Reviewing spiritual children's books

I've decided to make this the first of what I hope will be a series of posts about children's books with spiritual themes. I am extremely picky when it comes to sharing spiritual books with kids. I always check for subtle as well as overt messages that the book may be sending. It's one thing to read an adult book with ideas that I don't think are healthy - I am old enough to process it. Kids, however, are more impressionable and can be greatly affected by what they are told or what they read.

When my older kids were young, I tended to avoid the subject. I was still of the mindset that organized religion was not healthy or useful for me or them. As you know, my views on that have changed. I now think spirituality is important. But you really have to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

Also, a lot of what I've seen in the blog world is directed at adults. While there are some pockets of people discussing youth (i.e. teenage) issues, the youngest ones are not often part of the online world. As a mom and teacher, I am very interested in what is out there for the youngest of us. And so begins my new series looking into children's spiritual books...

The first book I'm going to talk about is one that my 6yo son borrowed from the children's "library" at the Friends church we've been attending. It is called This Little Light of Mine and is illustrated by E.B. Lewis. This is a wonderfully illustrated version of the African-American spiritual song of the same name. I love it for two reasons. First of all, the illustrations are amazing. The characters, all African-American, are so life-like and moving. I used the illustrations to help my son understand the words. Which brings up the second reason why I love this book and the song in general. I was able to talk to my son about the Light that each of us has inside and how we can let it shine wherever we go. We looked at the illustrations and I asked, "How is he letting his light shine in this picture?" The pictures show the main character helping an older woman who has dropped her bag of groceries, being friendly to people he passes in the street, and finally, helping a boy who looks lonely and sad to make new friends and be happy. The book shows kid-appropriate ways of shining your light out into the world. I told my son that this book shows why we go to church in the first place...to remember that we have a bit of Light inside of each of us and the way we should live is to share that light with the world.

Serendipitous library moment

Yesterday I took the boys to the public library. Now that we're on summer vacation, Tuesdays are library days. Anyway, while they were playing a game on one of the computers (an odd attraction for them since we have a computer at home), I was browsing through the picture books looking for books to read to my 6yo.

The title of one caught my eye: Snow on Snow on Snow. "That's odd," I thought. "That sounds like the lyrics to In the Bleak Midwinter." I pulled the book off the shelf and, sure enough, there was reference to the song inside the cover of the book about winter. I put the book back on the shelf since I'm looking for seasonal things and, frankly right now the highs outside are around 90 F. I'll make a mental note about this book for next winter.

Even after we left the library, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was a weird coincidence. In the Bleak Midwinter is a song I'd never heard before attending a UU church. And then, while at the UU church, it became a regular hymn sung around Christmas time. Forever in my mind it will be inseparable from the concept of UUism. It has also become my favorite Christmas-time hymn.

In the afternoon, my 6yo son and I were looking through my scrapbooking supplies. Scrapbooking is a hobby that I love to do, but never have the time for it during the school year. With summer here, I am taking stock and getting ready to start designing some pages again. While flipping through the scrapbook, I came upon a two-page layout that I'd made of the Halloween party we'd had at the UU church a few years ago. It was a happier time for us at the church and seeing the layout made me sad. I want that church to be like it used to be instead of what it has become.

The random occurrence at the library and looking at the scrapbook just generated ways for me to deal with my grief over losing a church home. There are things I really will miss there no matter how much I like our new home at the Friends meeting.

Holy Silence

As you can see in my reading list (scroll down on the right hand side) I am in the middle of reading a book called Holy Silence: The Gift of Quaker Spirituality by J. Brent Bill. I have to admit that the practice of silent worship is one of the things that draws me toward Quakerism. Before we'd even started attending a Quaker meeting, I was very interested in the idea of contemplative prayer. The idea of Christian meditation and even Christian mysticism is interesting to me.

The Quaker (or Friendly) idea of sitting in silence is a method of intentionally listening for the voice of God. In honoring the Inner Light that we all have, if we are silent and still, we can await the word of God.

In this hectic world of rushing around and noise everywhere, I think a lot of us yearn for the silence. It can bring us a sense of peace that we'll miss if we don't take the time to sit in silence.

The Faith Club

I just finished the most amazing book. The book, The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew - Three Women Search for Understanding by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner, is a collaborative non-fiction book that these three women wrote about their experience forming an interfaith discussion group. I have to say it is one of the best books I've read recently and I was brought to tears more than once while reading it. It reminded me a lot of my own UU Christian Circle group. Anyone on a spiritual journey (and aren't we all, really?) would do well to read it. I picked mine up at the local public library. They also have a website that you can check out which includes information about how to start your own Faith Club. Their website is www.thefaithclub.com.

Love it!

Brand Spankin' New Year!

It is with great joy that I say we have finally put 2007 to bed for good. Good riddance! I didn't feel a desire to recap 2007. 2007 was one of (if not *the*) worst years of my life and I am not sorry it is over. By the end of the year, things started to look up and so I am hopeful that this time next year I have a much more positive summary to give for 2008.

My blogging will probably continue to be sporadic while I am working full-time. I'll make up for it next summer when I'm home all the time.

I do want to make a couple of additions to my blog this year. Several years ago I kept a running list of books I read in a given year. I haven't done that in recent years and my memory isn't great. So I thought starting in 2008 I will replace my generic "library thing" list with my current reading list. Maybe I'll also keep a running list of movies I see this year. (We almost *never* go to theaters anymore so it'll mostly be from Blockbuster Online rentals.) I wonder if my readers will be interested in this. I admit I'm mostly doing it for myself just as a reminder of the thoughts that go in and out of my head. As soon as I finish one of the books I'm reading I'll set up the list.

Oh, and we are getting closer to a big election, so I'm sure 2008 will be chock full of those kinds of discussions as well.

Knowing God *is* the reward

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a talk (lecture seems like too formal a word) by co-authors Philip Gulley and James Mulholland at my church. Together they have authored If Grace is True: Why God Will Save Every Person and If God Is Love: Rediscovering Grace in an Ungracious World. I'd read both of these books some time ago and consider them among the few transformative spiritual books that I have read on my journey. They helped me to define who I am and what I believe.

I was almost ecstatic when I learned that Gulley and Mulholland would be speaking at my church. While their books are gaining attention nationally, they are actually located not far from where I live. This is their home territory. They are just as entertaining in person as they are in their books.

Many things were said. Much of what they said was material from their books that I'd already become familiar with. I sat there nodding my head a lot. One thing they said which really put the whole thing in crystal clear terms for me was talking about our relationship with God.

Some believe our relationship with God is all about fear. We should fear a wrathful God and go about our lives trying to avoid his punishment. Others believe our relationship is about reward. We should jump through this hoop or that hoop in order to appease God and thus, gain his "eternal" reward. But what Mulholland suggested was that just knowing God *is* the reward. We participate in religion and spirituality not to appease an angry God or to manipulate God into giving us something, but we participate out of love for God and the joy that we are able to know God.

Another meaningful thing that was said was about their opinions of a possible afterlife. They pointed out that all discussion about an afterlife is speculation because no one can know until they die. But our opinions about an afterlife greatly impact how we treat other people in this life. It is for that reason that we should think about what we believe and why and how that motivates us to live in this life.

Very cool discussion.

Self-imposed Internet Exile

I am exiling myself from the internet until after I have finished the new book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7). I don't want to run the risk of stumbling upon spoilers. We are going to savor this final installment in the series through the last word and I don't want to know how it ends until the last possible moment! I will return to internet-land once I finish the book.

Cheers!

Inside the Department of Mysteries

Ahhh...we just got home from seeing the new Harry Potter movie: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. We spent the 30 minute ride home from the theater discussing everything that had been left out of the movie that was in the book. This was the first Harry Potter movie that my 11yo had seen having read the book first. He was shocked at how different the movie was from the book. Maybe now he'll go back and read the first four books and find out what he's been missing.

I do find it a disappointment that various things were left out, but I realize an 870 page book has to be condensed to fit into approximately 2 hours of film. All things considered, it is fairly true to the story. I won't go into details. I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet (and you should go see it!).

Now I have to concentrate on reading the sixth book this week before my pre-ordered copy of the seventh book arrives next weekend.

What book am I?

You're Brave New World!

by Aldous Huxley

With an uncanny ability for predicting the future, you are a true
psychic. You can see how the world will change and illuminate the fears of future
generations. In the world to come, you see the influence of the media, genetic
science, drugs, and class warfare. And while all this might make you happy, you
claim the right to be unhappy. While pregnancy might seem painful, test tube
babies scare you most. You are obsessed with the word "pneumatic".


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Harry Potter Blitz

Well, Harry Potter Mania is whipping itself into a frenzy in our house these days. Yesterday we watched both
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on ABCFamily. This "blitz" is all leading up to the release of the 5th movie in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, this coming Wednesday. As an added treat, last night we stumbled on a show on A&E, Harry Potter : The Hidden Secrets, which focused on the first 5 novels/movies while giving tidbits of hints at the newest movie. As a refresher and to get us back up to speed, my 11yo and I have been (re)reading the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. We still have 200 pages to go and the movie opens Wednesday so the rush is on!

You know, I've been thinking about an aspect of the series that my sons and I have talked about before and that was touched upon in the A&E series last night and it actually ties in with one of my main spiritual values. The umbrella message for the entire series seems to be coming forward as the necessity of unity in order to conquer evil. The natural inclination in both the Harry Potter world and in our real world is to divide into subgroups and to isolate from those who are different. But Harry is learning (as should we) that the real way to make the world a better place and to shine light onto the darkness is for us all to join together. We need to eliminate that "us vs. them" mentality because it only leads us further down the darkened path. Whether the others are of a different race or religion or whether they're Slytherins or Mudbloods, we are better off if we reach out in friendship to each other rather than cutting ourselves off from them. It is all about love and friendship and there is strength in unity.

Serendipitous Christianity book discovery

I tried posting this the other day. I sat for at least an hour typing up my thoughts about this wonderful book I discovered. Then I looked up at the screen and it was all gone. Those of you who use Blogger, don’t be fooled by their new “autosave” feature. Blogger “autosaved” what I had written, but it cut it off after the first sentence. An hour’s worth of work was gone. So now I’ve decided to draft in Word and then cut and paste it into my blog so it won’t (hopefully!) happen again. Anyway, on to my original (albeit reconstructed) post…

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At the library the other day, I was browsing the "New Books" shelf when I stumbled upon the book 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You : (but can’t because he needs the job) by Rev. Oliver “Buzz” Thomas. I’d read somewhere that it is true that what is largely understood and taught in seminaries these days rarely makes it to the pulpit because most people don’t want to hear it. So I was intrigued by the title and wanted to see what the author had to say. Here are just a few points that I’ll paraphrase (unless I indicate it is a direct quote):

* As far as the Creationism vs. Evolution debate goes, it is like comparing apples to oranges. Creationism is a religious concept and religion is about finding meaning, purpose and moral truth in life. Evolution is a scientific concept and science is about identifying observable and falsifiable facts about the world around us. It is only when we think of creationism as a scientific concept or evolution as a religious concept that we run into trouble. The two could (should?) coexist without cancelling each other out.

* Our purpose for being here is to treasure our humanity. Thomas cites Ecclesiastes with giving four directives: “(1) eat, drink, and be merry; (2) work hard; (3) enjoy living with the person you love; and (4) fear God and keep his commandments.” Further to that he discusses what might be meant by fearing God and keeping his commandments. Jesus trumps the ante when he said we should love God and our neighbors as ourselves. We can express our love for God through worship, singing, and prayer. He discusses how prayer is about being with God. It is about talking and listening…and not so much about asking (a point I really loved). The thing about prayer is that it doesn’t benefit God; it benefits us. It transforms us into people who think more like God and who work as God’s hands in the world. We must remember Jesus’ instruction to love who Jesus referred to as “the least of these”: those who are outcasts of society or who have been dealt more suffering than others.

* Thomas discusses the Bible and goes into details I already knew about (that it is made up of several different books by different authors and wasn’t put together into one book – with several different versions at that – until much later). He mentions problems with trying to read it literally as the inerrant word of God (inconsistencies and scientific impossibilities, for example). But he asserts how the Bible serves as a human witness to the experience of God at that time in history. There is a lot of wisdom contained in the Bible and you don’t have to believe that it really happened to believe it is true.

* He mentions how Christianity has historically (and sometimes contemporarily) marginalized some groups like women, slaves, and homosexuals. The Bible was once used to justify slavery (a fact which causes many people problems again with the inerrancy concept). But just like times have changed society’s opinion of owning slaves, so has its opinion about the submission of women changed since biblical times. At the time the biblical stories were being written, women were considered property owned by men. They were not allowed to participate in government, religion, etc. To stand up for women’s rights at that time would mark one as a rebel. The books of the bible were written to reflect that view. Of course, Jesus, the one person in the Bible whose example we *should* follow, obviously didn’t feel that way about women. Women played an important role in his ministry. That fact has been downplayed considerably by subsequent organizers of the religion of Christianity which speaks to attachment to the old systems of belief that still existed (exist). In today’s day and age, women are no longer considered to be lower than men by society and, therefore, should not be considered lower by the church. And the verses in the Bible that have been used to limit the rights of homosexuals did not come from Jesus. He spoke against many things: “money, lust, revenge, divorce, prayer, fasting, and a thousand other subjects (with an especially large number on self-righteousness), but there is nothing on homosexuality." Instead, Jesus spoke about the importance of how we treat each other. We should not judge others – that is for God alone to do. And he told us how important it was to love our neighbors as ourselves. That alone should be enough to tell us what is really important.

Those are just a few of the big ideas I got from this book. Much of what I read wasn’t surprising. Some of it I’d read before and most of it I’d thought before. But it was interesting to read a minister write these things. It was especially interesting to me to read in his bio that he is a Baptist minister. I was surprised to find a Baptist minister with these values. (I don’t know if he is American Baptist or Southern Baptist, but he does mention the Southern Baptist Convention a couple of times in his writing.) For me this was yet another reminder that I shouldn’t jump to conclusions about someone else’s beliefs.

I highly recommend this book to others. It’s a short read – only 108 pages – and I read the whole thing in one afternoon.

What I've read

My good friend Yogamum has a habit of finding fun little diversions on the internet. I think she and I are a lot alike, because she knows exactly which websites will suck up my time online. A couple of weeks ago she told me about the site called Library Thing on which you can catalog all of your books. Big J asked me last night, "Why would you want to catalog your books?" He is clearly NOT like Yogamum and myself when it comes to reading. If he were, he wouldn't need to ask that question.

Anyway, over the past couple of weeks I have been setting up my own personal catalog here. You can browse it if you want. I haven't limited it to those books I actually own. I've tried to list as many of the books as I could remember reading since the late 1990's. I have 129 books cataloged so far. I included all adult and young adult books, but I skipped all the children's books I've read because that would put me way over my freebie limit of 200 books.

I've also added a widget to the sidebar of my blog (scroll way down to see it). It shows a random sampling of books from my catalog. My interests can sometimes be a little eclectic. But I have always been a reader. It's a big part of who I am so I am sharing it with you.

Fast Food Nation

I've been meaning to add a blog post about this for a week now, but I was finishing up my one-month stint as a full-time teacher. Between that and evening activities with the family, I haven't even had the chance to check my email for days, let alone post on the blog. But it is now Saturday and I'm finished teaching so...

A couple of weeks ago we started up a membership to Blockbuster Online which is their equivalent of Netflicks. Anyway, one of the first movies we watched was the movie Fast Food Nation, a fictional story based on the non-fiction book of the same name. I will just say it was very disturbing. Even if only part of what they say is true (and I think it is), the process of meat packaging and distribution in this country is disgusting and takes advantage of migrant workers from Mexico. Now, I could imagine people (especially those who stand to profit financially from the meat industry) would counter with this detail or that. But I have to admit that nothing anyone could say could erase from my mind the image of cow feces ground in with ground beef. Or of human workers losing a finger or an arm or a leg because the process was being rushed through to up profits. I know that in the last decade or two our country has become all about the mighty dollar. That is what companies care about and they will exploit whatever animals and/or cheap labor they can in order to increase their profits. And I just don't believe their claims to the contrary.

So after we saw the movie for a day or two, none of us could get it out of our heads. Little J came home from school and said he had to have a salad for lunch because he just couldn't stomach eating meat. Big J and I were talking and we felt the same way. We just *couldn't* bring ourselves to do it. So ever since then we haven't eaten meat. Each week I've had to scramble to find new vegetarian recipes. We've been trying out some new things. Some have been hits and some have been less than appealing. It is like starting to cook all over again. But it has been surprisingly easy, for me at least. Meat (including chicken) just doesn't have the lure it once did. I don't necessarily feel opposed to eating meat. If I could find meat locally that I felt was grown and processed in a sanitary and humane way and was within my very limited budget, I'd make it and eat it. We've been checking out the meat counter at the Whole Foods (which is an hour away from where we live, btw). But it is much more expensive and if we totally go that route, our grocery bill will definitely feel the shock.

Coincidentally (or not) last Sunday was Earth Day. Our church has adopted the Green Sanctuary philosophy and are currently candidates for that title. Anyway as part of a much larger Earth Day discussion about what we as a congregation and as individuals can do to make changes in the current climate risks, we were given checklists for our homes listing things we can do as families to reduce environmental impact. We sat down after getting home from church and discovered several things we're already doing as a family. We also identified several new things we can implement fairly easily. We are becoming more aware of what we spend our money on (products made of recycled materials, food grown locally and organically, cleaning materials that are safer for the environment, etc.). All this means that between not buying meat, adapting new vegetarian recipes, and selecting organic foods, my grocery habits are making major changes. I'm hoping I can make the changes without too much stress. Last week I bought a week of groceries that included no meat but lots of organic produce (and other things) for about the same amount as what I used to spend. So maybe it won't be such a big shock after all. And I feel so much better about it.

Speaking of feeling better, I also feel pretty good physically. I've lost 3 lbs. since going vegetarian. Obviously, losing weight wasn't a motivation for the diet change, but it is a pleasant by-product of it. Last night, Big J was going to a memorial lecture about Kurt Vonnegut and didn't have time for the roasted vegetable dinner I made so he backslid for the first time and got a double cheeseburger at McDonalds. He hadn't had any meat in almost 2 weeks. He was shocked at his body's reaction. It really messed up his stomach and he spent much of the evening (and even this morning) in the restroom. Seeing how much just one burger can disrupt your body renews my motivation to stick with the vegetarian diet. This is new territory for us, but it is kind of exciting.

I'm now collecting tasty veggie recipes (i.e. that kids will eat) that take around 30 minutes to make and don't involve expensive ingredients.

a Generous Orthodoxy

For those of you who have been checking my blog and wondering when I was going to get around to regular posting again, I think I am back. I still have a trace of a cough and I'm struggling with fatigue (especially yesterday, for some reason). But I am getting back to normal. I promise to post more regularly again.

As a substitute teacher, I have a tote bag of "goodies" that I take along with me when I am out on a job. In addition to a bottle of water, an whistle (for recess duty), a bottle of tylenol, a sudoku book and pencil, and a koosh ball (for those last few minutes before dismissal when a game of Quiet Ball is in order), I often carry along with me a book that I'm reading. During each day, every teacher gets a "prep" period when the kids are not with them (usually they're in music, art or PE class) during which time the teacher does "prep" work like writing lesson plans, making photo copies, etc. Being a sub, I have no "prep" to do so I have a 30 minute or so break. This gives me an opportunity to do some reading.

Right now I am carrying around Brian D. McLaren's book a Generous Orthodoxy. This book has been on my "to be read" list for months now but I could never get my hands on a library copy and didn't want to spend the money on it. Well, finally I decided that if I want to read this book while living in an area whose public library generally doesn't own books with a liberal view of Christianity, I was going to have to spend the money and buy it myself. To be honest, this is one of those books that I would probably want to buy anyway just because 1) it speaks to the Big Picture that I've noticed forming and making up my individual spiritual path and 2) it is so packed with information that I know I will want to reread and readdress many points several times. And I'll probably want to scribble my own thoughts in the margins.

At this point I am not quite done so I am not at a point where I could post any kind of review. But I have already come across several ideas that stand out to me and have me saying to myself, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" A couple of his statements actually brought tears to my eyes as I was struck by their Truth.

By way of summary I will paraphrase here some of the noteworthy ideas from part I: Why I Am a Christian:

* I have synthesized much of what McLaren says into the idea that a big problem with Christianity is in the language we use to describe what it means to be Christian and its subtle differences in interpretation.

* He identifies 7 different Jesuses he has known (i.e. different perspectives on Jesus) and provides food for thought about how we have been taught to perceive Jesus and whether there might be other ways to interpret Jesus' significance in ways that are more authentic and meaningful and closer to their original intent.

* He illustrates that Christianity has largely become a religion of individuals and "us vs. them" thinking and searching for "the right way to do it". This has served to pit "believers" against "non-believers" rather than focusing on Jesus' ultimate goal - to bring the Kingdom of God into the world.

* He delves into the question of salvation and Jesus' role in it. He suggests that Jesus came to save the entire world (as opposed to individuals) by bringing his message of the Kingdom of God, the spirit of Christ within each of us, and our responsibility to shine the light of Christ out into the world in order to bring about the Kingdom of God. We have gotten all caught up in individual thinking as in "am I in (heaven) or out?" which has distracted and detracted from the original message. He suggests "[a]fter his death and rising, Jesus sends his Spirit to continue the process of teaching us, creating a community across generations and around the world that is learning to live life to the full" (p.106).

* He suggests that Son of God is a phrase that means the "ultimate embodiment of God" and that Son of Man (Jesus' own name for himself) means the "ultimate embodiment of humanity" (p.80).

* He discusses the dichotomy of very differing images of God: God A = "a single, solitary, dominant Power, Mind, or Will" and God B = "a unified, eternal, mysterious, relational community/family/society/entity of saving Love" (p.84-85).

* He asks "Would Jesus be a Christian?". Here is a direct quote: "The more I study the bible and reflect on the life and teachings of Jesus, the more I think most of Christianity as practiced today has very little to do with the real Jesus found there" (p.87).

* He says, "We retained Jesus as Savior but promoted the apostle Paul (or someone else) to Lord and Teacher" (p.94). And we decided the most important thing about Jesus was his death rather than his life.

These ideas are just from part I. In part II he begins looking at various aspects of what it means to be a Christian (and the language we use to describe it). There are so many more ideas from part I, not to mention part II, that I'll have to post more in a separate post. There are so many issues to think about and figure out where you are in the discussion. Love it, love it, love it!

Heavens to Betsy - Beth Pattillo

This book, Heavens to Betsy, jumped out at me from the "New Books" shelf at the library. It is about a woman minister and it has a church, a high-heel pump, and a lipstick on the cover. On the back cover is a short bio of the author who is herself an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). I was really interested to see what this book was like.

I have to honestly say that after finishing it I was a little disappointed. While the "big issue" in this book is the fact that she is a female minister in a traditionally male role, there are also the "chick lit" issues like how can she find a man. Lots and lots of drama about her being accepted by her congregation. I spent the biggest part of the book getting really frustrated with her for being such a doormat. I just couldn't get out of my head the thought that why on earth would someone be a member of a congregation that is so hateful? Furthermore, why would anyone want to be a minister in a congregation like that?

I think it was hard for me to imagine because in our denomination I cannot imagine the kind of prejudice that Betsy faced. I may be naive, but I can't imagine any UU protesting someone's ability to be a minister because she is a woman. (I did, however, enjoy watching the meetings of the board and finding familiar issues such as the unspoken belief that the biggest financial contributor to the church pulls the strings.) I guess I was disappointed that characters in her book were being so "un-Christlike" in their behavior and she wasn't calling them out on it.

Now, in the end she did handle the issue with the one congregant who was stirring the pot and she did it in a very loving and Christian way. I did commend that. And she did finally stand up for herself. But it just felt like too little too late for me.

I think part of what bothered me was that I saw part of myself in her. She had very low self-esteem issues and it made me wonder how she could be in such a leadership position as a minister. And frankly, despite the fact that she proved (?) that a woman could be minister, I'm not sure she did much to dispel the belief that women are emotional weaklings who buckle under stress. At the end of the book, I feel the stereotypes remain and that disappoints me.

I think the main character, like myself, waffles between being feminist in wanting the right to do things traditionally done by males but at the same time resents being told by other females that she can't wear make-up or enjoy shopping or (gasp) let a man hold a door for her. This topic is really brewing inside me right now and I am planning on having much more to say on issues of feminism.

Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult

This week I finished reading Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult. I loved it!

I have found that my reading goes in phases. For a long time now I have been "off" fiction. Nothing that was coming out was interesting me in the least and I've been reading a lot of nonfiction (mostly religious) instead. But I've felt a yearning for a good story again so I was browsing around the library shelves last weekend and I stumbled upon the Jodi Picoult section. Ah, yes, Jodi Picoult. I read something by her a couple of years ago...I think it was Keeping Faith. I like Picoult's books because they aren't the "romance-y" kind of supermarket books that seem to be everywhere. I'm just not at a point in my life where I have much interest in the strictly romance kind of read. But Picoult's books, while they may have a secondary romance element, the main story is usually something else.

In Vanishing Acts, the main character (Delia) is a 31-year-old woman with a four-year-old daughter. Despite the fact that she grew up without her mother whom, she was told, died when she was only four, she feels she had a charmed childhood. Her father was the best parent she could imagine and was always there for her. When a police officer shows up at her door and arrests her father for kidnapping her, her world is thrown into a tailspin. She returns half-way across the country to a town and a mother she'd all but forgotten to learn the truth about who she is.

This was a page-turner and I really loved it. It's one of those books where after you finish it you sit and wonder what is happening to your old friends from the book. You start to miss the characters and wish it hadn't ended.

Anyway, Picoult has published many books, so I plan to go back and read them while the fiction bug has me.

For One More Day - Mitch Albom

I finished another book today. I've read all three of Mitch Albom's books now. They are all very similar in that they deal with life/death issues. This book, his second fiction book, deals with a man who is depressed about the turns his life has taken. After the death of his mother, he feels he has lost the only person who was truly there for him and he has tremendous guilt that he didn't show her how much she meant to him. In this story, Chick Benetto gets the chance to spend "one more day" with his deceased mother and say the things he never got the chance to say when she was alive. Wouldn't it be nice if we could have just "one more day" to see someone we've lost and to say all that was left unsaid? It's a story of a mother's love, and a reminder that we are all human and make mistakes. It's a little on the sappy side, but I liked it. It does make you want to call up your parents (or any other loved one) and clear the air.

Enjoying Where You Are

I've gotten some new books at the library. I have to say that three years ago, I would never consider reading a book by someone I think of as a "televangelist" like Joyce Meyer. I have seen her first on TV while surfing through the channels. She seems very much like one of those "in your face" evangelists who think they have all the answers and they're more than happy to tell you about it (and of course take your "prayer money" if you send it in). But this shows how far I've come on this journey. I started letting myself think general religious thoughts back when I started attending a UU church. Once there I considered rethinking Christianity. Maybe it wasn't ALL bad. Then the more I read, the more I realized I'd been seeing Christianity from the wrong perspective. Readjusting my thinking helped me to soften my heart to these other Christians that used to cause me to roll my eyes if I saw their books on a shelf in the store. It's almost as if I came to Christianity through the back door because I was never attracted to the harsh front door.

Anyway, I picked up one of Joyce Meyer's books at the library. The copyright date is 1996 and it is called Enjoying Where You Are on the Way to Where You Are Going: Learning How to Live a Joyful, Spirit-filled Life. There are lots and lots of biblical references (another thing that would have caused me to put it down without considering it just a couple of years ago). And there are some theological things that I don't agree with like the way she personifies Satan. But if I don't let that get to me, she has a lot to say that makes a lot of sense. I was surprised that she said there are a lot of people who are saved and have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior (yes, I know I know) but they are sitting around waiting to die rather than enjoying the life that they have. She basically says that Jesus came to tell us that life is to celebrate and experience joy.

She talked about things that steal joy from our lives. Dread and fear are two things that zap our joy. Dread is about living in the past and fear is about living in the future. What we really need to do is live in the present. (I know that that particular concept is all over the religious spectrum these days. Isn't it the subject of the book called The Power of Now? I don't know - just guessing.) Basically we spend too much time beating ourselves up about things that have already happened or worrying about things that might happen. This is where she says we have to have faith in God and to let it go.

Another thing that gets in our way is the complexity that we choose to live our lives in. In my own experience this is related to perfectionism. You want to get things just right so you overdo it. And another thing we can do to fight the complexity bug is to try to live with more simplicity. Find what is most important in your life and cut out all the extras that just steal your joy. Every day you should find ways to celebrate the joy of living - even in the mundane things.

You know how sometimes something will happen in your day-to-day life that just happens to coincide with a spiritual concept you've been stewing over? Saturday afternoon we were all out at the music contest and my mom was along with us. We were almost finished for the day and were walking along the wide corridors of the school and my 5yo son was skipping. (Wide high school halls are perfect for skipping, btw.) Anyway, he turned to me and asked me if I wanted to skip. I told him not right now. Then he reminded me about how I taught him how to skip last summer when we were camping. Big J and my mom just looked at me with a blank stare on their faces. They couldn't believe that I would skip. I had to laugh. I remembered skipping down the road with D in the campground where we were staying. The fact that the idea of me skipping caught them off guard bothered me. I am too serious. I don't make enough time for skipping in my life. There really is no reason for that. Sometimes children are the wise ones.

Children of Men (book)

This morning I had the luxury of staying in bed and finishing the book I've been reading. It isn't a new book. It was originally published (I think) in 1993. The book is Children of Men by P.D. James. I originally bought the book and read it probably 12 years ago. I'd been a fan of James' Adam Dagliesh series of mysteries based in England. This book was a serious departure for her, but I remembered liking it. When I heard recently that there is a forthcoming movie by the same name based on the book, I decided to pull out my copy and reread it. I always like to read the book before seeing a movie.

This story is based in the future (year 2021 in the book) in England. The world has become infertile, the last children being born in 1995. There are no more children. The youngest people, called Omegas, are now 26 years old. Societies are returning to a more savage and barbaric time. England is now ruled by a tyrannical "Warden of England", the Isle of Man has become a penal colony where all criminals (regardless of the pettiness of their crime) are sent. However, in order to save precious resources, the government doesn't want to waste the expense and manpower of staffing the prison or providing adequate necessities like food and medical care. Also there are regular "ceremonies" dubbed Quietus, wherein about 20 or so old people at a time, dressed in white robes with old hymns playing are taken via boats out into the middle of the sea where the boat is sunk. It is officially called voluntary suicide until it is discovered by the protagonist that participants are being chained aboard and beaten if they try to escape. There are other injustices, but you get the point.

A group of 5 insurgents, calling themselves the Five Fishes, start an underground movement to change the sorry state of things. Theo, the main character, gets sucked into the action because, for one thing, he is the cousin of the Warden of England and the Five Fishes believe he may have some influence over him. Secondly, being a professor and historian, he had previously been the teacher of a class which included one member of the group, Julian. When he visits the Warden, as a favor to the group, to request changing some policies, his requests fall on deaf ears. However, they become suspicious of him working along side the underground movement. To escape scrutiny, Theo escapes for the summer to vacation in mainland Europe.

When he returns in the fall, he finds that the Five Fishes have been stirring the pot. They have been dispersing flyers calling for mass changes and they have been bombing the ramps along the seashore that have been set up to launch boats for the Quietus ceremonies. It isn't long before he hooks up with the group again when they come to him for help. One of their group has been captured by the SSP (State Security Police) and they fear he has been killed. Theo also learns that Julian is pregnant. In order to avoid their own capture by the police and to protect Julian and her unborn child, they flee and the chase begins.

There are more ins and outs of the story and the chase culminates when Julian goes into labor and they must find a safe place for the baby to be born. The Warden of England and his council is hot on their trail. I won't spoil the end of the book for anyone who wants to read it for himself. But it's good.

There is a definitely spiritual tone to the book and it's interesting to see the way religion is used in this futuristic society. Much of organized religion has fallen apart, but remnants remain. Plus, you can't help but draw parallels between this story about a pregnant woman and those closest to her on the run from tyrannical government officials who seek to find this miracle baby, ending in a modest wood shack in the woods surrounded by nature where the child is to be born, and another similar story involving a mother carrying a miracle baby, fleeing danger, and ending in a humble stable surrounded by animals (nature).

And I was struck by a thought in reading the birth story. We have gotten to the point where we find childbirth common place. Everyone and her sister has babies...what is the big deal. But by stripping away the commonality of pregnancy and childbirth in a society where it is unheard of...pregnancy and childbirth can be seen as the miracle that it really is. The very fact that human beings can become pregnant, grow another life, and then produce a child into the world is a miracle. Every child is a miracle baby. Life itself is a miracle.

The Secret Message of Jesus

I mentioned the other day that I picked up this book of Brian McLaren's at the library. I've had a hunch I'd absolutely love McLaren, but this is the first chance I've gotten to read any of his books. (Our conservative public library doesn't own any of his books until this one.)

This book is wonderful. It touches on so many wonderful ideas. I'm going to have to go back through it once I finish and revisit several things.

For those of you who haven't read the book, McLaren basically says that the real message of Jesus is hidden and has often gotten overlooked. He says Jesus' main point didn't have to do with what happened to us after we die, but instead is that we have the power to bring about the Kingdom of God in the here and now. The Kingdom of God is at hand. His book helped me to explain the message behind the miracle stories that, up to now, I had trouble fitting into my understanding of Christ. The miracles show that the seemingly impossible is possible if we only believe. Most people who don't believe something can happen, live in that unbelief and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But by not letting unbelief stop you, you can bring about change. It's very exciting and overwhelming to think about.

Tonight I was reading chapter 17 (which speaks about the history of violence in Christianity) and it includes a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. which I love:

Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder.
Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth.
Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate.
Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that.