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Books
They make me read lots of books at Seminary. I mean, lots. But I still want to keep up with reading outside of classwork, as much as possible. I thought I would recommend two books for your consideration. (Full disclosure: whenever I put links to amazon.com on this blog and you purchase the item, I get a commission from the sale. So buy if you’re interested, or if you just want to help fund this blog. J)
I’m a big VeggieTales nut, so I really enjoyed reading this book. It’s a first-hand look at the creative mind behind VeggieTales and what happened to eventually lead to the company’s bankruptcy. It also touches on the constant tension between running a Christian business and the desire to do ministry, something I believe all Christians in business must consider.
This book, Annie Dillard’s For the Time Being, is a little more serious. Dillard probes into life’s big questions, and provides answers from many different worldview perceptions. I had already enjoyed other works by Dillard (especially Pilgrim At Tinker Creek), but this continued the tradition of thoughtful writing. You won’t agree with everything this book says (it’s impossible to do so), but this book will enlarge your view of the world.
Enjoy! (Oh, if you live near us in Dallas and are interested in reading these books, just ask me to borrow one. There’s no sense in them just sitting on the shelf.)
Trip Home to NY
I made a trip home this past weekend to attend my friend Jeff’s memorial service. It was a sweet time of remembrance. It’s a shame you have to wait for weddings and funerals for everyone you never see to come out of the woodwork…
Being home reminded me how much I love upstate New York, especially in the fall. The trees are brilliant colors right now – taking off Sunday afternoon on a clear day allowed me the most amazing sight of color. It was beautiful. The hills are great too. In Dallas, everything is flat and leaves have two colors: green and brown. Not too exciting. I also got to see my niece, who is approaching 1 year old! Here’s a cute pic:
Whether I want to or not, these days I find my thoughts drawn to the election and the future of America. My sister-in-law took this quote from someone else, so I decided to take it from her – this quote from Lincoln sums up how I feel pretty well:
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.
- Abraham Lincoln
Whether or not this is held to by our next President and congress, we shall see…
Jeff
A childhood friend of mine died last night. He was 26; he had been married to his wife Alaine for six months. They were married after his first bout with cancer, but the growth returned shortly after and the second time proved too strong for Jeff’s body to fight off.
I was going to write some theologically profound statement here, but nothing seems to fit right now. I praise God for the hope that is an anchor for my soul.