I keep thinking this book will finally set on my shelf for a while, but occasions that call for it keep coming up.  So foundational.  So articulate.  So indespensible.  I’m excited for our house church conversations revolving around Mr. Wright’s book this fall.

The Primacy of Story…

“Humans like stories.  Humans need stories.  Stories are good.  Stories work.  Story clarifies and captures the essence of the human spirit.  Story, in all its forms – of life, of love, of knowledge – has traced the upward surge of mankind.  And story, you mark my words, will be with the last human to draw breath, and we should be there, too, supporting that one last person.”

- Thursday Next (Jasper Fforde – First Among Sequals)

 I just finished this book – what a fantastic read!  Anyone who’s game for an intriguing, mysterious, and profound narrative should pick it up.  Casares’ story works on many levels and the plot slowly reveals itself in an incredibly provocative fashion.  Although it’s relatively difficult to find good stories, it’s even harder to find good stories that are well told.  If you love the art of good story telling, mystery, and intrigue you will love this.  It doesn’t hurt if you’re a science fiction fan either. 

By the way – the book opens a somewhat existential dialogue about the nature of humanity and existence itself.  Although I don’t agree with the most obvious conclusions, what a great conversation…

Stark Strikes Again…

From Rodney Stark’s Discovering God:

“The promise of ‘going to heaven’ was given immense credibility by the fact that Christians enjoyed a substantially superior quality of life here and now, a fact that was highly visible to outsiders.”

“Christian congregations used their immense amount of social energy to improve the daily lives of their members.  It has often been suggested that Christianity compensated people for their lives of misery by promising them a glorious life to come.  Possibly so, but it seems far more significant that Christianity actually made life much less miserable in the here and now.” 

“A truly revolutionary aspect of Christianity lay in moral imperatives…Christians created a miniature welfare state in an empire which for the most part lacked social services.  Consequently, according to data assembled from monuments and gravestones, Christians even lived longer than their pagan neighbors.  It was this response to the long-standing misery of life in antiquity that offered people obvious and compelling ‘material’ reasons to convert.” 

 

Interview with Eugene Peterson

I just finished this book by new author Willy Vlautin.  I can’t recommend it enough.  A great example of American literature at its most provocative.  I love stories that portray the plight of people I otherwise would never meet and have something true to say about the human condition at the same time.  The book is also an effective commentary on back-roads American culture.  Wonderful.

The good news is that you’ll be able to read The Motel Life in one sitting if you have the time.  It reads fast…the characters speak like real people (I swear I could hear a thick accent without any need for Vlautin to try and write an accent - that’s how real/natural the dialogue is). 

Buy – read- enjoy…

The Completion of Bond

Last night I finished the last James Bond book in the entire Fleming canon.  It was a collection of short stories posthumously published including the stories Octopussy and The Living Daylights – both made into feature length films. 

I’ve been reading the Bond collection with the intent of completing the whole thing for approximately five years now.  Why?  More than likely because I’m a nerd.  But it feels good to have a goal and complete it.  I feel like celebrating!

I feel I now have a certain amount of authority on all things Bond.  Someday I would love to write an essay comparing and contrasting the books with the films.  Again – I am a nerd.  But a somewhat happy one…   

I’m making my way through the development of Hinduism  and Buddhism.  Not as much directly related material, but still full of insight.  

Of particular interest is the idea that though both of these religions are distinguished in their beginnings by not really needing/worshipping any gods, they both grew into a deeply felt need for worship and for deities.  Stark suggests that no religious movement can maintain meaning without the worship of a god. 

“ ‘G0dless’ religions offer neither hope nor meaning, and the popular form of such faiths always involves a restoration of conscious, active Gods.” 

Thus, in Hinduism, the abstract Brahman becomes personified and worshiped as the Bhagavad-gita and Buddhists truly worship Buddha.  “There simply is no getting around the fact that many Buddhists worship the Buddha.  In addition, most Buddhists temples are chock-full of lesser Gods, for Buddhism became an extremely theistic religion.”

One note of particular interest.  I never realized how much Hinduism saturates Star Wars.  

    Listen to this description of Brahman – the supreme reality of the universe.  “The Brahman is the active force of the universe, but it is immaterial, cosmic, impersonal, and unaware.” Indeed, the goal of Nirvana is to be melded into the Brahman…to become part of this “force.”  When Nirvana is reached the very physical body is immersed into the larger reality for eternity.  Now I know why Yoda and Obi-Wan’s bodies vanished at death!   

“It is desire that traps humans in endless existence.  The man who does not desire, who is without desire, whose desire is satisfied, whose desire is self escapes and goes to Brahman at his death.” Sound like Jedi training to you?  No wonder their characters are so freaking boring. 

Tagged by Rustin

Tagged by Rustin 

One book that changed your life:

One book that you read more than once:

One book that you would want on a desert island:

One book that made you laugh:

One book that made you cry:

One book you wish you had written:

One book you are currently reading:

One book you have been meaning to read:

I have the privilege of meeting once a month with some thoughtful church planters and friends.  Last night we began discussing Joseph Myers’ book Organic Community.  Thanks for the conversation guys!

Here are some quotes I loved from the chapter we looked at last night:

“In our worship of ‘how-to’ pragmatism, we have in some cases treated the church as an object and programmed the life out of it.  It would do us well to remember that our job is to help people with their lives rather than build infrastructures that help institutions stay alive.”

“When we plan, it is helpful to begin with a horizon in view instead of a specific point.  This is a more organic concept of planning for the future.  It is not very helpful to speak in terms of going from ‘here’ to ‘there,’ because we as living creatures need the freedom to end up somewhere else.”

“We often have little control over precise direction.  We do have some control over the substance of the journey.”