The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life by Sister Joan Chittister
"Like a great waterwheel, the liturgical year goes on relentlessly irrigating our souls, softening the ground of our hearts, nourishing the soil of our lives until the seed of the Word of God itself begins to grow in us, comes to fruit in us, ripens in us the spiritual journey of a lifetime." -- Joan Chittister (from The Liturgical Year)
Having taken an interest as of late in the ancient practices of the Christian faith, I felt it was time to work toward a goal I've had for a few years now -- reading all the books in "The Ancient Practices Series" (Thomas Nelson, Inc.) and beginning to try to apply them to my spiritual walk. And while there is something of a logical order to reading the books in the series (other than just by publish date), I chose to read the 7th of eight books first. I justified my decision with the thought that the book, The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life by Joan Chittister, covered the longest time period of all the ancient practices, and thus I could learn about the time-based practices from broadest to most narrow (e.g. Liturgical Year, Sabbath, Fixed-Hour Prayer). What I found in my "experiment" was that either I had a really poor game plan in starting the series like I did, or that this book just wasn't as informative and enlightening as I'd hoped.
Don't get me wrong, the author did a great job of justifying the need to emulate the life of Jesus and explaining the need to continue experiencing the events of the past to celebrate the promise of the future. I just felt that she spent half of the book's 200+ pages in doing so. What I was hoping to get out of the book by the end was: 1. What are the components of the liturgical year? 2. When are they celebrated? 3. What is their history? 4. How can I apply these practices as a modern-day, Western Christian? After reading the book, I have an excellent grasp on what the components of the liturgical year are (I could probably even name them in chronological order without looking), but I didn't get too much of an idea about when each component happens in the year (while she did try to spell out much of this information, a lot of it was confusing), and I didn't feel like there was a whole lot of history of the year's components included (though what bits of history there were in the book comprised my very favorite moments). As far as application, I didn't get a whole lot outside of "go to a Catholic Church during each stage of the liturgical year to take part." I understood the times to mourn and the times to celebrate and I completely agree with why we would come to worship with those feelings at those particular times. There just wasn't a lot of application for me outside of going to church. And maybe there just isn't. But I didn't come to that conclusion either and was left feeling a bit empty-handed from that standpoint. This of course, is hardly that important since Chittister likely wasn't writing the book for me, or someone in a similar demographic/stage of life as me, but it helps justify my rating the book as mediocre at best.
Overall, I felt there was a lot of fluff to get through -- more specifically, there was really only one good chapter (chapter five, called "Sunday") prior to chapter 8 ("Calendars"), which explains the differences in calendars and why a discrepancy in the placement of the actual date of Christmas exists between some European denominations and much of the Western church. It also briefly discusses the fact that Jesus wasn't likely born on December 25, which is a topic that has always fascinated me, but it seems not many are willing to write or talk about it, since there are always people out there that might cry heresy. In addition, I've always wondered how it is decided whether Easter is in March or April, and how the specific Sunday is chosen, and the same chapter helped explain a lot of that reasoning.
There were a few additional highlights to follow, including some insights into Holy Week that I had never known and some things I was unaware of about the Marian Feasts (of which I had no idea there were so many). However, with so much discussion of the importance of the liturgical year which was reiterated for seemingly every part of the year, there were not enough pages to really scratch the surface on the feasts, among other things.
I did pick up some new knowledge about and appreciation for the liturgical year, so I am glad to have read the book. But following up with some online research provided as much of that knowledge and more in about five minutes. Again, I was not necessarily Sister Chittister's primary audience -- I wanted hard facts about the year and its history as opposed to a lot of reinforcement about its value. And because of this, the book wasn't quite what I was hoping for with my first endeavor into The Ancient Practices Series.
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Though I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program, I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The courage to take off Saul's armor
Soulprint by Mark Batterson
"I try to share my weaknesses and failures because I think it amplifies the goodness and greatness of God." -- Mark Batterson (from Soulprint)
Admittedly, I had never actually read one of Mark Batterson's books before Soulprint, despite the fact that I have three of his works on my bookshelf (including this one, that was provided to me by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers as a complimentary review copy). Hearing him speak a few times and liking what he had to say had prompted me to purchase his other books, but when it came down to making a decision to read them, they ended up left on the shelf in favor of a different title. But I think my hesitancy to read them was more about Batterson and his publisher not disclosing more of the details of his books on their covers (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) than it was about the books not having subject matter I would enjoy. The same was true when I first picked up Soulprint ("What is this about?"). But it was partly that bit of mystery (and discovery) that made Batterson's latest work a quick, enjoyable read. And it's the author's conversational, confessional style that will soon lead me to brush the dust off his other books on my shelf.
Without disclosing too much, Soulprint is about our divine destiny. To disclose just a tiny bit more, it's also about King David, though less about David as king (which is part of his destiny) as it is about his journey to become a man after God's own heart, and how instances within David's journey can parallel our own journeys to expose our divine destinies.
And that's really all there is to it, so the the description on the cover really says it all (much of the beauty of the book lies in its simplicity). But that's not to say the book is one-dimensional -- Batterson adds so much more to what seems like a simple concept of outlining the link between David's discovery of his destiny and our own. It's much more than a Bible study on the book of Samuel with application for today's Christians. And it's more than a motivational or self-help book (a distinction Batterson himself makes immediately) -- it's a biblical call to action he likens to "an archaeological dig into our pasts to find clues to our futures."
So once I figured out what Soulprint was (and wasn't), I was ready to go along for the ride. But what I wasn't ready for was how the author would lay himself out there all throughout the book, exposing embarrassing and awkward moments from his past, mistakes he has made in his life, and disappointments that have turned out to be "divine appointments" in his journey. Where I expected preachiness, I often found humility. When Batterson said "pride is simply the failure to praise," I looked for places to call him on it, but couldn't find them. And the credibility he earned with me as a reader made his seemingly simple message all that more affecting. I suppose that aiding the book's impact was my current life situation -- having read it in the days surrounding the birth of my second child -- but I think that regardless of where you are in life, there is a lot to which we can relate, since (as Batterson explains) our destiny involves past, present and future...and it can be found in the life places we may have never expected.
Stories of David's life are among the very first Bible stories we ever hear, and I've heard many of them so many times that it's rare that an application breathes new life into them. But I've never tried applying them to my own life. And not just my present life, but my past and future as well. And in doing that, the stories become fresh. Because they become about me. Batterson says that our sense of destiny is a God-given birthright, and having the sense to find it and develop a vision to get there is what Soulprint is about. And though the book didn't tell me exactly what my destiny is (nor did I expect it to), it did tell me where I can find clues as to what it is. And acquiring the knowledge to recognize those clues was well worth reading past the outside cover.
"I try to share my weaknesses and failures because I think it amplifies the goodness and greatness of God." -- Mark Batterson (from Soulprint)
Admittedly, I had never actually read one of Mark Batterson's books before Soulprint, despite the fact that I have three of his works on my bookshelf (including this one, that was provided to me by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers as a complimentary review copy). Hearing him speak a few times and liking what he had to say had prompted me to purchase his other books, but when it came down to making a decision to read them, they ended up left on the shelf in favor of a different title. But I think my hesitancy to read them was more about Batterson and his publisher not disclosing more of the details of his books on their covers (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) than it was about the books not having subject matter I would enjoy. The same was true when I first picked up Soulprint ("What is this about?"). But it was partly that bit of mystery (and discovery) that made Batterson's latest work a quick, enjoyable read. And it's the author's conversational, confessional style that will soon lead me to brush the dust off his other books on my shelf.
Without disclosing too much, Soulprint is about our divine destiny. To disclose just a tiny bit more, it's also about King David, though less about David as king (which is part of his destiny) as it is about his journey to become a man after God's own heart, and how instances within David's journey can parallel our own journeys to expose our divine destinies.
And that's really all there is to it, so the the description on the cover really says it all (much of the beauty of the book lies in its simplicity). But that's not to say the book is one-dimensional -- Batterson adds so much more to what seems like a simple concept of outlining the link between David's discovery of his destiny and our own. It's much more than a Bible study on the book of Samuel with application for today's Christians. And it's more than a motivational or self-help book (a distinction Batterson himself makes immediately) -- it's a biblical call to action he likens to "an archaeological dig into our pasts to find clues to our futures."
So once I figured out what Soulprint was (and wasn't), I was ready to go along for the ride. But what I wasn't ready for was how the author would lay himself out there all throughout the book, exposing embarrassing and awkward moments from his past, mistakes he has made in his life, and disappointments that have turned out to be "divine appointments" in his journey. Where I expected preachiness, I often found humility. When Batterson said "pride is simply the failure to praise," I looked for places to call him on it, but couldn't find them. And the credibility he earned with me as a reader made his seemingly simple message all that more affecting. I suppose that aiding the book's impact was my current life situation -- having read it in the days surrounding the birth of my second child -- but I think that regardless of where you are in life, there is a lot to which we can relate, since (as Batterson explains) our destiny involves past, present and future...and it can be found in the life places we may have never expected.
Stories of David's life are among the very first Bible stories we ever hear, and I've heard many of them so many times that it's rare that an application breathes new life into them. But I've never tried applying them to my own life. And not just my present life, but my past and future as well. And in doing that, the stories become fresh. Because they become about me. Batterson says that our sense of destiny is a God-given birthright, and having the sense to find it and develop a vision to get there is what Soulprint is about. And though the book didn't tell me exactly what my destiny is (nor did I expect it to), it did tell me where I can find clues as to what it is. And acquiring the knowledge to recognize those clues was well worth reading past the outside cover.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Before you can say Jack Robinson
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." -- Clive Staples Lewis (from Mere Christianity)
It takes nearly 50 pages for C.S. Lewis to hit the reader with a haymaker like that. But in those first 50 pages he's already pelted them with jabs of both the easily-digestible and the read-it-five-times-over sort, all while mixing in arguments for (and evidence of) a God of the universe that are so simple they're almost comical. But humor seems to be the furthest thing from the author's mind in this work, first published in 1952. In fact, Lewis, best known for his series of The Chronicles of Narnia books that captured kids' and adults' imaginations decades before a series of mediocre movies of the same name were given the green light, is nothing if not completely focused on explaining Christianity (as he understands it) to those outside the Christian faith, those completely immersed in it, and those that have just dipped their toes in the water. And he has challenges for readers in each of those camps.
As a one-time atheist and educator at one of the world's most prestigious universities (the book is based on transcripts from radio appearances made while teaching at Oxford in the early 1940s), Lewis is admittedly familiar with the arguments against the existence of a monotheistic God, and provides explanations and metaphor that help break deep and perplexing subject matter into fragments that are more easy to understand; fragments he had to learn to swallow when he made his conversion to Christianity. The fact that the words are essentially copied straight from their spoken form makes for a conversational tone of voice throughout, which in turn makes for a quick, enjoyable read.
Lewis starts off in the first of four "books" by removing himself from affiliation with any religion at all, and simply addresses human nature and how he believes a distinct "moral law" or "law of human nature" points to an established division between "good" and "bad" within all human beings, and that the division was not decided by man himself, so was therefore established by something greater than man. He goes on to make the point that if that argument nods to a Creator, then the fact that man knowingly (and repeatedly) breaks the "moral law" despite the fact that it's ingrained in our psyche exhibits the inferiority (and subsequent fall) of man.
In the second book, the author describes the foundations of the Christian faith (at which point he aligns his belief system with that of a Christ follower), citing the simultaneous simplicities and complexities that reinforce those beliefs for him. Here he pulls no punches, discussing atheism, Satan, the Christian "war metaphor," repentance, and Jesus as God and man. Book three is the heftiest portion of the entire work, within which Lewis addresses morality in more depth, calling out seven virtues: prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude (the "Cardinal" virtues), along with faith, hope and charity (the "Theological" virtues). It's in this book that we get Lewis' translation of Jesus' message when it comes to topics such as social justice, Christian marriage, capital punishment, sex, churchgoing, and prayer. In the fourth and final "book" of Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis goes deeper into Christian theology, saving some of his greatest challenges and most heady thoughts for last.
Of all the books I've ever read (outside of the Bible itself), Mere Christianity may be the one book that I would memorize if I could. The aforementioned conversational tone teamed with arguments presented in an almost "scientific" way, makes the book feel like what I'd describe as "theology for the layman" (and not at all because I believe it's elementary...because I don't). I doubt I would ever present a case for Jesus as Lord to someone that would want to hear quotations from a seminary text or a theology book. The people I talk to about subject matter this important are people that want to hear me speak from my heart. And in this book, C.S. Lewis often says the things I want to say -- the things that are on my heart -- for which I can't find the words.
This is a book I would love to read on a yearly basis, and will never have far from me as a reference. I think it should be read by anyone who's ever wondered about a higher power in the universe, whether or not the book is put away after five pages or read five times in a row. Every human being that can read the English language should at least give it a try; it's a writing that's as relevant today as it was during World War II. And it further shows the relevancy of those texts written thousands of years ago on which it's based.
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." -- Clive Staples Lewis (from Mere Christianity)
It takes nearly 50 pages for C.S. Lewis to hit the reader with a haymaker like that. But in those first 50 pages he's already pelted them with jabs of both the easily-digestible and the read-it-five-times-over sort, all while mixing in arguments for (and evidence of) a God of the universe that are so simple they're almost comical. But humor seems to be the furthest thing from the author's mind in this work, first published in 1952. In fact, Lewis, best known for his series of The Chronicles of Narnia books that captured kids' and adults' imaginations decades before a series of mediocre movies of the same name were given the green light, is nothing if not completely focused on explaining Christianity (as he understands it) to those outside the Christian faith, those completely immersed in it, and those that have just dipped their toes in the water. And he has challenges for readers in each of those camps.
As a one-time atheist and educator at one of the world's most prestigious universities (the book is based on transcripts from radio appearances made while teaching at Oxford in the early 1940s), Lewis is admittedly familiar with the arguments against the existence of a monotheistic God, and provides explanations and metaphor that help break deep and perplexing subject matter into fragments that are more easy to understand; fragments he had to learn to swallow when he made his conversion to Christianity. The fact that the words are essentially copied straight from their spoken form makes for a conversational tone of voice throughout, which in turn makes for a quick, enjoyable read.
Lewis starts off in the first of four "books" by removing himself from affiliation with any religion at all, and simply addresses human nature and how he believes a distinct "moral law" or "law of human nature" points to an established division between "good" and "bad" within all human beings, and that the division was not decided by man himself, so was therefore established by something greater than man. He goes on to make the point that if that argument nods to a Creator, then the fact that man knowingly (and repeatedly) breaks the "moral law" despite the fact that it's ingrained in our psyche exhibits the inferiority (and subsequent fall) of man.
In the second book, the author describes the foundations of the Christian faith (at which point he aligns his belief system with that of a Christ follower), citing the simultaneous simplicities and complexities that reinforce those beliefs for him. Here he pulls no punches, discussing atheism, Satan, the Christian "war metaphor," repentance, and Jesus as God and man. Book three is the heftiest portion of the entire work, within which Lewis addresses morality in more depth, calling out seven virtues: prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude (the "Cardinal" virtues), along with faith, hope and charity (the "Theological" virtues). It's in this book that we get Lewis' translation of Jesus' message when it comes to topics such as social justice, Christian marriage, capital punishment, sex, churchgoing, and prayer. In the fourth and final "book" of Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis goes deeper into Christian theology, saving some of his greatest challenges and most heady thoughts for last.
Of all the books I've ever read (outside of the Bible itself), Mere Christianity may be the one book that I would memorize if I could. The aforementioned conversational tone teamed with arguments presented in an almost "scientific" way, makes the book feel like what I'd describe as "theology for the layman" (and not at all because I believe it's elementary...because I don't). I doubt I would ever present a case for Jesus as Lord to someone that would want to hear quotations from a seminary text or a theology book. The people I talk to about subject matter this important are people that want to hear me speak from my heart. And in this book, C.S. Lewis often says the things I want to say -- the things that are on my heart -- for which I can't find the words.
This is a book I would love to read on a yearly basis, and will never have far from me as a reference. I think it should be read by anyone who's ever wondered about a higher power in the universe, whether or not the book is put away after five pages or read five times in a row. Every human being that can read the English language should at least give it a try; it's a writing that's as relevant today as it was during World War II. And it further shows the relevancy of those texts written thousands of years ago on which it's based.
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