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Looking for What to Read Next?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 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
"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.
December 30, 2009
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.
Noivember 25, 2009 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
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.
September 16, 2009
August 19, 2009 Fiction for the Final Days of Summer by Carol CloverBooks 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.
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