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Columns from the Grace Church Library, published in the biweekly newsletter, Grace Notes. The library is staffed Sundays from 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.and is open for self-service during the week. 

 

February 24, 2010
New Books about Hope and Faith by Cornel West and Frank Schaeffer
Carol Clover

The celebration of Black History month in February offers an opportune time to read a new book recently added to the Church Library entitled "Hope on a Tightrope: Words and Wisdom" by Cornel West. Dr. West is an educator and philosopher and University Professor of Religion and African-American Studies at Princeton University. He is also the New York Times best-selling author of "Race Matters," which sold over 400,000 copies and changed the course of America's dialogue on race, justice and democracy. In the opening of Chapter 1, the author states, "We are now in one of the most truly prophetic moments in the history of America. The poor and very poor are sleeping with self-destruction. The working and middle classes are struggling against paralyzing pessimism, and the privileged are swinging between cynicism and hedonism." Later in Chapter 1 the author declares, "Once again America finds itself looking to its blues people to provide a vision to a nation with the blues. That is a source of hope. Yet hope is no guarantee. Real hope is grounded in a particularly messy struggle and it can be betrayed by naïve projections of a better future that ignore the necessity of doing the real work. What we are talking about is ‘hope on a tightrope.'" "Hope on a Tightrope" will satisfy readers in search of deep wells of inspiration and challenge that marry the mind to the heart. The book also features an original CD that highlights Dr. West's outstanding spoken-word artistry.

:Patience with God: Faith for People Who Don't Like Religion (or Atheism)" by Frank Schaeffer is a meditation on the follies of religious and atheist fundamentalism. The author criticizes both the religious right and the recent wave of angry atheists such as Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett. Schaeffer stresses that ethical behavior, not certitude about supernatural creeds, was central to early Judeo-Christian teaching. He argues for hopeful uncertainty, a humility about one's beliefs that rejects the certitude of doctrinaire believers and atheists alike. He offers a hopeful vision for a genuine faith in a messy, mysterious and unexplainable world full of contradictions and paradoxes.

"Faith" (Global Fund for Children Books) by Maya Ajmera, Magda Nakassis and Cynthia Pon is a worthwhile book for school-aged children to share with their families. The book contains a stunning array of photographs of children practicing their religion from around the world. They include Rastafarians, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Taoists and Muslims, who are seen celebrating their faith by praying, chanting, singing, reading holy books, listening and learning.

 

 

January 27, 2010
Books on Global Christianity
by Carol Clover

The Adult Education midwinter program has featured a series of presentations focusing on Global Christianity.  There is a bibliography of selected resources available from the Church Library. Several titles in particular may be of interest.

"Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crisis and a Revolution of Hope" by Brian McLaren addresses two essential questions: What are the world’s top crises, and what do the life and message of Jesus say to those global crises? McLaren identifies four deep dysfunctions that have created a suicide machine: crises in prosperity, equity, security and spirituality. McLaren argues for establishing a beloved community based on justice, peace, equality and compassion, a call for the creation of a hope insurgency to transform the world in which we live. This book is useful for stimulating energetic dialogue and action in classes and small group discussions. There is also an interactive website www.everythingmustchange.org that allows people to contribute ideas for putting the message of Everything Must Change into action. 

Another title of interest is "The Next Christendom: the Coming of Global Christianity" by Philip Jenkins. Jenkins uses demographic data to argue that by 2050 a new Christendom will emerge, one markedly different from what most white Euro-Americans know. In the next half-century, most of the world’s Christians will live in Africa, Latin America and Asia, even if they represent the same proportion of the population there as today. This new Christendom will have a lively sense of the supernatural and a keen appreciation of the miraculous elements of scripture and a more conservative posture on issues like the role of women or ordination of homosexuals than prevails in a northern Christianity shaped by the Enlightenment and pummeled by forces of secularization. The author maintains that by their numbers alone these Christians will overwhelm the present politically secular nations and city-states and replace them with theocracies.

Soong-chan Rah’s book entitled "The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity" takes Phillip Jenkins' findings one step further. He challenges North American evangelical Christianity to throw off the chains of its oppression – which he calls the western cultural captivity of the church – and embrace a multi-ethnic and diverse evangelism that reflects the church’s contemporary constituency. He maintains that the church’s captivity to materialism has resulted in the unwillingness to confront sins such as economic and radical injustice and has produced consumers of religion rather than followers of Jesus.

For children ages 6-7 years, Greg Mortenson’s book "Listen to the Wind: the Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea" is highly recommended. This picture book has illustrations by Susan Roth made of fabric, cut paper, and found objects with collages that are both childlike and complicated. Her illustrations are the perfect medium for Mortenson’s story of a school built with the ingenuity and energy of the mothers, fathers and even the children of Korphe. This book will help American children to understand a part of the world that they know largely through news reports of war and destruction. 

 

 

December 30, 2009
'The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov
"Have a Little Faith: A True Story" by Mitch Albom
"The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew -- Three Women Search  for Understanding" by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner    
by Carol Clover

The Religion in Literature selection for January, 2010, is "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov, a novel heavily influenced by Goethe’s "Faust," with settings in first century Jerusalem and post-revolutionary Moscow in the 1920’s. The entire action in the book takes place in four days, from Wednesday to Sunday of Holy Week. In addition to being a satire on Soviet life in the 1920’s and early 1930’s and a love story, this tale of two cities is also laden with philosophical overtones. The basic ethical question of good and evil is the focal point of the novel. Other themes conveyed in this complex novel are that life is imperfect and must be accepted as such; that good and evil will coexist forever, and that evil exists to help human beings recognize what good is; that human striving toward the good leads to suffering and death, but ultimately to life, the only life worth living; and finally, that cowardice is the greatest sin. The novel has been described as a riddle novel by the author himself, but remains one of the most thought-provoking, intriguing and amusing novels in world literature.

The life of faith as seen in today’s world is described by Mitch Albom in his book "Have a Little Faith: A True Story," and in "The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew -- Three Women Search  for Understanding" by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner. Mitch Albom’s book grew from the author’s close encounters with two remarkable men of very different faiths. The first is Albert Lewis, Albom’s rabbi while he was growing up in suburban New Jersey, who asks the author to write his eulogy. To do so, Albom must get to know the man behind the vestments, little knowing it would take eight years to prepare for the inevitable. Between Saturdays with Albert, Albom skillfully weaves a second narrative about Henry Covington, whose journey through a hellish youth of poverty and drug addiction ultimately led him to establish the I Am My Brother’s Keeper ministry and homeless shelter in Detroit’s inner city. The author’s message through these characters is timely and fortuitous: When times get tough and money disappears and people get fired and the things you assumed were going to be there forever are not there, you start to drift back to something you once had and you wonder why you let it go in the first place.

In "The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew," the key message is that religious certainty in any form leads to fundamentalism and intolerance. A statement in the book that makes this point is: “the opposite of faith isn’t doubt, it is certainty.” A second and equally important message is that all religions and societies need women who have the confidence to take a leading role in confronting religious conflict. The book provides a profound exposure to the beliefs, prejudices, hopes, fears and foundations of three major religious groups without invoking theologians. 

 

Noivember 25, 2009
Books About Psalms; Aesop's Fables by Carol Clover

During November, an adult education series featured presentations on the Book of Psalms. The Church Library has a number of titles on this subject that should be of interest to adult readers. Perhaps best known is C.S. Lewis's"Reflections on the Psalms ." In this book of reflections, Lewis delves into the Psalms with the sensitivity of a poet and the honesty of a scholar. More than in Lewis' other books, his view on the Bible is most clearly seen as a canon of various types of literature to be approached in various ways. It is not an encyclopedia but an anthology. Scripture is viewed as God selecting a canon which, taken as a whole, portrays the history of the Incarnation, using myth, chronicle poetry and prophecy to do so. Lewis selects various Psalms for his discussions, enlightening them with his usual good sense while using illustrations from daily life and the literary world. A useful appendix at the back of the book lists the Psalms mentioned or discussed along with a reference to the page numbers on which they appear.

"The Promise of Winter: Quickening the Spirit on Ordinary Days and in Fallow Seasons, Reflections and Photographs" by Martin E. Marty and Micah Marty explores the signs of promise and presence found in the winter of the soul. Through its striking photographs of winter and reflective meditations on the Psalms, this volume leads readers on a journey through the heart's winter to the discovery of the God for all seasons.

Robert A. Schuller's "Getting Through What You're Going Through" is a study of Psalm 23. The book offers ten principles based on the Psalm to help break down the barriers to healing and to help readers get through their difficult times. Above all, the book proves the healing power of faith and prayer. To get through what you're going through, you must be willing to be carried, and that takes trusting, explains Schuller. Let go and let God support you, and your faith will lead you out of the valley into the Promised Land is his central message.

"Aesop's Fables" by Jerry Pinkney is a children's book for ages 8-9 years. It is the quintessential Aesop, lovingly retold in a contemporary yet timeless style embellished with a profusion of glorious illustrations. The text, which includes 61 fables in all, begs to be read aloud, while the pictures transport the reader into a different world, magical yet firmly grounded in reality. The book received starred reviews in Horn Book Magazine, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews.

 

 

October 28, 2009
Books About Lincoln and Slavery; New Books for Children by Carol Clover

Two Pulitzer-Prize-winning books recently selected for the Religion in Literature Series offer worthwhile insights into a compelling period of U.S. history during the early to mid 1800’s. Lincoln by David Herbert Donald is a remarkable look at our country’s 16th President from Lincoln’s own perspective, analyzing him and his decisions based on what Lincoln knew, believed, and sought to accomplish at the time. The book views Lincoln as he advanced from extremely poor rural roots in what was then the western United States into the Illinois legislature and then the U.S. Congress for one term, through a career as a self-taught lawyer, and finally to the presidency, where he faced perhaps the greatest challenge any president in our history ever encountered.  The author depicts Lincoln the man, not the statue.  Like all of us, he was a fallible human being who wasn’t always sure that what he was doing was right, but he was sure he owed it to his country to serve it with honor and dignity in its hour of greatest peril.

The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron is a fictionalized autobiography of the Negro slave who in 1831, under what he felt was divine prompting, organized and led the only sustained Negro uprising in the history of American slavery, a revolt culminating in the violent deaths of fifty-five whites and perhaps two hundred slaves, the execution of the chief insurgents, and repressive new laws for the containment of slaves. The book is masterful storytelling and a chilling account of a noble man’s moral decline and, in human terms, the agonizing essence of Negro slavery, as the internal struggles of Nat’s personality are realized through his wrestling with the question of God and his own self-worth and that of his people.

The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt and illustrated by Tim Jonke is a children’s book for ages 5-6 years.  It is a retelling of a popular folk tale suitable for any time of year, but with particular links to Christmas and Easter.  It tells of the hopes and dreams of three little trees that are surprised by how their dreams of greatness come true.

In God’s Name by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso is a book for children ages 6-7.  The author shows that despite the various names people call God, God is one and the same for all of them.  The book is beautifully illustrated with uplifting images of God as Creator, Healer, Redeemer, Father, and Friend.
 

September 16, 2009
Books on the Life of Faith and Spiritual Purpose by Carol Clover

The Church Library has added some new titles that focus on the life of faith and spiritual purpose.  Long after I’m Gone: a Father-Daughter Memoir by Deborah Good recounts a daughter’s personal journey of remembrance, loss and grief in the final days she spent with her father as he battled terminal cancer.  She reflects on the life stories he shared as he described his commitments to neighbors, church, school and community. 

Claiming the Beatitudes: Nine Stories from a New Generation by Anne Sutherland Howard is a book which offers a contemporary view of the Beatitudes. The author uses insights from an emerging generation of Christians who find in their faith a living font for social action.  It is a book well suited for Lenten study, or a shared reading experience in a college fellowship.

Leap over a Wall: Earthy Spirituality for Everyday Christians by Eugene H. Peterson provides thought provoking reflections on what an authentic Christian life means.  The life of David is the platform he uses to enable readers to learn about their own spirituality and relationship with God.  David’s life shows the humanity of a man after God’s heart which proves the existence and endurance of God’s grace and acceptance.

Second Calling: Finding Passion and Purpose for the Rest of Your Life by Dale Hanson Bourke follows Dale Bourke’s first book in 1985 entitled You Can Make Your Dreams Come True, a book designed to encourage women to believe in themselves, their passions, and their power to realize their dreams.  Patterned on the book of Ruth, Second Calling is written for women in or approaching the second half of life who find they no longer have the energy and drive they once had.  The author focuses on a study of Naomi’s life, which demonstrates that it is not what we do for God, but what God does through us that ultimately matters.

A new book for young children ages 2-5 years is Peek! A Thai Hide-and-Seek by Minfong Ho.  This is a beautifully illustrated book with an interactive story that draws young readers to its pages, as a father searches for his daughter in a game of peek-a-boo that leads him to encounter many wild animals amidst a background of lush vegetation.

 

August 19, 2009

Fiction for the Final Days of Summer by Carol Clover

Books featured in the display case during August will appeal to young and adult readers seeking to escape during the final days of summer.

The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter is for children ages 6-7 years. It is a true story about a librarian's struggle to save her community's priceless collection of books in a war-stricken country where civilians, especially women, have little power.

Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan is for children ages 9-11 years. This historical fiction takes place in British East Africa in 1918 where a young girl named Rachel is left orphaned after the influenza epidemic. The heroine becomes involved in a deceit-filled plot to assume a deceased neighbor's identity in order to travel to England, where her dream is to return to Africa to rebuild her parents' mission hospital.

The Blind Faith Hotel by Grace's own Pamela Todd is a coming of age book that will appeal to both teens and adults. The author takes readers on a journey not only across the country, but also into the life of a young girl forced to leave behind the father she loves and the only place she's ever felt at home. It is a story filled with emotion as well as the beauty of nature.

The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin will appeal to adults and children who are attracted to fantasy. The book is a combination of a classic fairy tale and a stylized character study that stands alongside such classics as Watership Down, Lord of the Rings, and the Neverending Story. This fantasy is set in the animal kingdom around a chicken coop. Chauntecleer, the rooster of the coop, is in charge of all the animals in the surrounding forest. Their peace is broken when Wyrm, monster of evil, long imprisoned beneath the earth, tries to break through the dominion of the world. Chauntecleer and the other animals use their faith and the spiritual exercises they practice in order to fight back the powers of Ultimate Evil.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is an enduring Southern story that begins during the summer of 1954 in South Carolina following the passage of the Civil Rights Act. The narrator, Lili Owen, shares her journey of overcoming the loss of her mother while discovering discrimination, the dangers of social inequality, and the base human elements that bind us to each other despite color or class.