought Yoko into this environment, her avant-garde tastes, her scornful comments concerning the other Beatles and their music, and her feelings of entitlement when in the recording sessions infuriated the other Beatles. Her calls for peace with John were bogus attention-grabbers to promote her own reputation. This was disillusioning, but it makes sense. John, who often makes sexist, racist, and homophobic comments throughout the Beatles' career, only began interested in world peace with Yoko. The real motivation for much of their "peace-work" was "that John and Yoko craved attention. They loved using the media to stir up controversy, loved the way it painted them as incorrigible rebels, loved the exasperated reactions, loved the power it game them" (829). It also came at the perfect time as John was seeking to redefine his image in the wake of an impending Beatles' break-up. Disillusionment aside, it was interesting to read how John and Paul so perfectly complemented each other. It was also great fun reading about the creation of their albums. The reviews of their first Ed Sullivan Show appearance are hilarious. The Herald Tribune said they "could not carry a tune across the Atlantic" and rated them as "75 percent publicity, 20 percent haircut, and 5 percent lilting lament" (473). The Newsweek review is even more hilarious: "Visually they are a nightmare: tight, dandified Edwardian beatnik suits and great pudding-bowls of hair. Musically they are a near disaster, guitars and drums slamming out a merciless eat that does away with secondary rhythms, harmony and melody. Their lyrics (punctuated by nutty shouts of yeah, yeah, yeah!) are a catastrophe, a preposterous farrago of Valentine-card romantic sentiments" (473). In short, this was great fun for a Beatles fan like me!
Everyman is a profound book about the physical deterioration of a body and the accompanying hopelessness and helplessness that accompanies this experience. To make matters worse, the hero of the story - he remains nameless throughout the story, I assume he is the "everyman" - has desperately botched up his life with numerous affairs. Three marriages are ruined by his unchecked passions. Two children are alienated from him. His life is one of deep regret - regret made more intense by his hopelessness in the face of bodily deterioration. A convinced atheist, he doesn't even have religion to help him cope. Everyman suffers deep regrets, but remains unchanged in his passions. "But there's no remaking reality" is his life's slogan (78). Click HERE for my extended analysis of this provocative book!
The Catholic Church is a big target - and thus, an easy target - for naysayers. "The Catholic Church is, arguably, the most controversial institution on the planet; it is certainly the world's most controversial religious instititution" (2). George Weigel is quite able to address the controversy. Weigel provocatively introduces ten controversies and provides accessible answers for each one. Controversies include Jesus as the only savior, whether belief demeans or enhances humanity, the importance of morality, sexual ethics, evil and suffering, the question of other religions, and whether Catholicism is safe for democracy. Even when I disagreed with his answers, I found his explanations very helpful. His writing style is simple yet profound. The first chapter on Jesus and human meaning is absolutely brilliant and is alone worth the price of the book. I found one quote particularly powerful. He argues that when we lose a sense of and love for truth, then the only means left to resolve differences is power. "For a world without truth is simply a world of power, in which the 'truth' of the stronger gets imposed on the weaker" (129). He proves that Catholicism is not a threat to true democracy because it deeply believes in the value of those with whom it disagrees. Laden in its morality is the divine demand to respect others and their freedom. Whether you are Catholic or not, this book is a delightful feast of basic Christian convictions!
The story of the Beatles is fascinating. But the Beatles would not be so interesting if not for their music. Long after the Beatles' story fades, the Beatles' music will carry on. Ultimately, their music matters most - and that is the point of this book. It is an extended analysis of the composition of the Beatles' songs. Hertsgaard listened to 400 hours of archived Abbey Road tapes in order to analyze and evaluate the Beatles' creative process. The Beatles' music excelled because of the dynamic tension between the two lead composers - John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Hertsgaard writes of the "affectionate competitiveness that pervaded their entire relationship: "From their earliest days together, John and Paul were rivals as well as friends, competitors as well as partners, critics as well as soulmates. 'Imagine two people pulling on a rope, smiling at each other and pulling all the time with all their might'" (111). This affectionate competitiveness arose from their commitment to one another. According to Ringo, "When the Beatles did clash, it was with the familiarity and bluntness of brothers whose unshakable underlying bond let them voice complaints freely, secure in the knowledge that they would remain brothers no matter what" (142). The individual Beatles were not necessarily the most talented musicians - but collectively they were brilliant. George Martin said, "It is absolutely true that the sum of the four of them was much, much greater than the sum of the individual parts" (135). "The Beatles were living proof that it is not necessarily the greatest musicians who make the greatest music" (145). Though the Beatles eventually crashed, the chemistry that sparked such intense creativity is a model for community life in the church. We are more than the sum of our parts - and we are better together than we are apart. Our commitment to one another should sustain us during difficult times.
Almost 30 years ago, at the age of 19, Kent Keith wrote the Paradoxical Commandments. He had no idea how great an impact these commands would make. They "have been used by business executives, government officials, nonprofit leaders, military cmmanders, religious leaders, university presidents, teachers, social workers, athletic coaches, and students" (152-153). The most compelling use was by Mother Teresa who posted the Paradoxical Commandments on the wall of her children's home in Calcutta. In this book, he illustrates each Paradoxical Commandment with Jesus and other characters from the Bible. Jesus used paradoxes to teach about the kingdom of God: for example, "the first will be last," "the humble shall be exalted," "the greatest shall be the servant," "he who loses his life shall find it." In order to live the right way in an upside-down world, one must embrace paradoxes. The Paradoxical Commandments provide accessible and inspiring direction in regard to living Jesus' paradoxes. "Each commandment begins with a statement of adversity. Each statement of adversity is really about difficulties or failures in the secular, commercial world - the world of 'success.' Each statement of adversity is followed by a positive commandment, which is really about our spiritual lives - loving and helping others, and doing what is right and good and true" (17). Jesus is the epitomy of one who faced adversity and continued to do what was right - at all costs, no matter what difficulties and suffering it brought him. Keith illustrates this with Good Friday: "But the story of Good Friday is not only about how the world treated Jesus; the story is also about how Jesus responded to the way he was treated. And his response was astonishing. It was breathtaking. In the face of cruelty and pain and hate, Jesus loved people anyway. He forgave people anyway. And he saved people anyway" (25). Loving people when they are difficult to love is the most important challenge we will ever face. There are many reasons not to do what is right and love them - but we must love them anyway. This tenacious commitment to love in spite of the consequences is at the heart of the Paradoxical Commandments!
No one is safe from John Stossel's critiques. Whether you are Republican or Democrat, Liberal or Conservative, Optimistic or Cynical - Stossel will challenge your perception of reality. With a firm commitment to Libertarianism and its rejection of big government and trust in the free market, Stossel let's the barbs fly. His biggest target is the "clueless media" who seems bound and determined to scare the hell out of us with sensational stories that grab our attention, but have little real impact on our lives: "Because of the constant parade of frightening stories, huge amounts of money and energy are spent on minuscule risks. In the meantime, millions dies of malaria, thousands die from bacteria, teachers are jailed, fathers are kept from their kids, and most everyone is frightened needlessly" (27). Absolutists and fanatics of all stripes make life difficult for everyone by forcing their ideals upon others: "Smug Americans have an idealistic vision of the perfect world, but they don't recognize the harm that they do by trying to impose their ideals. The perfect is the enemy of the good" (71). Government is a good thing, but too much of a good thing is destructive. Stossel calls us back to the dream of the founding fathers by - in the words of Thomas Jefferson - pleading for "a wise and frugal government... that shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them overwise free to regulate their own pursuits" (79). He continues, "We need government to restrain us from injuring each other, defend us against attack, protect the environment, and do very few other things. Limited government is a wonderful thing. But our government has grown from the founders' genius vision to a monster that sustains itself with increasing taxes, endless meddling, and ever-greater intrusion into what was once private life" (79). Lately Republicans who say they advocate limited government and few taxes are the chief culprits in expanding government and increasing spending. For example, "even if you take out defense and homeland security, discretionary spending has still increased 40 percent since Bush took office. Spending at the Department of Labor is up 29 percent; at the Energy Department, 33 percent; Agriculture, 41 percent; and at the Department of Education, spending is up 135 percent" (81). One cannot write off Stossel's comments by simply declaring that he is a Libertarian. Many of his ideas and critiques are worth hearing. I, for one, am grateful that he continues to have the courage to stand for his ideals, even when it makes him the enemy of just about everyone!
Garry Wills is a Catholic who despises just about everything in the Catholic Church with the exception of Jesus. This book is his attempt to present his own image of Jesus, "a lower-class man speaking the everyday language of his workingmen followers" (xiv). In spite of his suspicions of the Church, he uncritically approaches all four canonical Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John - as authentic means to learn about Jesus. But learning about Jesus involves more than a woodenly literal reading of the text; it demands that we search the text to know "what Jesus meant by his strange deeds and words" (xviii). When we approach the Gospels in this manner, we find that what Jesus "signified is always more challenging than we expect, more outrageous, more egregious." We discover a Christ who is, in the words of Dostoyevsky's Grand Inquisitor "exceptional, vague, and enigmatic" (xviii). Wills condemns the critical Jesus Seminarists: "Though some people have called the Jesus Seminarists radical, they are actually very conservative. They tame the real radical, Jesus, cutting him down to their own size" (xxv). Wills' portrait of Jesus is thoughtful and provocative. His rants against the Catholic Church are a bit overdone, but I can see how they may be helpful to allow people to distinguish between mere religion and Jesus. Religion is not a bad thing when it is a means of manifesting the presence, grace, and love of Christ. However, when it obscures rather than enlightens, it is toxic. For me, the highlights of the book were his rant on how we cannot slavishly imitate Jesus (xv - xxxi) and his letter to the evangelical who believes that a "literal" reading of the Bible provides the answers to everything (33-35).
Small changes can bring big effects. This is the wisdom of the Kaizen Way. Kaizen is contrasted with the strategy of innovation, which in business vocabulary is "a drastic process of change" that "occurs in a very short period of time, yielding a dramatic turnaround. Innovation is fast and big and flashy; it reaches for the largest result in the smallest amount of time" (5). The key to Kaizen is that "low-key change helps the human mind circumnavigate the fear that blocks success and creativity" (17). For most people "big goals trigger big fear" (26). "Small actions trick the brain into thinking: Hey, this change is so tiny that it's no big deal. No need to get worked up. No risk of failure or unhappiness here. By outfoxing the fear response, small actions allow the brain to build up new, permanent habits" (87-88). Maurer outlines his presentation by calling us to "Ask small questions." "Think small thoughts." "Take small actions." "Solve small problems." Once we understand the power of small steps, we can then begin to wisely discern when innovation is appropriate and how to mix the two. As an admirer of "The Little Way" I am always excited when the power of small things is explained. With Mother Theresa, I believe, "To God there is nothing small." With Aesop, I believe, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” This book is a helpful introduction to the power of small things. Maurer concludes with this: "consider how the world might be different if more of us conducted our social, business, and romantic lives with the belief that small steps matter, that even the shortest contact with another person is inherently important. Kaizen offers the possibility that through small acts of kindness, and even small moments of compassion and curiosity, we can change ourselves - and, eventually, humanity" (176).
In a day when experts recommend radical innovations and big makeovers, a commitment to small changes seems trite and trivial. And yet, most authentic change occurs through small steps. The reason: "Aiming for big changes that are difficult to accomplish often resutls in no change at all. Worse, you may be left with a sense of failure and inadequacy that can be painful and unwarranted... By acquiring the habit of making small changes, you can build those moderate successes into dramatic results - because small changes will add up" (7). This is the way of life: "life unfolds one moment at a time; the path is traveled one step at a time" (11). Many of the practical small changes the author's propose are simple common sense. However, I found a few very helpful. The section on incorporating deep breathing exercises into one's daily routine is very simple, accessible, and convincing. We cannot do without oxygen - "breathing is the most important activitity in your life" (28). Oxygen is fuel to our cells. Focused breathing "is a critical component of energy, and also participates in two other essential aspects of our lives - our emotional state and our consciousness. Emotions - such as anger, sadness, laughter, fear, and relaxation - are associated with specific breathing patterns" (29). The Terkels advocate LSD (Long, Slow, Deep) breathing. Another practical small change is to apply the Golden Rule - "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" - to small things, for example: "Listen as you would have others listen to you" and "Speak as you would have otheres speak about you" (103). Though this book is often overly simplistic, it does help us remember that the tortoise beats the hare in the end.
Yes, it's vacation time! And that means indulging in some good comics, fantasy, and science fiction. For a while now, I have been longing to read this tale that centers on Batman's paranoia. Because Batman is a loner and trusts no one - and thus, everyone is a potential enemy - he has compiled a complete database that exposes the weakness of each member of the JLA, just in case he ever has to "take them out." This database falls into the wrong hands - Ra' al Ghul's to be exact - and is used to eliminate the heroes of JLA. Once the heroes discover that Batman is the cause of their downfall, they throw him out of the JLA. This graphic novel was over way too soon, but it was an enjoyable ride while it lasted. I love watching the contrasts between Batman and Superman play out. Fun stuff!
The dream of the religious right has finally come true. The United States of America has become a theocracy (although most people, unaware of the meaning of the word, speak of “the Ocracy”). The Ten Commandments are prominently featured anywhere temptation may rear its ugly head – in schools, bars, gyms, on cigarettes, alcohol, lingerie, etc. The District of Columbia is now the Dominion of Christ. Sex – even among married couples – is outlawed, except for procreation. Creationism is the only perspective taught in schools. New federal laws against blasphemy, sodomy, and witchcraft are rigidly enforced. Even Hollywood – the last bastion of liberalism – has been renamed to Holywood. The union of Church and State is complete. In this environment, a “mysterious stranger” named Jay appears among the poor minorities in New Jersey. He works miracles and preaches God’s love. Though many of the weak and oppressed love him, he is a threat to the Christian establishment and is eventually arrested, tortured, and killed. Click HERE for my extended analysis of this provocative book!
The unspeakable grief of watching his young wife, the victim of a tragic car accident, die before his very eyes, leads Rick Hamilton to enter a parallel dimension where things are just slightly askew. In the new universe, his wife is still alive, but there are other changes that are hard to bear. He now no longer has a child and his wife is having an affair with his best friend. In this parallel universe, he inhabits the body of Richard, his alternative self. After learning that he cannot tell his secret to others, lest they consider him insane, Rick hides out in Richard's ego until he can find an appropriate time to take control. The opportunity arises when he discovers that his wife is having an affair. He stirs jealousy in Richard and her secret is discovered. Over the course of time, Richard realizes that he is inhabited by Rick. The two can read one another's thoughts which makes for some interesting dialogue. Is Rick insane? Is Richard? Are we reading the inner monologue of one suffering from schizophrenia, paranoia, or some other form of insanity? Or is this truly a case of Rick jumping universes? We do not discover the truth until the end. I enjoyed the whole ride and found the end satisfying.
An alien ship lands outside the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto carrying two species of intelligent life – the Forhilnors and the Wreeds. One of the Forhilnors, a six-legged creature named Hollus, enters the building and says, “Take me to a paleontologist.” Hollus is introduced to Thomas Jericho, a paleontologist who is terminally ill with lung cancer. Hollus’s race has discovered that their own planet, the Wreed’s planet, and earth have all experienced five cataclysmic events at about the same time. He assumes that God is directing the evolution of life on each planet for a common end. Through the study of earth’s fossil record, Hollus hopes to gain insight on why all three planets have experienced a similar history. Surprisingly, Thomas Jericho is more shocked about the aliens’ belief in God than in the aliens themselves. Hollus informs him that all aliens – and virtually all humans – believe in God and that it is earth’s scientists that are the anomaly. Click HERE for my extended analysis of this book!
God offers Lucifer an opportunity for forgiveness and re-entry into heaven. Lucifer is given thirty days to inhabit the body of Declan Gunn. If he can live a good life, he will be allowed back into heaven. Lucifer takes the offer, but uses Gunn's body to completely indulge his senses. Though this may seem like a set-up for a completely foul book, it is surprising how much truth comes through - sort of like an R-rated Screwtape Letters. While indulging the flesh, Lucifer writes a book, retelling the stories of creation, the fall (both angelic and human), and Jesus' temptation and crucifixion with his own spin on the story. Because he is the father of lies, we never truly know whether he is lying or not. He also sheds insights on his demonic strategies. One of my favorite lines: "I do a deal, a great deal of my work in churches, usually during the homily, when all but the most besotted acolytes are in a state of surreal boredom verging on hallucination" (35-36). He is admittedly not omniscient, but "one hell of an opportunist" (63). Near the end, a good angel attempts to win him over by revealing that Lucifer possesses little true power over humans, since humans are responsible for their own actions and possess within themselves the capacity for evil apart from demonic influence. This infuriates Lucifer, but his overblown ego will not allow him to accept it. This book is definitely not for the easily offended!
Most people know the story of Helen Keller (1880-1968). Struck totally deaf and blind by a mysterious illness at nineteen months, Helen spent five years in frustrating isolation. Through the efforts of her persistent teacher, Anne Sullivan, Helen learned how to communicate through her hands. Through language, the world was opened to Helen, and Helen to the world. Helen’s brilliance and her love for life are evident in her writings. Her second book, The World I Live In, first published in 1908, addresses a variety of subjects, but most notably, her perception of the world apart from the dominant senses of sight and sound. One would think that her imagination and experience would be limited by her disability. Quite the contrary, her descriptions of the world are rich, full, and captivating – an amazing feat for one who never saw or heard a single thing in her life. Her access to the world came exclusively through touch, smell, and taste. These limited senses, combined with her imagination and language, allowed her to experience the world in a unique way. They allowed her to see, even though blind. Click HERE for my extended reflection on her experience of touch as the dominant sense. Also, check out my thoughts on her essay on optimism!
Why am I attracted to religious dystopias? This is novel about a future where body image is the new religion. It is a world where the Reverend Earl calls on sinners to forsake overeating, resist the creeping effects of old age, and enter the Afterfat. Thin is the new religion and appearances are everything! In a world where perfect body image is worshipped and the Fashion Police could invade at any moment, the seedy side of life now consists of eating contests and spending time at Jumbo Jigglers - clubs where overweight people gorge on food for the pleasure of patrons. Because it is forbidden, most people secretly lust over the "before" pictures during testimonials. Traditional religion has been outlawed. People cannot "control" God, but they can "control" their bodies. One worker explains, "See, in the ultimate scheme of us in the world and the world in the universe, the whole God thing is pretty much a crapshoot, so why not give ourselves to something we can see, that we already know about? Why not devote ourselves to something we can control?" (69) Kit Reed has produced a novel where the goal is not to be "holier than thou" but to be "thinner than thou." Either way, the pursuit of selfish goals at the expense of others leads to personal and social chaos. Nothing in this book is likely - it's premise is absolutely outlandish. But as a parable of our idolatry of body image, it serves as a warning. One caution: Don't - I repeat don't - read this while you are hungry!
"Congratulations, you have been chosen to act as Death. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it. It is your duty to retrieve soul vessels from the dead and dying and see them on to their next body. If you fail, Darkness will cover the world and Chaos will reign" (110). Thus reads the opening lines of The Great Big Book of Death, a book given to Charlie Asher, one of the newest Death Merchants chosen to retrieve soul vessels. Along the way he inherits two hell hounds, is pursued by sewer harpies, encounters the Squirrel People, and ultimately, battles the forces of evil. Yes, it is as crazy as it sounds. This book was crazy fun. I identified a little too much with Moore's constant analysis of the Beta Male! Definitely not for everyone, but for geeks like me, a little absurdity is always welcome.
In this outstanding book, Ryan offers insights on obtaining patience. She wisely states that "[i]f we want to live wider and deeper lives, not just faster ones, we have to practice patience" (6). And most importantly, she helps us to understand that patience is not something we have or don't have, but rather, patience is something we do! "Impatience is a habit; so is patience. To change a habit, we need strong motivation, which comes from knowing the rewards that come from the new behavior" (14). Ryan offers numerous gifts that patience brings, including perseverance, less anger (anger is the direct consequence of losing patience), and greater empathy and tolerance toward others. After enticing us with the gifts of patience, Ryan gives direction in attitudes of patience and presents practices that foster patience. This is a very accessible and helpful book.
Pastor Holly knows how hard waiting can be: "Waiting presents an enormous challenge. We are impatient, I-can-fix-it kinds of people... but not all situations can be fixed. We assume that everything in life can be made better by taking action, but sometimes it just isn't so" (12). Waiting is not all bad, in fact, it is necessary in so many aspects of life. Instead of complaining about waiting, Holly invites us to see the gifts of waiting when it is pursued as a spiritual discipline: "If we welcome waiting as a spiritual discipline waiting will present its spiritual gifts" (13). The seven spiritual gifts of waiting are patience, loss of control, living in the present, compassion, gratitude, humility, and trust in God. With pastoral wisdom and insight, Holly demonstrates how waiting can be used by God to transform our lives and the lives of others.
This is a wonderful example of non-combative, open, engaging dialogue that retains conviction while remaining gracious. This short book is full of short statements filled with deep insights about the Christian faith. Coffin's religion is upright, but not uptight! He is willing to give his interlocutor time and space. He is not judgmental, but maintains his beliefs. Coffin recognizes that the God most people reject is a God that most believers would reject as well. He recounts how he would interact with atheists: "'Tell me about the God you don’t believe in.' I knew that 99 chances out of 100 I wouldn’t believe in their kind of God either" (18). One of my favorite statements he makes is: "God is not too hard to believe in, just too good to believe in, we being strangers to such goodness" (55). This is a short book full of big love and great ideas - a worthy model of spiritual direction.
In what must pass for humor in the heavens, God has made me a leader. Hounding me all along my leadership journey has been an overwhelming sense of inadequacy. I am well aware of countless weaknesses, failures, and shortcomings. I have no illusions of omni-competence. I am flawed in many important aspects of leadership. Repeatedly, my overwhelming sense of inadequacy has been alleviated by my growing awareness that God’s strength is most evident in human weakness. Now, I have a book that develops this theme in a helpful, constructive way that should benefit any leadership team. Dan Allender writes of "limping leaders". Limping leaders have the courage to admit their weaknesses, frailties, and sins and the faith to believe that God will use even these flaws in ministry to others. It is dangerous to be a limping leader. People desire the perception of perfection over the reality of brokenness. Yet, only a limping leader truly reveals the message of grace at the heart of the gospel. Click HERE for my extended analysis of this helpful book!
Are you weary of chasing God? Are you worried that if you do not strive hard enough to seek God that you may fail to find God? Are you overwhelmed by your efforts to get God’s attention? Are you tired of trying to win God’s love? If so, Tim King and Frank Martin have a word for you, “If you are weary in chasing God, remember, God is chasing you!” The good news is that God is madly in love with you and is pursuing you with reckless abandon. Ultimately, it’s not about our faith; it’s about God’s faithfulness! And the good news is that God’s faithfulness is steadfast, sure, and absolute. Click HERE for my extended reflections on this wonderful book!
In 1990, Julian Davidson, a Professor of Physiology at Stanford Medical School, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the age of fifty-nine. His wife, Ann, a speech pathologist, did all in her power to love Julian until his death on December 31, 2001. Ann recounts her experience in A Curious Kind of Widow: Loving a Man with Advanced Alzheimer’s. This is a powerful story of extraordinary love! Throughout the book, Ann shows great courage and strength in her love for Julian. Even more, she honors the value, worth, and dignity of Julian until the very end. For my extended reflections on this book, Click HERE.
The recent departure of 1000 of its 5000 members from
Woodland Hills Church because Reverend Greg Boyd announced that his church
would intentionally “steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a ‘Christian nation’ and stop glorifying American military campaigns” underscores the need for clear thinking about the relationship of Church and State. Is America a “Christian
nation”? If not, what is the place of religion in America? Jon Meacham’s new book, brings some much-needed sanity to these important (and potentially volatile) questions. Click HERE for my extended reflections on this important book.
Ray Anderson, senior professor of theology and ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary, is a welcome role model and mentor for young emerging leaders. In this book he attempts to give the emerging church a guiding model rooted in the Christian community that emerged out of Antioch. He distinguishes this community from the Christian community in Jerusalem that was plagued with ethnocentric and legalistic baggage that made it difficult to flex enough to embrace the full significance of the gospel. I approached this book with great hope for profound theology in a postmodern context. I came away disappointed. Anderson's prose is staid, heavy, and difficult to wade through. In retrospect, I think I enjoyed the chapter titles more than I did the content of the chapters. A promising book that failed to trip my trigger. I am, however, thankful that Anderson is so open to theological development in a postmodern context, and thus, for (and not against) the emerging church.
"Christian spirituality, without an integration of emotional health, can be deadly" (7). Christians advocate many "silver bullets" to authentic discipleship: more Bible study, better body life, more prayer time, better worship, sacrificial service, etc. These solutions can do more damage than good if they prevent believers from deep internal transformation. For this reason, Scazzero warns that "emotional health and spiritual maturity are inseparable. It is not possible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature" (17). Scazzero argues that we need to truly embrace our emotions in order to know healthy spirituality. "When we deny our pain, losses, and feelings year after year, we become less and less human. We transform slowly into empty shells with smiley faces painted on them. Sad to say, that is the fruit of much of our discipleship in our churches" (70). Scazzero calls us to know ourselves so that we can know God in our "true self" rather than our "false self" - our own fabrication based on performance, possessions, and popularity. While calling us to recognize and embrace our feelings, Scazzero also warns us against an over-attachment to our feelings, mistaking them for God (123-124). He invites us to embrace our limits (147-148), practice Sabbath rest, perform the Daily Office, and compose a Rule of Life. For those unfamiliar with many of the practices Scazzero suggests, this is an outstanding introduction to a much fuller and richer Christian life that integrates spirituality with emotional wellness. There are far too many Christians who come across as weird, emotional infants. Our relationship with God should penetrate much deeper than this. Even more, it should encompass our full humanity, since, in the words of Irenaeus, "the glory of God is humankind fully alive"!
I tried to like this book. It’s the kind of book I generally enjoy reading. It is youthful, edgy, and provocative. Yet, it is riddled with problems – too many problems for me to recommend it to others. This is unfortunate, because I agree with most, if not all, of Burke’s theology. I value his desire to be philosophically and culturally relevant. I consider myself postmodern. I am sympathetic to the emergent church, and I value fresh and creative expressions of the ancient faith. However, Burke’s analysis of the church and his prescription for change is hardly fresh, creative, or even postmodern. Sadly, his analysis of the church represents the ugliest side of the emergent church movement, consisting primarily of infantile complaints that reveal more about his past than about the present church in its multi-faceted expression. Even worse, his prescription for change is the complete elimination of organized religion. For my extended critique and analysis Click HERE.
"If you're not careful, you can reach a point where you've made choices without thinking. Without planning. You can end up not living the life you'd meant to. Maybe one you deserve, but not one you intended" (23). This was Uncle Roger's warning to seven-year old Stacy. A warning that goes unheeded and the young twenty-something Stacy finds herself lost in the Ruins with five other people. I cannot say much more about this book without giving too much away. The Ruins, written by Scott Smith, the author of A Simple Plan, is a chilling, atmospheric horror story. The characters find themselves stuck in a hopeless situation that grows increasingly worse with each page. Don't pick this book up if you are squeamish... or in need of a happy ending.
The father daughter team of Don Saliers (a professor of theology and worship) and Emily Saliers (most known for her work with the Indigo Girls) have produced an excellent reflection on the spirituality of music. They demonstrate the power of music to promote solidarity, touch the transcendent, move beyond words, express deep feelings, recall life experiences, and call for justice. The whole body is caught up in creating and listening to music. The difference between "secular" and "sacred" music is hard to discern since "secular" songs can be so spiritual and "sacred" songs can easily be sung without reflection. The Saliers lament the "Worship Wars." Dividing over one's preference for a certain musical style is narrow and unwelcoming. All in all, this is a fine introduction to the importance of music in all of life.
This book challenges the common assumptions: 1. Each person can learn to be competent in almost anything. 2. Each person's greatest room for growth is in his or her areas of greatest weakness. Instead, it argues that: 1. Each person's talents are enduring and unique. 2. Each person's greatest room for growth is in the areas of his or her greatest strength. A strength is defined as a consistent, predictable part of one’s performance. We “reach excellence only by understanding and cultivating [our] strengths” (124). There is no need to be well-rounded: "That excellent performers must be well founded is one of the most pervasive myths we hope to dispel in this book. When we studied them, excellent performers were rarely well rounded. On the contrary, they were sharp" (26). We excel by maximizing our strengths, not fixing our weaknesses. This is not the same thing as “ignoring weaknesses.” We should capitalize on our strengths, and “manage around” our weaknesses in order to free up time to hone our strengths. The difference between good and great is the amount of effort we put into intentionally nurturing, honing, and refining our strengths: “the difference between someone whose performance is acceptable and someone whose performance is consistently near perfect is very slight” (131). Thus, "[n]o matter what your profession, the secret to consistent near perfect perfomance lies in these kinds of subtle refinements" (132). Building strengths is not about ego, but responsibility – the responsible use of our gift for the good of others. As the authors encourage, “you will be most successful when you craft your role to play to your signature talents most of the time" (167). The authors call us to be "consciously competent" and find work that provides opportunities to do what we do best every day.
Using the insights from the Clifton Strengthsfinder, the authors encourage us to use our gifts in our faith communities. A faith community ought to be a place where "We are not expected to be who we are not. We are expected to be who we are" (10). We are invited to capitalize on our differences by focusing on our strengths: “Naming our top talents gives us permission to accept our areas of lesser talent and either discard them or manage them. It gives us permission to stop trying to be who we are not and concentrate on who we are” (8). This is a helpful tool to incorporate the Strengthsfinder tool into the life of a church.
“To be alive is to be addicted, and to be alive and addicted is to stand in need of grace.” – Gerald May, Addiction & Grace, p. 11. According to psychiatrist Gerald May, all of us are addicts. May defines addiction as “a state of compulsion, obsession, or preoccupation that enslaves a person’s will and desire” (14). Addiction is the flip-side of repression: “While repression stifles desire, addiction attaches desire, bonds and enslaves the energy of desire to certain specific behaviors, things, or people. These objects of attachment then become preoccupations and obsessions; they come to rule our lives” (3). While addictions to alcohol and drugs are obvious and tragic, everything – ideas, work, relationships, power, moods, fantasies, etc. – holds the potential to become an object of addiction. For this reason, May argues that “No addiction is good; no attachment is beneficial. To be sure, some are more destructive than others… [but they all have this in common, they] impede human freedom and diminish the human spirit” (39). Unable to think rightly about our addictions (because of "mind tricks") or will our way out of addictions (because of a divided will), the first step to healing is to admit one’s addictions, and even more, see our addictions as “doorways through which the power of grace can enter our lives” (31). For my extended analysis of this soul-searching book, click HERE.
"Life is not about how fast you run or how high you climb, but how well you bounce" (41). This remarkable resiliency and staying power is certainly true of the legend, Willie Nelson. (By the way, it is also true of Tigger!) This book is loaded with a wide variety of Willie-isms. Some are profound. Some are silly. All are fun! There is just something so enjoyable about saying "The Tao of Willie"! Go ahead... say it out loud a few times. Isn't it catchy? Another Willie-ism: "It's easy to be false with other people, but to be false to yourself is a waste of your life on earth" (100). Willie is anything but false. His complete honesty is refreshing. He even comes clean about his continued love for marijuana. Though some of Willie's reflections are more confusing than helpful, his endearing personality carries the day.
Having read the followup book, A Curious Kind of Widow, where Ann describes her experience of Julian's final years, I wanted to read this book which chronicles the first year of Julian's decline. In the opening pages, Ann breaks down with a psychiatrist: "He's going down... Both of us are going down." In that moment she has an ephiphany: "And in a flash I saw clearly that what I wanted was to 'go down' in a spirit of love - not fear and anger, no matter what transpired" (xvi). Ann is brave enough to recount her journey, which includes moments of fear and anger, and yet in the midst of it all, she never fails to love Julian and be there for him. As Julian's decline made mundane tasks difficult (for example, he can't distinguish a toothbrush from a razor, and puts his socks in the dishwasher) Ann begins to find peace in accepting Julian as he is. She never fails to appreciate his past accomplishments. In one place, she writes, "Why, when we're about to lose something, do we suddenly appreciate it most?" (134) As Julian's mind slips away, Ann comes to recognize their deep emotional attachment. After a rare lucid moment in which Julian says to Ann, "I know we'll always be together," Ann thinks: "Each of us knew we were deeply loved" (185). Even when all else is lost, there is a deep comfort - I would say, a divine comfort - in knowing that someone will always be with you and that you will always be loved! Ann remains true to her desire to "go down" in love.
In this interesting book (even for the math-challenged like me), Rosenthal preaches the gospel of probability theory. His basic thesis is that a "basic understanding of the rules of probability theory as they apply to real-life circumstances can help us to make sense of these situations, avoid unnecessary fear, seize the opportunites that randomness presents to us, and atually enjoy the uncertainties we face" (2). He may be overstating the value of probability theory, but what preacher doesn't exaggerate? He applies the insights of probability theory - among other things - to airplane safety, the lottery, gambling, polling, studies, evolution, spam, and quantum mechanics. He demonstrates how biased samples skew findings. For example, some companies only present research and findings that support their product. Surprisingly, as much as we curse "random events" (like cancer or accidents) when they strike us personally, we find randomness to establish fairness. When a particular side cannot be taken, we flip a coin, draw straws, or have a lottery to make a choice. Rosenthal writes, "Paradoxically, randomness seems very unfair when disease or terrorism strikes, but as a way of settling human affairs, it may be the fairest mechanism we've got" (189).
The popularity of the Roman gladiator games was utterly unprecedented. In this book, Meijer takes an indepth look at the history of the gladiator games. He believes that public executions in China and Iran, cruel fights involving animals (cockfights, bullfights), the excessive violence of movies and video games, the brutality of some contact sports evidence that "we are closer to the gladiator shows than we might like to admit" (12). The standard program for the Colosseum's games involved a day-long bloodbath, beginning with animal fights followed by wild animal hunts, the execution of criminals during lunch, and the gladiator fights in the afternoon (136). First, the Colosseum was filled with animals that were successively killed. The more animals the better. And the more exotic, the more exciting. Animals included: ostriches, antelope, gazelles, deer, donkeys, bears, tigers, leopards, lions, and elephants. During lunch, criminals and slaves were publicly executed: Roman citizens were put to death by the sword, non-citizens by crucifixion, burning, or dismemberment and devouring by wild animals (or a combination of all three). In order to keep the excitement going, creative ways to execute criminals were invented. Sometimes dramatic or comedic epics were played out with the criminal playing the tragic hero who faced death. In perhaps the most disturbing account, a woman prisoner's vagina was smeared with blood from a cow in heat and she was draped with cowhide and offered to a lustful bull, in order that the myth of Pasiphae and the bull could be reenacted. It is was in the Colosseum that many Christians - refusing to offer worship to the Emperor - were put to death. Ultimately, the gladiator games were put out of business through Roman conversion to Christianity and the financial ruin followed by the fall of Rome. In the final chapter, Meijer critiques popular gladiator movies. He applauds Spartacus, but finds Russell Crowe's "Gladiator" very unsatisfying - its complete lack of historical accuracy is appalling.
Dear Church is Sarah Cunningham’s painfully honest expression of disappointment with the church. At times, her criticisms are so cutting that one assumes she will end her book by declaring her complete rejection of the church. However, halfway through the book her tone changes in a surprising way. Sarah begins to break free from the bondage of disillusionment: “I’m getting sick of my own disillusionment… my cynicism isn’t righting the world any faster than my ideals” (117). In order to escape disillusionment, Sarah must completely reject the illusion she has maintained about the church. She realizes that our love for the church – just like our love for people – must arise from a commitment that transcends consequences. If we only love the church when it is at its best, we do not love the church that really exists – we love an illusion. Sarah’s embrace of the church – in all its glory and its shame – leads her to embrace the church with newfound hope. For my extended reflection on this great book, click here.
Peter Bart, editor-in-chief of Variety, has written a fascinating book about box-office blockbusters, Broadway hits, and successful television series, including such diverse offerings as Batman, Mamma Mia!, The Lord of the Rings, the Blair Witch Project, Baywatch, The Real World, Oprah, All in the Family, Ben-Hur, The Sound of Music, Pyscho, Gunsmoke, I Love Lucy, King Kong and plenty of others. Each chapter reveals how each of these hits from film, television, and theater almost never made it to the big screen, the small screen, or the stage. Very few of these hits were expected to be hits. They all were successful well beyond expectations. Even more interesting, with rare exception, when each of these hits were replicated (in sequels or similar offerings) they failed to generate the kind of buzz that the original provoked. In short, nothing is predictable in film, television, or theater. A sure-fire hit can bomb. A sure-fire bomb can hit. Bart does a great job of summarizing the story behind all these hits. This is a fun book for those who love popular entertainment.
Fight Club provides a violent catharsis for those living in quiet desperation. It allows its secret participants to escape "who they are in the real world" (49). Fight Club is the invention of Tyler Durden (who is himself major spoiler alert the invention of the unnamed narrator). For the chronically frustrated in this book (including the narrator) Fight Club offers an alternative to the endless search for self-improvement by finding salvation in self-destruction: "Maybe self-improvement isn't the answer... Maybe self-destruction is the answer" (49). Tyler's philosophy is simple: "It's only after you've lost everything, that you're free to do anything" (70). In a twisted way, Tyler is right. Only complete liberty from all attachments allows us to fully and freely give ourselves to others without strings attached. However, Tyler's freedom is rooted in the complete destruction of civilization, and of the self, if necessary. Salvation through self-destruction is close to, but not the same thing as, salvation through self-denial and self-giving. Tyler's characters deny themselves - even destroy themselves - but they have nothing positive to offer others than a mutual commitment to personal dissolution. Therefore, it makes sense that the novel would end in complete catastrophe.
This is a collection of uneven essays on different aspects of the popular television series, Lost. Like a previous book I read on Lost - Unlocking the Meaning of Lost - this book devotes almost half of its pages to an alphabetical list of everything related to the show. In spite of its flaws, there are some interesting essays. My favorite piece was "Staying Lost" by Charlie W. Starr. He argues that the "secret to Lost is surrender... the ability to surrender our demand for answers and revel in the beauty of the experience, to even playfully enjoy when things stop making sense... That is how I've decided to approach the show. I'm not giving up; I'm giving in - going along for the ride" (34). Starr notes that surrender is the key to true discovery - to true knowledge. Doubt has its limitations. Giving oneself in trust to another is the way to true knowledge. Other insights: (1) The characters are their stories. Through flashbacks we learn the meaning of their actions on the island. Thus, the stories give meaning to who they are. (2) No matter what the island's mystery turns out to be the fact that there is a plan is comforting "in a world that often seems random, senseless, and unnecessarily cruel" (90). Ultimately, we are all lost in a vast cosmos that leaves us perplexed with unanswered questions and surrounded by impenetrable mysteries. I believe that in a very weird way, Lost helps us wrestle with the reality we are all utimately faced with. In short, I'm prepping for Season 3 of Lost!
We all have secrets. They are part of our identity. They allow us freedom to discover who we really are. They are "the currency of close relationships, the coin of exclusivity, sometimes the key to love itself" (2). Secrets can be a source of intimacy but they can also be a source of shame, guilt, anxiety, and despair. We often battle "between the image of ourselves we want to present to the world and the more sinister image we try to harbor out of sight" (39). There are two kinds of secrets: (1) the secrets we keep to ourselves and (2) the secrets we keep from ourselves. Secrets begin when we are children and learn there is a world outside of our parents. Through secrets children navigate new landscapes and discover "that with the manipulation of information comes power. One way to manage information to one's own advantage is to lie, and by the age of five most children have become adept at this" (14). Sometimes it is painful when secrets are exposed. One the other hand, "[s]ometimes, when a secret life does get exposed, it was actually ready to die, and exposure isn't all that hellish. When the pain of keeping it alive becomes greater than the pain of surrendering its existence, then the revelation of the secret can create a sensation of release... The cycle of needing to conceal but wanting to reveal, of wanting to reveal but needing to conceal, has finally been broken" (170). Saltz has a beautiful passage where she connects the surrender of all secrets to love: "And when you find someone in whom you can confide all your secrets, and who in turn can confide all his or her secrets in you, then for the first time since infancy you will have found a person who seemingly knows everything about you, and that is what we might call love" (22). This is a beautiful definition of complete acceptance and intimacy, and since it involves a complete knowledge of the other, it can only be fully realized in a relationship with the Divine. Only God fully knows us and still fully accepts and loves us. In a relationship with the God with whom there are no secrets, we can surrender our shame in the unyielding warmth of divine embrace.
Interested in the world of professional Christian ministry? Would you like to better understand the unique struggles of clergy? Do you assume that religious leaders naturally have an advantage in spiritual growth? Would it surprise you to discover that a life devoted to helping others does not automatically lead to personal blessing and inner peace? In this book, Barbara Brown Taylor describes the unique peaks and valleys of ecclesiastical service. Even more importantly, she reveals that Christian ministry possesses its own unique pitfalls that are not easily navigated. Indeed, one’s own success can lead to one’s downfall. Her ministry is proof of this. For my extended analysis of this great book, click HERE.
To live is to face loss. This is an inevitable part of human experience. No one is exempt from this reality. If we live long enough we will inevitably lose friends, family, loved ones, our job, our health, our independence. These losses will bring grief – the normal and appropriate response to loss. In order to thrive in an imperfect world where loss is to be expected, we must learn how to do healthy “grief work.” The largest of losses can be survived, and even more, can lead to a better life. In this outstanding book, Deits writes of the importance of grief, the grieving process, the role and limitations of religion in the grieving process, and the inevitable losse of old age. For my summary of this excellent book, click HERE.
In May 2005, at the age of 53, Eugene O'Kelley, Chairman and CEO of KPMG, one of the largest U.S. accounting firms, was told that he had 3 months to live - about 100 days. The late-stage brain cancer with which he was diagnosed, would lead to a relatively painfree demise. Eventually, his vision would blur and he would pass into a coma. Being the businessman that he was, O'Kelley meticulously planned out his final days. He sought to manage his own death in a conscious fashion. A methodical, organized, unequivocating, and thorough man, he did not know how to do anything unplanned. O'Kelley admits that "it sounds pretty weird to try to be CEO of one's own death" (16). A religious man, O'Kelley does not view himself as "master of his fate" so much as "master of his farewell." His reflections and actions in relation to his immanent death are provocative and compelling. At one point he writes of how commitment is not measured by time but by energy: "In fact, it's not about time. It's not about reliability and predictability. Commitment is about depth. It's about effort. It's about passion. It's about wanting to be in a certain place, and not somewhere else. Of course time is involved; it would be naive and illogical to suggest otherwise. But commitment is best measured not by the time one is willing to give up but, more accurately, by the energy one wants to put in, by how present one is" (78). O'Kelley takes advantage of his opportunity to "stop and look up long enough to think about the people we love and why we love them, and to go and tell them explicitly how we feel, because who knows when that opportunity will disappear forever?" (100). Great words of wisdom to live by! It is too bad that it often takes a serious encounter with death to allow this to sink in!
Celtic prayers are so ruggedly earthy and yet so amazingly transcendent in their trinitarianism. It's as if the solid embrace of the Trinity leads to a complete transformation of all of life. In these prayers we discover "[n]ot just a God of history, but a God who is very near and at all times ready to give a hand if we call upon him" (1). Like the beautiful art of Celtic weavings, "Here we have a weaving of the Presence around our lives like the Celtic patterns on stones and in the illuminated Gospels: Christ moves in and out, over and under. We are encircled by him; encompassed by his presence and love. This is not something we create, it is a reality to become aware of, a glory that is ours but that we so often miss. We are on the very edge of glory, but we seem to choose the wrong side" (2). This volume - like all of Adam's work - consists of a beautiful, moving, stirring, and stunning collection of Celtic prayers. Great stuff!
An open gate invites us to explore. Christ opens up for us the gate of glory. This is another book full of great Celtic prayers!
Around this time of the year, a question looms in the minds of many women (and some men): Why do men watch football? "Why is it that a man will sit down for six hours in front of the television set when football games are on, yet he won’t sit still for more than 10 or 15 minutes for anything else when he’s at home? What is that? What’s the big attraction? What needs are being met, what yearnings in the man are being satisfied by watching football hour after hour, week after week?" (3). Bob Andelman attempts to shed light on this mystery in his book. The answers come in two categories: (1) Men watch football for entertainment. It is a pleasant diversion and distraction from their dull routines. (2) Men watch football to meet deep psychological needs and desires. The first answer – football as entertainment – is certainly true. Football provides an exciting source of stimulating amusement. But it offers so much more. Like good therapy, football satisfies many psychological and social needs in the lives of men. For a list of some of the needs Andelman presents, click here.
Immediately following The Humor of Christ I read this book. Adams (not the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) challenges us to consider the unrecognized humorous elements of many biblical stories, including the story of Abraham, Jonah, many of Christ's parables, and some of Christ's transactions with his disciples. "Humor gives us hope" (3) and allows us to see that we can all be Christ's disciples. Indeed, when we recognize the bumbling, stumbling, fumbling character of Christ's disciples - including that "blockhead", Peter - then we can have deeper confidence in our faith-journey. Adams writes, "With disciples such as these, it is possible for anyone to be a disciple" (62). Unlike Trueblood, who despairs of finding any humor in Paul, Adams uncovers banter in Paul's epistles. The body parts talking to another (1 Corinthians 12), his anti-autobiography (2 Corinthians 11), sarcasm (1 Corinthians 4:6-10), and "cutting" cut-downs (Galatians 5:12) are proof of Paul's sense of humor. Adams also provides a wealth of resources to help immerse a congregation in biblical truth. Cheering and booing to Matthew's genealogy, making animal sounds to accompany Revelation 13, and writing our religious achievements on toilet paper in order to better practice Paul's pronouncement, "I consider all these things to be dung (or, more literally, sh*t)" (Philippians 3:8). I leave you to guess what Adams suggests we do with the toilet paper once we have completed the exercise! All in all, a provocative, interesting, and unique book!
In a future utopia - the "Bitchun society" - Jules lives with his girlfriend and best friend in Disney World. While working in the Haunted Mansion, he is killed (which is not a problem because his memory is "backed-up" and loaded into a new body). He is suspicious of Debra, who runs the Hall of Presidents. This is all I can really say about this novel without giving too much away. Jules finds comfort in living in Disney World because of a childhood visit with his parents. He found it to be a "touchstone" - "a constant in a world where everything changed" (96). It represent a place of "happiness, security, efficiency, fantasy" (194). This is Jules delight and downfall. A relatively interesting read, but not great.
Though the title of Housden’s book is extremely provocative, its contents are relatively benign. Housden begins by reminding us that the traditional litmus test for a sin according to the Catholic Church is “Did you take pleasure in it?” He argues that Catholic morality combined with the Protestant work ethic has led to the death of pleasure and the enshrinement of busyness, efficiency, and productivity. He invites us to the “cultural sin” of slowing down and enjoying life by experiencing the pleasures of the senses, foolishness, ignorance, not being perfect, doing nothing useless, being ordinary, and coming home. True enjoyment of life takes time. Quick lunches, quick trips, and quick conversations just won’t do. We must learn to “waste time” – which is really no waste at all. If we lose our sense of self-importance, our demand for control, and our constant demand to be “useful”, we may actually begin to enjoy life. Housden reminds us that we are not useless when we are not useful: “A fully lived and passionate life is not only, or not even mostly, about being useful or useless, it is about being” (146). Housden is wrong when he proclaims that “To live a sensuous life is to follow the example of Eve” (32). Eve’s senses were ablaze with glory before the Fall. Her sin diminished her delight and participation in this world. Likewise, Housden is wrong when he states that “Religions of every stripe infer that we do not belong here; that is why they urge us not to be swayed by the delights of the flesh and to keep our mind on the hereafter. Yet, not only is this a good place to be, despite all the troubles that come with the assignment, but deep pleasures come with having a body that angels will never know” (32). The Christian religion – when understand rightly – is completely incarnational, earthy, and pleasure-friendly. It states that God became flesh in Jesus, that our destiny is resurrection glory, and that the whole earth will eventually be restored to its pristine beauty and God’s redeemed will delight in “pleasures forever, joys forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). Housden’s “Seven Sins” are really “guilty pleasures” – and they only reason they bring guilt is because our frenetic, efficient, success-driven culture looks down upon the “real” pleasures of this life.
We all tell fish stories. We stretch the truth about ourselves, our lives, and others. Sometimes we do this to make ourselves look better, bigger, more important. Sometimes we do this to hide ourselves from others. And sometimes, like Edward Bloom, the bigger-than-life personality in Big Fish, we do it because our life – though relatively common – can be experienced as an epic adventure. On his deathbed, Edward Bloom tells his son, “Remembering a man’s stories makes him immortal, did you know that?” (20) Edward’s son is disappointed that he does not truly know his father. Instead, he only has the over-the-top stories his father has told him his entire life. He thinks to himself, “The truth is, most things are hard to talk about with him. By that I mean the essence of things, the important things, the things that matter” (70). Eventually, the son accepts the fact that his father’s life will remain a mystery to him, and thus tells his father’s story in the way his father would be proud of. He summarizes, “but now, instead of the simple fish stories that had satisfied them before, it is the history of the life Edward Bloom never lived in Specter that engages them, a life they wished they had, and the life, finally, he came to live in their minds; as Edward Bloom reinvented them, so they reinvented him” (160). We are the stories we tell ourselves. Sometimes these stories are true. Other times they are mere fabrications. This is a creative tale of how stories can both illuminate and obscure a person.
Mitch Albom’s new book is a celebration of a mother’s love. As with his previous book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, I read much of this book through eyes clouded with tears. In the opening pages, an unidentified person asks us to consider the question: “Have you ever lost someone you love and wanted one more conversation, one more chance to make up for the time when you thought they would be here forever?... What if you got it back?” At the lowest point in his life, Charley Benetto receives this gift. For my extended reflection and review of this deeply touching book, click HERE.
Having enjoyed Big Fish so much, I read Wallace's follow-up book. It begins with Ray in heaven at a "Last Words Group." After lying about his last words - making them out to be much more meaningful, poignant, and loving than they really were - Ray admits that his last words were, "I wish..." The novel then proceeds to tell Ray's story from death to childhood. Though there were some very funny parts (the chapter, "The Dog He Ran Over" is hilarious) and some very awkward parts (a number of times Ray flirts with homosexuality, but we are never quite sure why), overall the book falls flat. I guess that the point is that Ray's "I wish" is tragically true. Ray never really lived a heroic life. Ray never really loved others as he should have. Ray's life is one of regrets. It serves as a warning.
This book is presented as a quick manual to familiarize a new pope with his new responsibilities in regard to the Catholic Church and Vatican City. Once one accepts the title Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor to the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Province of Rome, Sovereign of the Vatican City, and Servant of the Servants of God, one can only expect a tough and demanding job. And yet there are a lot of perks. Access to the Popemobile, Papalcopter, the 16 miles of shelves in the Vatican Secret Archives are just the tip of the iceberg in regard to the fun one can have. And where else do the cash dispenser's use Latin as the default language (answer: nowhere else!). Yes, it is fun to consider what it would be like to be Pope, but after reading this manual, I have an even greater respect for what it takes to really pull this off. Fun, entertaining, and informative reading.
Anthony de Mello is a great story teller and an even greater spiritual teacher. His emphases on contemplative prayer, the apophatic way, the illusion of attachments, the true and false self, God in the ordinary, and the power of love are truly moving. The Title, Praying Naked alludes to the fact that "[w]henever you stand before God in prayer, you must stand stripped of everything – your possessions, your ego, your clothes” (xvi). Truly, the best thing in life aren't things: "Life is a banquet, but most people are starving to death" (97). God is found in the present - in the people, circumstances, joys, and even sorrows of "the now": "Just remember, yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, and today is a present, a gift from God." Spirituality is about escaping the world's programming and "waking up" to this divine presence. Part of this will even include renouncing the idol of our own God-concept. To paraphase St. Thomas Aquinas: “This much is certain, whatever you say about God is more wrong than right” (107). This does not lead to despair or agnosticism, it results in enlightened ignorance and true faith - trust in the divine mystery. Risk, not certainty, rooted in a yearning for relationship with the Divine. Without this pursuit, we die a slow death. As Dag Hammarskjold, the former secretary-general of the United Nations, once said, “God does not die on the day we cease to believe in a personal deity. But we die on the day our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder which is beyond all reason” (213). This is an easy and accessible summary of de Mello's spirituality.
Sam Harris is absolutely certain about one thing: religion must be rejected from all aspects of public and private life. In his atheistic absolutism, Harris is more like his opposition than he realizes. Like the faithful that he despises, he proves himself an absolutist with no room for debate. He is certain of that which he cannot “prove” – the complete and utter absence of God. He can no more “prove” this than a theist can “prove” the existence of God, but with unrelenting zeal and absolute commitment (the kind that can only be described as “religious”), Harris defends the undefendable and damns all those who disagree. Harris apparently does not realize that he is using the misguided tactics of the fundamentalist pastors he despises. Even worse, like them, he fails to recognize that the way he presents his argument limits his audience. In other words, he’s preaching to the choir! For my extended analysis of this book, click HERE.
Neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine chooses “to emphasize scientific truth over political correctness even though scientific truths may not always be welcome” (162). Fear of discrimination should not make us pretend the sexes are the same. This does “a disservice to both men and women [and] ultimately hurts women” (161). To understand the female brain one must understand the changing cocktail of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. “What we’ve found is that the female brain is so deeply affected by hormones that their influence can be said to create a woman’s reality. They can shape a woman’s values and desires, and tell her, day to day, what’s important. Their presence is felt at every stage of life” (3). Brizendine writes so that females will not always be victims to their biology. She advocates a balance of nature and nurture and teaches that an awareness of biological instincts can help inform surviving the different stages of a female’s life: “Biological instincts are the keys to understanding how we are wired, and they are the keys to our success today. If you’re aware of the fact that a biological brain state is guiding your impulses, you can choose not to act or to act differently than you might feel compelled” (6). For example, falling in love is wrought with delight and danger: “The brain circuits that are activated when we are in love match those of the drug addict desperately craving the next fix… In fact, there’s some truth to the notion that people can become addicted to love” (66). I was floored by the following facts about the different ways men and women approach sex, emotions, and aggression. On sex: “Sexual thoughts float through a man’s brain every fifty-two seconds on average, and through a woman’s only once a day. Perhaps three to four times on her hottest days” (5). On sex and emotions: “Males have double the brain space and processing power devoted to sex as females. Just as women have an eight-lane superhighway for processing emotion while men have a small country road, men have O’Hare Airport as a hub for processing thoughts about sex whereas women have the airfield nearby that lands small and private planes” (91). On aggression: Males channel aggression through force, women through the communication, cliques, and influence. This is a fascinating book that shed light on so many things. It causes me to simultaneously revel in the differences between men and women and also to feel that God has played some mischievous trick on us.
This is a compilation of articles on centering prayer. As such, it is a bit uneven. I enjoyed the articles by Keating the best. He has some wonderful thoughts about the sacred journey: “Our journey is a process of dismantling the monumental illusion that God is distant or absent” (1-2). “The start, middle, and end of the spiritual journey is the conviction that God is always present. As we progress on this journey, God becomes more and more present to us… The spiritual journey is a gradual process of enlarging our emotional, mental, and physical relationship with the divine reality that is present in us, but not ordinarily accessible to our emotions or rationalizations” (2). “Prayer, the sacraments, and good works are all directed toward one purpose: to awaken us to who we actually are but do not yet know. The reception of the Eucharist is not a passing visit from Christ, but an awakening to his abiding presence within us, leading us into the further experience of the Father” (6). “The spiritual journey is often presented as the purification of illusion, as liberation from seeking the wrong things or too much of good things, as freedom from compulsions that arise from the misguided search for happiness” (8). “When we say, ‘Come, Lord Jesus,’ we should remember that Christ is already here. His coming means that he becomes more and more present to our consciousness. He does not move. We move. This process is one of consent to God’s presence, surrender to it, and being transformed by it” (10). Though critics of mysticism argue that it is too individualistic, Thomas Ward uses the illustration of a circle, with God at the center, and individuals on the perimeter, to demonstrate how our pursuit of God brings us closer to one another: “Each person move Godward through grace. Part of that movement is inward to one’s personal center, but another part is toward others through God” (16). Truly, the gate of heaven is everywhere – with those who possess eyes to see!
The notoriously anti-capitalist, pacifist Noam Chomsky is funded by the Pentagon. Michael Moore, the self-proclaimed representative of the "average guy" actually seeks to undermine the average guy with his documentaries. Al Franken is mean-spirited and racist. Ted Kennedy, the pro-environment champion, refuses to allow environmentally-friendly windmills to be near his home. The pro-tax Hillary Clinton does all in her power to not pay her fair share of taxes. Union-friendly Ralph Nader does not pay his staff union wages. Feminist Gloria Steinem is a closet romantic. The list could go on. Schweizer exposes how many liberals fail to live by their own creed. This exposes some of their ideas as invalid and unuseful - for if their ideals do not work for them, how do they expect their ideas to work for others? Certainly, there is hypocrisy on all sides of the political spectrum. Of that, there is no doubt. But the fact that many liberals fail to live up to their ideals - indeed, do all in their power to personally evade their ideals - exposes these ideals as unworkable. Sadly, I've come to be suspicious of all those in power. If nothing else, this book is a clarion call to me to attempt to live up to my own ideals to the best of my abilities. There is nothing worse than loudly proclaiming an ideal and then failing to live up to it. In fact, in light of recent moral failures from all sides, I've come to believe that the issue that people shout loudest about may very likely be the issue with which they struggle the most! In short, we relieve our own guilt by preaching strongly "against" that with which we most struggle. Perhaps this is true for liberal, conservative, and everyone else in-between! Now... what does that say about me?
Rabbi Kushner reads the temptation account in Genesis 3 as “the Birth of Conscience” (21). He does not understand it as a negative movement in human becoming, but as a positive step forward. It is “a mythical description of how the first human beings left the world of animal existence behind and entered the problematic world of being human” (22). This forward movement brings great complexity and moral responsibility to humanity: “We can read it as an inspiring, even liberating story, a story of what a wonderful, complicated, painful, and rewarding thing it is to be a human being” (21). The shame the first parents feel is like adolescents who become self-conscious and begin to take responsibility for their moral choices. One does not have to agree with Kushner’s interpretation to benefit from his practical advice. By re-interpreting the temptation account, Kushner rejects the view of God as a perfectionist that demands perfection from his creatures. This view creates religion that produces nothing but guilt and shame: “It is unfortunate that so many of us have been brought up to think of religion as the scolding voice that makes us feel guilty. I wish we could learn to see religion as the source of healing and relieving guilt” (62). Religion then focuses on sin rather than healing: “Under that definition of sin, our lives will be dominated by feelings of guilt and fear, guilt for the mistakes we have made, and fear of making yet another one. And guilt and fear don’t bring out the best in anyone. They drain the joy out of life and make us unpleasant companions” (39). He continues: “God may be disappointed in some of the things we do; he is never disappointed in who we are, fallible people struggling with the implications of knowing Good and Evil” (53). God loves us and accepts us. We must learn to accept ourselves and seek to be “good enough” rather than perfect. Even better, we must seek to be “whole”: “To be whole before God means to stand before Him with all our faults as well as all of our virtues, and to hear the message of our acceptability. To be whole means to rise beyond the need to pretend that we are perfect, to rise above the fear that we will be rejected for not being perfect. And it means having the integrity not to let the inevitable moments of weakness and selfishness become permanent parts of our character. Know what is good and what is evil, and when you do wrong, realize that that was not the essential you. It was because the challenge of being human is so great that no one gets it right every time. God asks no more of us than that” (180). Besides his material on guilt and shame, Kushner also offers some very helpful chapters on marriage and parenting.
It's a breath of fresh air to read a book that seeks to state the positives, rather than the negatives, of organized religion. (I have found that it takes little insight or imagination to point out problems, but it takes a gracious spirit to gratefully acknowledge the good.) Kushner argues that making room for religious tradition brings greater fulfillment and meaning to our lives. We lose a great treasure "when we become too intellectual or too modern to make room for religion in our lives" (10). At the most fundamental level, religion provides us with a community to create a life of holiness. Though a few exceptional people might be able to do this on their own, "most of us need a structure and the company of other people to do it" (16). Religion not only attempts to put us in touch with God, but it puts us in touch with one another. And we need to be lifted beyond ourselves - and even the greatest human achievements and potential - to celebrate the transcendent. A community of faith allows us to do this together: "We don’t go to church or synagogue at a stipulated time because God keeps 'office hours.' We go because that is when we know there will be other people there, seeking the same kind of encounter we are seeking" (150). And a gracious church will be a community unlike any other: "Our place of worship offers us a refuge, an island of caring in the midst of a hostile, competitive world. In a society that segregates the old from the young, the right from the poor, the successful from the struggling, the house of worship represents one place where the barriers fall and we all stand equal before God. It promises to be the one place in society where my gain does not have to mean your loss. The man worshiping next to you in church may be an insurance salesman or the manager of a rival business, but for the hour you spend together he is not trying to sell you anything or get ahead of you" (103). In a cynical age full of complainers and stone-throwers, it is refreshing to hear someone highlight the benefits and advantages of religion, rather than take cheap shots at the fragile, glass-house we all inhabit the moment we identify ourselves with any group of faithful sinners.
Mary Veal, a sixteen-year-old girl, is abducted outside her school. Weeks later, she reappears. Her story, which parallels other known stories, may or may not be true. Mary's story is told from a number of perpectives - all of them in conflict. What is the truth? This book highlights the perils of memory, the false security of denial, and the use of the imagination. In the end, the reader realizes that "Memories are shoddy things, even under the best of circumstances" (81) because "one can find what one wants to find, which does not necessarily mean that what one finds is actually there" (247). The question persists: "What is the difference between one's memory and one's imagination in the end?" (112) Julavits is a great writer but I ultimately had a hard time following this tale. In fact (and this may simply be a reflection of my own ignorance), I'm still not sure what the ending meant. Or is that the point: that the conflicting stories makes it impossible to come to any strong conclusions.
I love Chuck! When it comes to simply sitting down and enjoying a pleasurable read, he is perhaps my favorite living author. His previous books on tribute bands, visiting places where famous rock stars died, and the wonderfully titled Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, have all been a blast to read. (The latter book was one of my top ten books of 2004 - see number 7!) When I heard that Chuck had a new book out, I was thrilled. Where else can I read a book that covers topics as diverse as Billy Joel, Britney Spears, a classic rock cruise with Journey, Styx, and REO Speedwagon, Goths in Disneyland Day, more tribute bands, and living seven days on an exclusive diet of McDonald's chicken nuggets. Even more close to my heart, Chuck never fails to mentions progressive rock. In this particular book he laments that Kansas' "Dust in the Wind" is the last great sad song. I resonate with many of his insights on life - especially those concerning the Olympics (Why do we mindlessly root for the home team?), the liberal obsession that other nations "don't like us" (Who cares whether others like us or not? It's better to be good than liked - which isn't to say that America is necessarily "good" but is to say that our concern to be "liked" is as superficial and silly as a grade-school kid), the mislabeling of "guilty pleasures" (Why should my enjoyment of "Dumb and Dumber" or Kiss' "The Elder" be guilty of anything?), and whiny people who blame "faceless corporate forces" for their own lack of responsibility. Chuck sees through the victim mentality of shows like Super Size Me and writes: "And that's what Super Size Me is ultimately about: it's about blaming a chain restaurant for offering a product that people choose to consume" (65). I guess I love Chuck because I not only identify with him - and especially his musical tastes - but he constantly surprises me with his opinions. He is hardly predictable, and yet, for the most part, he usually makes a lot of sense.
About this time last year I read a book titled On Bullsh*t. I found its argument so insightful and challenging that I posted a short reflection on the book. I quickly found out that a small minority of vocal Christians felt obligated to rebuke me for reading a book with “bullsh*t” in the title. Indeed, no other article on my site has ever spurred so much controversy. Frankfurt has now written a sequel, which he admits is better viewed as a prequel – a prolegomena, of sorts. When writing On Bullsh*t, he assumed that most readers would agree that indifference to truth is reprehensible (and thus, so is bullsh*t). Consequently, he omitted any explanation “of exactly why truth actually is so important to us, or why we should especially care about it” (5). Ultimately, he argues that our belief in an objective, external reality connects us to the reality of other personalities. If we lose this, we are left with only our own subjectivity. We are left alone. So, ultimately, our belief in truths and in the truth connects us to a much larger world. For my extended overview, click HERE!
Whether you like it or not, the fingerprint of God is imprinted on your soul. Like countless other human beings who have come before you, you yearn for intimacy, for meaning, and for a sense of destiny. Consequently, your soul craves love and faith and hope. In his newest book, Soul Cravings, Pastor Erwin McManus presents a delightfully accessible and warmly inspiring apologetic for the Christian faith. Rejecting the confrontational apologetics of street-corner preachers, the evidentialist apologetics of the Josh McDowell’s and Lee Strobel’s of the world, and the intellectual apologetics of William Lane Craig and (to some extent) C. S. Lewis, Pastor McManus offers a beautiful and captivating existential apologetic by appealing to our common human desires. It is obvious that most (if not all) human beings long for intimacy, meaning, and destiny. For McManus, these “soul cravings” are signs of God’s imprint in our lives. For my extended summary, click HERE.
This book will easily land in my 2006 top ten list! This deeply moving coming-of-age novel has everything - horror, fantasy, and tragedy. When twelve-year-old David's mother dies, his father quickly remarries and another child is born. David feels betrayed, alone, and rejected. He is angry at his father, his step-mother, and his new half-brother. In his new house, the books begin whispering to him, and soon he is transported into a dangerous fantasy world populated with heroes and monsters. Through exciting adventures and narrow escapes, David matures, all leading to the point where he must face his greatest threat. Connolly's world is fascinating - an integration of familiar fairy tales with grotesque and terrifying horror stories. In the end, David must conquer his childhood fears, his immature hatred and jealousies toward his father, step-mother, and half-brother, in order to survive. One of the final tactics that the Crooked Man uses to tempt him is to paint a brutal picture of life in the real world - a life full of petty betrayals, pain, violence, loss, and death: "Those whom you care about - lovers, children - will fall by the wayside, and your love will not be enough to save them" (318). Though the Crooked Man is full of lies, this is not one of them. Life is "filled with great grief as well as great happiness, with suffering and regret as well as triumphs and contentment" (335). However, this truth must not lead one to live in fear, anger, or jealousy. The ending had me in tears! Great book!
I had read so many positive things about this book that I made it my second big vacation novel. It was billed as a horror/love story. I found it interesting, long, but ultimately, unfulfilling. I'm sure a lot of my dissatisfaction stems from having read The Book of Lost Things prior to this. Oh well.
In this delightful book, Beatles' fan and New Testament Scholar, Dale Allison, graciously and lovingly analyzes George Harrison's religious sentiments as they surface in his songs. George "pioneered making mainstream rock a vehicle for religious convictions" (2). Whether George sings directly to his God (e.g., "My Sweet Lord") or simply conveys his convictions, his "music is his personal testimony, his witness that God has changed his life" (19). George believed in a personal God. He embraced "the Hindu philosophy known as neo-Vedanta, according to which the one divine reality goes under different names among the different faiths" (10). "The personal nature of the Deity is most evident in George's persistent association of the Transcendent with love. For him, as for the New Testament's First Epistle of John, 'God is love'" (11). This divine love is relational and invites a reciprocal response of love. According to George, "You can't understand the first thing about God unless you love Him" (12). This book adds new meaning to the line from "While My Guitar Gently Weeps": "I look at you all, see the love there that's sleeping." To George, people may be awake, but still asleep, if their eyes are closed to divine reality. Even more tragic, too often the blind lead the blind through endless escape in diversions, and empty activities. People are "diverted," "perverted," and "inverted" - "that is, they have been diverted from the path to God's love and so become perverted, their natures distorted - so much so that they are inverted, by which George means they have everything backward: they neglect what they need and pursue what they need to neglect" (70). After a stimulating systematic look at George's convictions, Allison concludes with four positive comments about George: He commends George's honesty, his infatuation with God, his God-centeredness ("we typically see the world as the foreground with God as the background whereas for George it's the other way around" 133), and his recurrent emphasis upon love. Great book for theologians and Beatles' fans alike!
Midway through their careers the Beatles went from crooners to preachers. They possessed a message - a message of freedom, peace, and love. The song "The Word" (recorded in 1965) is "the first gospel song of the Beatles ('This could be a Salvation Army song,' said Paul at the time)" (5). Like all good preachers, they believed that something was clearly wrong with the world. Their answers were secularized versions of Christian teachings: "love, peace, hope, truth, freedom, honesty, transcendence" (11). Initially, drugs opened the Beatles up to the mystical and transcendent. Both Paul and George attribute their belief in God to LSD. Because of these experiences, the Beatles' songs about love went from personal and erotic to universal and spiritual. This led to the East, then to disillusion for all except George. This book is a fascinating look at the Beatles in relationship to their faith, beliefs, and message. Whether one agrees with their answers or not, they certainly hungered for transcendence, and asked the right questions. Perhaps their greatest flaw was in putting "freedom" before "truth." Quoting Jesus' statement, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free," Turner comments, "Instead of believing that the truth would set us free, we believed that the freedom would make us true. In other words, we thought that by following our appetites and instincts we would eventually be led to the truth about ourselves, that the road of excess, as William Blake had said, would end up at the palace of wisdom. But Jesus insisted on truth as the prerequisite for real freedom and said that truth could only be found if we 'hold to my teaching.' If we didn't put truth first, we wouldn't be able to distinguish freedom from license" (205). A great book for any Beatles' fan!
“The Mary of the Bible has been hijacked by theological controversies” (3). Protestants have been known to ignore Mary, the mother of Jesus, in order to steer clear of Catholicism. For many, the fear of giving Mary too much honor has resulted in a failure to honor her at all. Thankfully, the tide is turning. Scot McKnight’s new book, The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus, is an attempt to rescue Mary from the realm of controversy through a thorough analysis of the Gospels. When this is done, we discover that Mary is “an ordinary woman… with an extraordinary vocation (being mother to the Messiah) who learned to follow this Messiah Jesus through the ordinary struggles that humans face” (4). McKnight argues that Protestants should not fear that focusing on Mary will lead to error, for “the real Mary always leads us to Jesus” (6). When we extract Mary from the mire of controversy, we discover a woman of great courage and faith. This is an outstanding introduction to the blessed mother of the Messiah. For my extended summary, click HERE.
Robert Webber believes that the reason so much Christian spirituality is empty of power is that it is not thoroughly set within God’s story of redemption in Christ. In order to nurture and sustain a distinctly Christian spirituality, the church must recover God’s story as the source and context in which spirituality is grounded and lived. Webber summarizes the story of God as follows: It is the story of “how God created us to be in union with himself, how this unity was broken, and how Jesus, by God’s Spirit, brought us back into union with God by becoming one of us, by living to show us what true humanity looks like, by dying to destroy all that is death in the world, and by rising to lift us up into a new life in God” (14). At the heart of Webber’s story is the concept of “union with God.” This is a good place to start since union with God “is the most common description of spirituality throughout the entire history of the church” (18). For Webber, Christian spirituality is “God’s passionate embrace of us [and] our passionate embrace of God” (16). Webber’s shorthand for this is also the title of his newest book – The Divine Embrace. In the first half of The Divine Embrace Webber demonstrates how Christian spirituality has been distorted throughout history by a progressive distortion and/or loss of God’s story. In the second half, he proposes a path to recover God’s story as the basis and context for a distinctively Christian spirituality. For my extended summary, click HERE.
In this book, Benedict Groeschel relates insights of contemporary psychology to Christian spirituality through the lens of classic spiritual literature, primarily by means of the ancient spiritual formula: purification, illumination, and union. He defines spirituality as “the sum total of responses which one makes to what is perceived as the inner call of God” (4). Using the insights of human development integrated with the spiritual formation, Groeschel brings many insights to faith and life. Perhaps his greatest contribution is that he sees fear as a corroding element in spiritual advancement. He writes, “By anxious fear we mean a constant apprehension that we are threatened by uncontrollable forces…We fear threats to the well-being of those dear to us, and in this fear both they and we are often sell aware that there is a strong element of self-interest: ‘I need you, so stay well’ is he attitude underlying much of our concern. We fear the loss of social status and the good opinion of others. More than anything else, we fear ourselves; the loss of our powers through age or illness, the loss of control or mental balance. We fear the collapse of our world through natural forces or catastrophes precipitated by the insanity of our race; we fear war or environmental destruction; in short, we fear life and we fear death” (129-130). The answer is to abandon ourselves to God – not simply to believe God, but to trust God (which is much harder). “Confidence and abandonment are the same thing although the latter term has a more ominous ring to it” (131).
“Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior” (Isaiah 45:15). Why is God's existence not more obvious? Why do so many fail to believe in God? For this most part, this collection of essays is a response to J. L. Shellenberg's Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason in which he argues that a perfectly loving God would provide sufficient evidence to render reasonable unbelief impossible. In his opinion, God does not offer compelling proof, and thus he concludes that a perfectly loving God does not exist. Numerous authors challenge Shellenberg's thesis and conclusion. Perhaps our experience of the hiddenness of God is one consequence of human sinfulness: "Critics like Schellenberg consistently underestimate human corruption and sinfulness. Given our perversity, and tendency to idolatry, it is likely that even a fuller divine self-disclosure would be corrupted by us, and would thus not help us. What is needed isn’t more evidence or a fuller revelation but a new heart to appreciate the evidence and revelation we have" (104). In this case God's hiddenness is actually human blindness. Perhaps divine hiddenness is related to human freedom (overwhelming proof would coerce in a manner incompatible with love), or the nature of faith (God doesn't simply desire belief, but trust, faithfulness, and love). Perhaps God desires that we believe for the right reasons: "God’s desire for why people believe in His existence may well be much more important to Him than that they believe in Him in the first place. It may well be that God wants people to believe in His existence for certain reasons and not for others, that He prefers that they do not believe at all if the only option is to believe for the wrong reasons” (12). Perhaps it is because intentional divine limitations, or conversely, because of God's great transcendence and the inherent difficulty of communicating this to finite creatures. Perhaps there is a good reason that we do not and cannot know - that is at least a plausible option. Regardless of one's answer to the question of divine hiddenness, our experience of it continues to challenge us in regard to God, ourselves, the meaning of life in this world, and the nature of faith. This was a great book, pregnant with provocative and challenging ideas. In the future, I hope to write (and preach) extensively on this - so be on the lookout for extended articles or mp3s in the future!
From "She Loves You" to "In the End" the Beatles sang of the healing power of love. In the midst of social unrest and moral confusion they possessed a bedrock hopefulness: "take a sad song and make it better." They wrestled with our grasp of reality and challenged authority: "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see." Certainly, the Beatles weren't philosophers, but they were gifted artists. Their forays into hedonism, existentionalism, Marxism, alternative consciousness, metaphysics, and language (both nonsensical and meaningful) provide rich fodder for discussion. Though this book is heavy in technical philosophical terminology and argument, it is profoundly fun for a Beatles fan.
McMurtry sheds light on "the several massacres that occurred in the American West during the several decades when the native tribes of our plains and deserts were being displaced from their traditional territories by a vast influx of white immigrants" (2). Though the massacres he writes about occured in the 19th century, they continue throughout history. The twentieth century opened and closed with massacres - the million-plus massacre of the Armenians by the Turks and the massacre of 800,000 Tutsis in Rwanda. Unlike natural disasters, massacres require human volition, and are almost always preemptive. They are different from battles in that the overwhelming amount of fatalities consist of women and children. Though many perpetrators escaped legal retribution, they rarely escape the trauma that followed on the terror they inflicted. At many of the massacre sites, a palpable taint still lingers that continues to affect locals. The victims were often bedeviled by whites, making it easier to slaughter them without remorse. "During the Gold Rush particularly, exterminationists were think on the ground. Indians were killed as casually as rabbits" (56). McMurtry continues, "I have reported elsewhere about a young vigilante who came to have qualms about killing Indian children with his rifle: the big bullets tore the small bodies so! The man was soon able to squre his conscience by killing only adults with his rilfe; the children he dispatched with his pistol" (56). The descriptions of the "meat mountains" left after the slaughter, and the grotesque ways that human body parts were used afterwards is repulsive, highlighting once again the abominable capacity that humans have to inflict inhumanity on others.
Crichton's new novel is a haphazard look at the wonders, possibilities, and abuses of genetic engineering. Unlike his previous heavy-handed book on the environment, this book is light and humorous. Throughout the story, Crichton gives evidence of his concerns. For example, he argues that we really won't know if stem cell therapy will work until 2050, but that universities and corporations stir up media hype in order to bring in grants: "And increasingly, researchers and universities are all commercially motivated, just like corporations" (61). There are currently three million researchers in America. Their career depends on funding, grants - and hype! Crichton writes, "Science is a corruptible a human activity as any other. Its practitioners aren't saints, they're human beings, and they do what human beings do - lie, cheat, steal from one another, sue, hide data, fake data, overstate their own importance, and denigrate opposing views unfairly. That's human nature. It isn't going to change" (62). Overall, this is predominantly a cautionary tale - a Frankenstein for the genetic age. Crichton closes the book with his own conclusions. Among them, he argues that we must stop patenting genes. "[G]enes are facts of nature. Like gravity, sunlight, and leaves on trees, genes exist in the natural world. Facts of nature can't be owned" (417).
"[W]e live in a time when many people... no longer understand their daily lives as lived before God" (ix). Though many "spiritual" people believe in mystery and transcendence, this is "vastly different from believing that one's life, from beginning to end, is lived daily before God" (2). One can believe in God with no real sense of living life before God. And the good news is that “[i]n the language of the New Testament, that reality before whom people live is neither faceless mystery nor sheer otherness, but an intentionality described as ‘love’” (17). Stroup demonstrates how the entire biblical narrative is structured around life before God. He then argues that Jesus is "the one person who lives fully and authentically before God and before neighbor and in so doing is the epitome of true humanity or full human flourishing" (3). Our goal, then is to live before God - in the light and in the dark, whether we experience God's presence or absence - for all along the way our experience will be partial. We "know but in part" but one day we shall know "face to face" (1 Cor. 13:12). Our prayer - Come, Lord Jesus - acknowledges "both the reality of absence and a presence that is at least deferred and at best a trace” (184). Thus, we journey on: “Where there may be some sense of God’s presence during the pilgrimage or journey, that presence can be only partial, provisional, and momentary. If at any stage along the way God’s presence were full and complete, then the journey would be finished; it would have reached its final destination, life before God and life in the presence of God. The Christian life is both a journey before God and a journey to the God who is coming – the God who is coming to meet those who are both on the way and people of the way, who are becoming what they will be, in part, because they have engaged in that pilgrimage” (187).
I read this early in 2006 and I am just getting around to posting about it. Because of this long delay, in looking over my highlights, I realize that this is a highly technical book! (And I have forgotten most of the details!) The one thing I remember really appreciating is Abraham's insights on the idea of an epistemic threshold: "Consider two examples where we naturally speak of crossing a threshold. Consider climbing a mountain... Then suddenly one reaches the top, and crossing over the threshold of the summit, one has an exquisite panoramic view of the whole countryside, a view that circles the full 360 degrees of the compass. To cross that threshold is to enter a whole new field of vision tht stretches miles and miles from every angle. My second analogy... Consider crossing the threshold of a house. From the outside there is much to be seen externally; but far more remains totally hidden from sight. Step inside across the threshold, and a whole network of rooms, staircases, closets, basement, and kitchen is available. One has crossed into another world. In both cases one may or may not step across the threshold; however, the step across that threshold is singular and absolute; and once across, there is a new awareness of phenomena previously hidden from view" (86). Special revelation is like this - it introduces one to a whole new way of envisioning the whole. Thus, "when one crosses over into the world of divine revelation, then revelation will necessarily illuminate every aspect of one's existence, even though one does not know in advance where and how this illumination will make a difference" (87). "As a threshold concept, divine revelation, once accepted, has the potential to alter one's whole intellectual landscape. Coming to accept a divine revelation is not simply a matter of adding one more iten to one's stock of beliefs. Once one steps inside the revelation, one has to rework one's identity adn be open to the implications that lie on the other side of the threshold" (92). Skimming through the remainder of the book, I realize that I will simply have to read this again. The subject matter is too dense to skim, but it certainly is deep, profound, and important. This should teach me to never wait so long to post about a book!
The idea of "becoming real" through the process of a long journey of self-discovery, empathy, suffering and enlightenment is a powerful reflection of the goal of spiritual transformation in the Christian tradition. For this reason, I have always loved two children's stories - Pinocchio and The Velveteen Rabbit. Both stories communicate the challenge of becoming real. The latter, written in 1922, "follows life in a little boy's nursery where a new arrival, a stuffed bunny covered with inexpensive fabric, copes with the insecurity of being compared with the other playthings" (xi). Through the wisdom of the Skin Horse and the experience with the little boy, the bunny becomes "real". What is real? "Real is what happens when you become your true self - not a contrived, shiny, pretend thing - and are loved despite, and maybe even because of, your imperfections" (xii). Why does this so profoundly connect with us? "It reminds us of basic truths about our heartfelt longings. We all hope to live through life's challenges and grow beautiful and valuable and loved for what we are on the inside, for our Real selves" (xii). In some ways, this is a simple fable about the difference between superficial beauty and deep, inner beauty. In other ways, this is a more profound reflection on what it means to live a truly authentic human life - what it means to really love real people in the real world! We all feel defective in some way, like we don't measure up. This feeling increases when we compare ourselves to others (especially the manufactured world of illusion portrayed through contemporary media). According to Skin Horse, we need patience to become real ("It takes a long time to be real."). We also need, among other virtues, courage, empathy, generosity, and flexibility. In a world where everything happens quickly, a world of illusion that makes impossible demands on us, a world where humans are objectified, we desperately need the wisdom of the Skin Horse. Awakening to this may be painful, but it is necessary to be "real". This book is a beautiful reflection on the wisdom found in The Velveteen Rabbit. It will help you become real - and that's the most important thing in the world!
The Darwin Awards celebrate those who give their all for the good of humankind by removing themselves from the gene pool. Recipients do this in one of two ways: (1) through death in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, or (2) by losing their ability to reproduce (again, in an extraordinarily idiotic manner). The Darwin Awards recognize the "single-minded purpose and self-sacrifice of each winner, and the spectacular means by which he snuffs himself" (3-4). Candidates are evaluated using the following five criteria: (1) Reproductive Dead End: The candidate must remove himself from the gene pool; (2) Excellence: The candidate must exhibit an astounding misapplication of judgment; (3) Self-selection: The candidate must be the cause of his own demise; (4) Maturity: The candidate must be capable of sound judgment; and (4) Veracity: The event must be verified. This book is a collection of Darwin Award winners and Honorable Mentions (candidates who "stop short of the ultimate sacrifice, but still illustrate the innovative spirit of Darwin Award candiates"). At times, this book is painful to read. At times, it is absolutely hilarious. Stories include a man who drowns in his own kitchen sink, a man who placed an eel up his rectum in order to relieve constipation, a man who confused his own penis for a chicken's neck and proceeded to chop it off, and other grisly, strange tales of idiocy. Perhaps the most painful part about reading this book is when one identifies too closely with the lunacy. I have my own share of stupid things I've done, and yet - thank God! - I've still not earned a Darwin Award! By the way, if you want a taste without buying the book, check out The Darwin Awards Website.
“The central promise in the Bible is not 'I will forgive you,' although of course that promise is there. It is not the promise of life after death, although we are offered that as well. The most frequent promise in the Bible is 'I will be with you'" (16). In this wonderfully accessible yet absolutely profound book, John Ortberg teaches that "The story of the Bible isn’t primarily about the desire of people to be with God; it’s the desire of God to be with people" (14). Using Michelangelo’s famous painting of God and Adam on the ceiling of Sistine Chapel, he shows how God is always rushing toward us, every muscle taught on reaching out to us to share the divine life, but we, like Adam, often recline in a lazy, disinterested pose. All we have to do is lift a finger, and we can connect to God! "This picture reminds us: God is closer than we think. He is never farther than a prayer away. All it takes is the barest effort, the lift of a finger” (14). God is like Waldo in the Where's Waldo books. He is on every page, but is sometimes hard to find. “He may not be absent, but he is elusive” (32). Waldo is hard to find because he is so ordinary-looking. God's revelation works in the same way: “So why doesn’t he send us all dreams every night? Why doesn’t he make every day a rainbow day and send epiphanies twenty-four-seven? Maybe it’s because God wants us to learn to see him in the ordinary rather than be dependent on the extraordinary” (38). Ortberg's reflections on God's presence include chapters on Job, Mary and Martha, the glories of the present moment, and spending a day with God. Great book! Highly recommended!
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Posted by: James Merrick at April 26, 2006 10:43 PM
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