Review: Half the Sky

Half the Sky:  Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn is in many ways a primer on global development through the lens of women's issues.  The book touches on a wide range of issues, including human trafficking, girl's education, and microcredit.  Their central thesis is that freeing women from the injustices they experience in many countries around the world is key to improving the lives of women, but also for achieving positive changes for men and children in developing countries.

     In many places, the book is difficult to read, as the author's recount the heart-wrenching stories of many women in the developing world.  The book also provides hope, as many of these women overcome their hardships to be leaders in changing their communities.  The book is likely to inspire readers in some places, and cause disagreement in others, as the authors hold to neither a conservative or liberal point of view on many issues, and highlight successes achieved by organizations with different ideological purposes.  This viewpoint, however, makes it quite likely that most readers will disagree with at least some of the author's recommended solutions to the women's issues presented in the book.  However, in many ways, their balanced approach challenges the weak areas in both the traditional conservative and liberal approaches to development.  For example, when addressing the progress of women in China, they write,

So was it cultural imperialism for Westerners to criticize foot-binding and female infanticide?  Perhaps.  But it was also the right thing to do.  If we firmly believe in certain values, such as the equality of all human beings regardless of color or gender, then we should not be afraid to stand up for them; it would be feckless to defer to slavery, torture, foot-binding, honor killings, or genital cutting just because we believe in respecting other faiths or cultures.  One lesson of China is that we need not accept that discrimination is an intractable element of any society (epub edition, 430).

This same realistic, balanced viewpoint is seen in a discussion of spending in impoverished families, as the authors address the different patterns of spending when women have access to money.

Perhaps it seems culturally insensitive to scold the poor for indulging in festivals, cigarettes, alcohol, or sweets that make life more fun.  Yet when resources are scarce, priorities are essential.  Many African and Indian men now consider beer indispensable and their daughter's education a luxury...If we're trying to figure out how to get more girls in school, or how to save more women from dying in childbirth, the simplest solution is to reallocate spending.  One way to do that is to put more money into the hands of women. (epub edition, 405).

In places the book is difficult to read, in places it is inspiring.  Kristoff and Wudunn lead their readers to think carefully about different issues facing women, and to consider how they can be a part of the solution.

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

Review: Prayers for Today

 Prayers for Today:  A Yearlong Journey fo Contemplative Prayer by Kurt Bjorklund guides the reader through a series of 260 devotional readings.  The readings are progress through a cycle of ten themes:

* Prayers of Thanksgiving * Prayers of Confession * Prayers of Affirmation
* Prayers of Petition * Prayers of Renewal * Prayers of Praise and Adoration
* Prayers to Have Christ-like Character * Prayers for Wisdom and Guidance
* Prayers of Intercession * Prayers of Surrender
The scope of this cycle provides promptings towards a well-balanced prayer life, without feeling overwhelmed by trying to focus on multiple topics during a single devotional reading.  Unlike some other prayer books, there is a single reading for each day, though the reader might choose to do more than one (such as a morning prayer and evening prayer), cycling through the book on a more frequent cycle.
     Most of the readings follow a similar pattern.  The readings begin with a scripture reading, followed by a written prayer on the theme, generally taken from other prayer books or Christian writers, but sometimes written by Bjorklund himself.  In some readings, there are multiple Bible readings and prayers.  The day's reading concludes with promptings for free prayer on the days' theme.
    Bjorklund is a Lutheran minister, and the book is firmly within the Protestant tradition, though it draws widely from the best of Christian history.  As a result, the reader is able to worship through the best of different traditions, without stumbling over material that would cause difficulties theologically.  Prayers for Today is very accessible to those who are new to using prayer books as a part of their personal worship.
     Prayers for Today is not organized according to the church year, and as a result can be used at any time.  Some readers may want to use it alongside more seasonally focused resources at some times of the year.  Because of the free structure, the reader is able to choose the number of readings they wish to use daily, and the cycles and seasons of the year during which they want to use the book.
     Prayers for Today is highly recommended for anyone wanting to increase the richness of their devotional life.  It helps the reader to broaden their prayer life to include a rich variety of themes, and to weave scripture and written prayer alongside free prayer.

  Prayers for Today: A Yearlong Journey of Contemplative Prayer

Note:  I received a free review copy of this book from Moody Publishers, but was not obligated to write a positive review.

Review: A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband "Master"

 Rachel Evan's book A Year of Biblical Womanhood chronicles her year long exploration of the Bible through the eyes of a 21st century woman.  Each month, she chooses an area of focus- ranging from submission, to modesty, to justice, and chooses tasks for herself from passages of scripture concerning women.  Interspersed between these chapters are portraits of women from the Bible, ranging from well-known women such as Ruth, to lesser-known women such as Junia and Tabitha.  She also interviews women from various streams of Judaism about the way they seek to follow the Bible's instructions for women in their various lifestyles.  The book is similar in theme and organization to A.J. Jacob's The Year of Living Biblically.
The Bad:  Not a Hermeneutics Lesson
There are no nuances in Rachel Evan's application of various scripture texts.  Her self-assigned projects for living Biblically are taken from texts ranging from Leviticus to Proverbs to the New Testament epistles, with little regard for the overall intent of the passage or its place in the overall biblical story.  For example, she follows the Levitical purity laws with equal fervor as commands to seek justice.  The overall result of this haphazard interpretive method can be the distortion fo scripture, and as a result her writing at times is irreverent.  At times, her approach seems disrespectful of women who hold to more conservative positions about women's roles.  However, her approach needs to be understood in light of the fact that although she addresses theology at many levels, she in no way seems to intend that the way of life she adapts for her "project" should be used to interpret scripture in normal circumstances.
The Good:  Biblical Freedom
Though some may disagree with Evan's overall egalitarian position, she has many valid insights about the overall biblical perspective on women's lives and roles.  She challenges some interpretations that are viewed as "biblical", but in fact go beyond the clear teaching of the Bible about women.  Throughout the book, she challenges the reading of Proverbs 31 as a prescriptive list of tasks for the "ideal woman",  reading it instead as a poem praising a woman of valour.   She also challenges the idea that marriage and raising children is the only valid calling for a Christian woman, highlighting Paul's teaching about singleness.  She writes, "as a Christian, my highest calling is not motherhood; my highest calling is to follow Christ. And following Christ is something a woman can do whether she is married, or single, rich or poor, sick or healthy, childless or Michelle Duggar." (Kindle location 3282).  In light of her own experience, she explains,
     Growing up in the Church, I must have heard a thousand times that my highest calling as a woman was to bear and bring up children. While men could honor God in varying capacities through work, family, and ministry, a woman’s spiritual aptitude was measured primarily by her ability to procreate. Even as a child I noticed that the church deaconesses hosted dozens of wedding and baby showers each year, but never a housewarming party for a single woman or a celebration dinner for a woman who passed the bar or graduated from medical school. Subtly, the belief that I was incomplete without a husband and children crept into my subconscious. Without procreating, I believed, my contribution to the Church didn’t really count. It hasn’t always been this way. Both Jesus and Paul spoke highly of celibacy and singleness, and for centuries the Church honored the contributions of virgins and widows to the extent that their stories occupied the majority of Christian literature.  (Kindle location 3254)
    Throughout the book, Evans seeks to correct the idea that there is only one correct life model for a Christian woman.  Though she may err in taking some of the Bible's commands lightly, she does well to correct an imbalance that requires a lifestyle for women that is mandated more by cultural norms than by the Bible's teaching.  At the end of the book she concludes,
    So after twelve months of “biblical womanhood,” I’d arrived at the rather unconventional conclusion that that there is no such thing. The Bible does not present us with a single model for womanhood, and the notion that it contains a sort of one-size-fits-all formula for how to be a woman of faith is a myth. Among the women praised in Scripture are warriors, widows, slaves, sister wives, apostles, teachers, concubines, queens, foreigners, prostitutes, prophets, mothers, and martyrs. What makes these women’s stories leap from the page is not the fact that they all conform to some kind of universal ideal, but that, regardless of the culture or context in which they found themselves, they lived their lives with valor. They lived their lives with faith. As much as we may long for the simplicity of a single definition of “biblical womanhood,” there is no one right way to be a woman, no mold into which we must each cram ourselves—not if Deborah, Ruth, Rachel, Tamar, Vashti, Esther, Priscilla, Mary Magdalene, and Tabitha have anything to say about it. (Kindle location 5139)
     Though the book has its imperfect moments- and perhaps more so than some other books- her overall conclusions make the book a thought provoking and worthwhile read.  The book intersperses the lighthearted humour of some moments of Evan's quest with deeper reflection about what it means to live as a Christian woman seeking to live out the Bible's teaching.

A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband "Master"

Review: When Helping Hurts

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert's book When Helping Hurts:  How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor...and Yourself outlines both a theological basis for understanding poverty and practical strategies for living life together with the poor and marginalized.  The book is designed for those working both in North America and in the majority world.  Throughout the book, the authors urge the reader to engage with the materially poor, while avoiding the 'godlike' complex often carried by those who seek to help the poor.
     Early in the book, the authors define poverty with a definition that encompasses both material and spiritual poverty.   Poverty is defined as a break in four foundational relationships:  relationships with God, self, others, and with creation.  After defining the nature of poverty, the authors then explore the nature of poverty alleviation, defining poverty alleviation as "he ministry of reconciliation: moving people closer to glorifying God by living in right relationship with God, with self, with others, and with the rest of creation" (Kindle location 1207).  The authors then present a more specific definition of material poverty and its alleviation.  Material poverty alleviation is defined as "working to reconcile the four foundational relationships so that people can fulfill their callings of glorifying God by working and supporting themselves and their families with the fruit of that work" (Kindle location 1218).
      After laying these foundations, Corbett and Fikkert then proceed to describe appropriate strategies for poverty alleviation.  They present the model of asset based community development (ABCD) as a way of helping communities identify their strengths and identify the ways in which these strengths can facilitate their development.  The authors also contrast relief, rehabilitation, and development, highlighting in particular the need to avoid providing relief when longer term solutions are needed.  Throughout the book, the authors emphasize the need to avoid doing for the community what it can do for itself; the authors strongly urge participatory approaches to building relationships with poor communities.
     In the remaining chapters of the book, the authors discuss specific situations and approaches to poverty alleviation, including short-term learning trips, community savings associations, and strategies for building community organizations and supports for those experiencing material poverty.
     When Helping Hurts is a necessary corrective to many well-intended practices that unintentionally hinder poverty alleviation.  Despite the weaknesses of many Western efforts, the authors do not discourage their readers from being involved with the materially poor; rather, they urge involvement in a way that works towards restoration of relationships, rather than simply providing additional resources to the materially poor.  They write, "our basic predisposition should be to see poor communities—including their natural resources, people, families, neighborhood associations, schools, businesses, governments, culture, etc.—as being created by Jesus Christ and reflective of His goodness. Hence, as we enter a poor community, there is a sense in which we are walking on holy ground, because Christ has been actively at work in that community since the creation of the world! This should give us an attitude of respect and a desire to help the community residents to discover, celebrate, and further develop God’s gifts to them" (Kindle location 2012).
     When Helping Hurts is highly recommended.  The book is convicting and challenging, but also practical in its approach.

When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself

Review: Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Langauge

Deborah Fallows book Dreaming in Chinese is a cleverly presented exploration of Chinese culture, as seen through her eyes as an expatriate living in China.  Her book is presented through the lens of a learner of Mandarin and Chinese culture, and is a record of the cultural insights she gains as she explores new facets of life in China.
     The book is well-organized, with each chapter beginning with a Chinese character and word.  This word serves as the launching point for the facet of language and culture she explores in that chapter.  Her chosen topics focus on aspects of everyday life, such as conventions of politeness, names, giving directions, and rule-following.  Other chapters focus more directly on the conventions of language, such as tone, dialect, and pronoun use, but then explore the way in which language has made its imprint on culture.  Much of the book is an exploration of the relationship between language and culture; however, it is neither dry nor theoretical.  Language and culture connections are explored through well told stories of the author's daily interactions while in China.
     Dreaming in Chinese is an excellent book for anyone interested in learning more about Chinese language and culture.  The book also captures much of the shared experience of anyone seeking to become a part of a new culture by learning its language, and resonates well with those on the culture learning journey.

Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language

Review- The Workshop Book: From Individual Creativity to Group Action

  The Workshop Book: From Individual Creativity to Group Action by R. Brian Stanfield sets out a process for participatory workshops in a variety of settings.  The book outlines a process that can be used in a variety of settings to lead a group towards a consensus-oriented problem solving model.  His five steps are:
1.  Setting the context
2.  Brainstorming
3.  Clustering ideas
4.  Naming the clusters of ideas
5.  Symbolizing the resolve
He defines the five steps as follows:

1.  The context sets the stage for what is to follow.  It calls the group to attention.  It outlines the process and the timeline for the workshop.  It explains the product and the outcome.  It highlights the focus question.

2.  Brainstorming the ideas gathers all relevant data from the group and puts it in front of them.

3.  Clustering the ideas develops clusters of ideas and puts similar items of data together into related clusters 

4.  Naming gives each cluster of ideas a name.  Larger clusters or sub-clusters are identified and given names.  The result is a comprehensive picture of the ordered relationship of all ideas generated in the workshop.

5.  Resolving confirms the group's commitment to the decisions they have made and moves it to action.  The leader reads through the named clusters out loud and then holds a discussion to reflect on the workshop, using focused conversation questions.  Finally the group decides on the next steps, and how they will document the workshop results.  (26)

Throughout the book, Stanfield highlights principles of creating a participatory environment, writing "The workshop assumptions require respect, depth of listening and honouring of each participant.  They are the key to creating a more participatory, engaging workshop environment." (56)

     Stanfield's approach is simple, and avoids the possible complications of other participatory models which require the facilitator to master a variety of tools.  He explains how to apply the tool to groups of different sizes, and how to manage difficulties that may arise in workshops.  

     One possible criticism of the book is the title- the description of the process as a "workshop" can easily be misinterpreted as a training event, rather than a tool to facilitate discussion.  He does describe how the process can be developed into a series of discussions, which may more closely resemble a workshop.  However, the majority of the book focuses on the topic of facilitating group discussions.

     The Workshop Book is a helpful tool for those who facilitate groups of adults in educational or work settings.  It presents a simple, and yet powerful strategy that can be easily adapted to a variety of groups and situations.

The Workshop Book: From Individual Creativity to Group Action (ICA series)

Review: I Exalt You, O God by Jerry Bridges

 Jerry Bridge's book,  I Exalt You, O God:  Encountering His Greatness in Your Private Worship is a month-long devotional written to facilitate personal worship.  The book begins with an introduction that highlights the importance of personal worship, in addition to weekly worship.  The remainder of the book contains 31 days of devotional readings, divided into four focal areas.  The first set of readings focuses on God's greatness, while the second set focuses on God's holiness.  The third group of readings focuses on God's wisdom, and the fourth focuses on God's love.
     Each day's reading begins with a short reflection, and concludes with a scripture-based prayer.  These prayers are the highlight of the book, leading the reader through a focused prayer that draws deeply from several Bible passages.
     I Exalt You, O God is somewhat counter-cultural, as it leads the reader primarily through focusing on the greatness, holiness, and wisdom of God, rather than on one's own personal needs.  The final section ties together the attributes of God's greatness with His love for His children.  Bridges writes,
There should always be a healthy tension between the confidence with which we come before God as His children and the reverential awe with which we behold Him as our sovereign Lord.  There's a difference between holy familiarity and unholy familiarity with God.  We have indeed received the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit by whom we cry 'Abba Father' (Romans 8:15).  This expression conveys the warmth and confidence with which we may come into His presence.  At the same time, we should remember that this One whom we're invited to address as our Father is still the sovereign and holy God.  He is still the King who is eternal, immortal, and invisible, and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see (1 Timothy 1:17, 6:16). (109)
     This devotional is infused with scripture, and is recommended for anyone desiring to establish habits of personal worship.

I received a complementary review copy of this book from the publisher.

I Exalt You, O God: Encountering His Greatness in Your Private Worship

Book Review: What Matters Most

In his book, What Matters Most, Leonard Sweet challenges Christians to focus on a relationship with Jesus.  He challenges the idea that faith is simply intellectual assent, and defines true faith as pursuing and active relationship with Jesus, and following Him.
The major strength of the book is its call away from complacency and into active faith.  He rightly asserts that belief in Jesus requires a life of relationship and action.
When Christians are largely indistinguishable from non-Christians in how they live and think, there is no longer a startling freshness to the proclamation of biblical truth when it is presented as principles and propositions.  How a person lives speaks much more loudly than what he or she asserts, now as always.  And with Christians nearly identical to all others in the culture, what they say loses impact. (34)
This call to action is the strongest part of the book; Sweet is right to challenge his readers away from complacency.  Another highlight of the book is his challenge to readers to engage deeply with scripture, allowing God's Story to shape our lives.  Later in the book, he writes of the need to live life in community, imitating Jesus in our fellowship and community.  Of course, we know how much Jesus disliked eating alone.  Can the same be said of the church?  (142).
  After initially defining this relationship, the remainder of the book focuses on:
1.  Our relationship with God.
2.  Our relationship with God's Story.
3.  Our relationship with other people of faith.
4.  Our relationship with those outside the faith.
5.  Our relationship with God's creation.
6.  Our relationship with symbols, artifacts, and things and
7.  Our relationship with the spiritual world.
Though the book begins with a promising premise, the book has several significant weaknesses.
The first, and perhaps most significant weakness is the false dichotomy between intellectual belief and action.  Though believing right doctrine without action is certainly not enough, right action typically flows out of right belief.   The biblical challenge to love God with our hearts, soul, mind and strength implies a unity of thought and action.  While Sweet is right to correct the error of intellectual belief without action, he makes the opposite error in undermining the value of right living that flows out of belief.
Another weak part of the book is Sweet's interpretation and discussion of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 24.  He relies on rabbinic interpretations, and concludes that the passage describes a weak moment in Abraham's relationship with God, rather than a demonstration of his faith.  He writes, Abraham's silence in the face of an outrageous command from God signals a failure of relationship on his part.  If you give up the struggle of discernment and hearing, you are not in a right relationship with God. (64).  Again, with this interpretation and the subsequent dialogue, Sweet creates a false dichotomy between obedience and relationship.  Our relationship with God is not that of two equal beings; while God graciously allows us to dialogue with him, there are also times when a love relationship requires faithful obedience without complete understanding.  Similarly, later on in the book Sweet repeats a similar false dichotomy, writing, Sin is not a breaking of commands; sin is a breaking of relationships (151).   This statement does not allow for the both to be true, when in fact disobedience to a command is a reflection of the relationship; a person in right relationship with God obeys His commands.
Though the overall premise of the book, that a real, living relationship with God is essential to living the Christian life is true and helpful, Sweet's book overall is weak.  In his attempt to correct propositional belief without right living, Sweet creates false dichotomies and makes the opposite error.

**I received a complementary review copy of this book by Waterbrook Publishers

Coming of Age on Zoloft

Katherine Sharpe's book, Coming of Age on Zoloft:  How Antidepressants Cheered us up, Let us down, and Changed Who We Are artfully combines memoir, research and interview to explore the impact of depression and its treatment on young adults.  Her focus is on the generation growing up during the 1990s and after, as SSRIs and other psychiatric medications have become readily available.
Sharpe begins with her own story of diagnosis with depression as a student, as well as her realization that many of her peers were also being treated with SSRIs.  She explores the history of medical views of depression, and the development of anti-depressant medications in the latter part of the 20th century.
     Much of the book focuses on the experiences of young adults who have been depressed, and who have taken anti-depressant medications at some point in their lives.  The book includes portions of her interviews, as young adults recount their experiences with depression and medical treatment.  She also explores role of counselling in depression treatment.
     Sharpe focuses on the ways that depression treatments affect the identity and self-perception of young adults.  She notes the struggle that many young adults who have been treated with SSRIs have with forming their identity, and determining how their personalities and life trajectories have been shaped by their use of anti-depressants.  Her viewpoint is balanced, and includes the stories of those who positively view their treatment with anti-depressants, as well as those who have had difficult experiences.  She neither promotes nor judges the use of medication, but allows individual stories to be told.
     Though her attitude towards those who struggle with depression and who use medications is clearly non-judgemental, Sharpe critically analyzes the ways in which the availability with SSRIs have shaped views of mental health in North America.  The final chapters of the book examine the ways in which biomedical models of depression have shaped our understanding of normal emotional patterns and struggle.  She cautions that overdiagnosis and treatment for depression may cause young adults to see their problems as internally caused, rather than critically examining the life challenges in modern North American culture that are stressful and difficult for young adults.
    Sharpe skillfully balances narrative and analysis in her book.  The reader is left challenged to examine their definition of mental health, and how the bio-medical view of depression shapes our view of self.

Purchase Coming of Age on Zoloft: How Antidepressants Cheered Us Up, Let Us Down, and Changed Who We Are

I am in Here: The Journey of a Child with Autism Who Cannot Speak but Finds Her Voice

 Virginia G. Breen and her teenage daughter Elizabeth share their story of living with autism in I am in Here:  The Journey of a Child with Autism who Cannot Speak but Finds Her Voice.  The book is organized into short chapters, punctuated by Elizabeth's poetry and descriptions of the feelings, incidents and ideas behind the poem.  Breen chronicles her journey from Elizabeth's autism diagnosis (her older son is also diagnosed with autism), to the present reality of learning to know and understand Elizabeth.  She writes of her search for healing for her daughter, involving a journey through many therapies, to the breakthrough where Elizabeth learns to communicate in writing, though she remains non-verbal.
     Breen writes honestly of both the triumphs and struggles of life with Elizabeth, allowing the reader to understand her life as the mother of a daughter with special needs.  She shares honestly about Elizabeth's challenges and difficult outward behaviours that result from her inability to communicate verbally; Elizabeth's poems and entries to the book share her feelings and perspectives on her struggle to be understood.  Breen highlights the many dimensions of her daughter's intelligence, and honours the teachers and therapists who have skillfully taught Elizabeth.  The book highlights the need to not overlook the gifts and skills of those who are unable to communicate verbally.  Perseverance in the face of difficulties is another theme running through Breen's account.
     The form of therapy Breen credits with unlocking Elizabeth's ability to communicate, the Rapid Prompting Method, is somewhat controversial, and has not been scientifically proven to be effective.  However, Breen's hopeful tone and insistence that the gifts of individuals with autism need to be unlocked and put to use is worthwhile for those who wish to understand individuals with autism.

Purchase from Amazon

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything:  A Spirituality for Real Life by James Martin, SJ is an accessible guide to Jesuit spiritual practices, aimed at the layperson.  Martin weaves together autobiographical elements, biographical accounts from the life of Ignatius of Loyola, and descriptions of the Jesuit way of life and prayer as he invites his readers into a relationship with God.  Though a major weakness is the way in which Martin seems to view all religious paths as valid, and thus some content should be read with discernment, his book invites Christian readers into a joyful, free relationship with Jesus.
     In his introduction to Ignatian spirituality, he writes:
     The way of Ignatius is about finding freedom:  the freedom to become the person you've meant to be, to love and accept love, to make good decisions, and to experience the beauty of creation and the mystery of God's love (1).  He later expands this theme into an exploration of how to see our desires in relationship to God, and how bring our deepest desires before God in a way that shapes us towards holiness.  Later in the book, he helpfully and simply describes the five steps of the Ignatian examine as a model for reflection and confession.
     Before you begin, as in all prayer, remind yourself that you're in God's presence, and ask God to help you with your prayer.
     1.  Gratitude:  Recall anything from the day for which you are especially grateful, and give thanks.
     2.  Review:  Recall the events of the day, from start to finish, noticing where you felt God's presence, and where you accepted or turned away from any invitations to grow in love.
     3.  Sorrow:  Recall any actions for which you are sorry.
     4.  Forgiveness:  Ask for God's forgiveness.  Decide whether you want to reconcile with anyone you have hurt.
     5.  Grace:  Ask for the grace you need for the next day and an ability to see God's presence more clearly.  (97)
A major theme of Martin's exploration of Jesuit spirituality is the development of a relationship with God, and a way of viewing life that sees God in all things.  In an autobiographical reflection, he describes his realization of the nature of friendship with Jesus.
     If Jesus were my friend, he would be happy to listen to me.  He would celebrate with me over my successes and be sad with me over my disappointments.  He would want the best for me.  And he would want to spend time with me and hear about my life.  Then I wondered what Jesus of Nazareth was really like...It must have been wonderful to be around him, to have him give you support, to answer your questions.  It felt good, even exciting, to think about Jesus like this.  I started to think about wanting him as a friend. (109).
     Though many readers may not accept all practices suggested by Martin as valid or helpful in Christian worship, the book is both enjoyable and helpful in many ways.  Martin describes many ways of prayer, being with Jesus, and orienting life in relationship with God.  These gems provide a glimpse into the wonder of a relationship with God, as well as accessible suggestions to use along the journey.

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life

Snippets: Jesus + Nothing = Everything

Since Jesus secured my pardon and absorbed the Father’s wrath on my behalf so that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” how does that impact my longing for approval, my tendency to be controlling, and my fear of the unknown? How do the life, death, and resurrection of Christ affect my thirst for security, affection, protection, meaning, and purpose? In other words, how does the finished work of the one “exposed, ravaged, ruined, and resurrected for us” satisfy my deepest daily needs so that I can experience the liberating power of the gospel every day and in every way?   (Tullian Tchividjan, Jesus + Nothing= Everything, Kindle location 2236)

Classic Reads: The Abolition of Man

Based on a series of lectures first published in 1944, The Abolition of Man is a remarkably current argument about the nature of truth and the shaping of society.

     Lewis' argument begins with the assertion that the ability to judge correctly must be learned; value is not attributed to a thing based on emotion, but based on its intrinsic value.  He writes of the weaknesses in modern education systems that fail to teach students to judge correctly.
     In the next portion of the argument, Lewis writes against what he calls the Innovators, who search for a primitive basis for moral judgement outside of an objective standard of moral truth.  Lewis terms this standard the Tao, and writes that grounded in values held by societies across history and culture.  He writes that without a grounding in the Tao, there is no ground for accepting or rejecting any subset of values.

This thing which I have called for convenience the Tao, and which others may call Natural Law or Traditional Morality or the First Principles or Practical Reason or the First Platitudes, is not one among a series of possible systems of value.  If it is rejected, all value is rejected.  If any value is retained, it is retained.  The effort to refute it and raise a new system of value in its place is self-contradictory.  There has never been, and never will be, a radically new judgement of value in the history of the world (43)

     In the final chapter, Lewis concludes his argument that without reference to an objective system of moral truth, humanity eventually destroys itself.  Without a moral standard, power degenerates into tyrrany.

When all that says 'it is good' has been debunked, what says 'I want' remains (65)

   Lewis' argument in favour of a traditional, trans-cultural standard for value, truth, and right remains remarkably current for present discussion about society-shaping and moral values.

An open mind, in questions that are not ultimate, is useful.  But an open mind about the ultimate foundations of either Theoretical or of Practical reason is idiocy (48)

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Lit: A Christian Guide to Reading Books

In many ways, Lit:  A Christian Guide to Reading Books is the inspiration behind this reading log.  I began reading this book when I was in a "reading rut".  I was initial skeptical of reading a book that was about reading books, but found the book to be practical and motivating as I develop goals for reading.
     The first section of the book outlines Reinke's theology of reading, explaining the importance of reading for the Christian in today's visual, media-oriented culture.  He answer the question, "
why read?", before moving on to the question of "what should I read?"  , Reinke gives practical ideas for tackling literature in different genres.  He provides tips for determining what to read, and encourages readers to read from a balanced menu of fiction and non-fiction.  This section was particularly useful in pushing me out of my "reading rut" and into re-entering the world of literary fiction (long absent from my reading diet), as well as expanding my steady diet of non-fiction books to include a wider range of genres, as well as an increasing number of classing works.
     After addressing the "why" and "what" of reading, Reinke devotes several chapters to the "how" of developing good reading habits.  His chapters include advice on how to protect time for reading, and how to develop a system of marking books.
     Reinke's book about reading is well worth the read- in the months since I have read it, I have been increasingly motivated to carve out time for reading, and have been inspired to branch into areas of reading I otherwise might have neglected.

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