Read this Blog

About four years ago, I discovered this little book by Paul Nixon called I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church. There was something about the cover or title that seemed somewhat arrogant to me, so at first I didn’t want to read the book and kept putting it off. When I did finally get to it, I was excited and wanted everyone to read it!

I was therefore delighted to see this blog in achurchforstarvingartists and the comments it recieved, both agreeing and disagreeing.

So, to paraphrase the blunt style of the author, Read this blog, then read this book, and lets get moving!

Posted by Carman

Authors

Here's an interesting list from the United Church Observer magazine. The editors of that popular Canadian church publication invited its ministers to list their favourite authors, people they'd recommend to their members.

It's a great list. You might like to find some of these authors if you haven't met them. Or perhaps you're already a fan of some.

Click here then share which ones you already know and like.

Or recommend some others you think should be on such a list.

Posted by Marion

Thoughts from the Summer Kitchen

To cook or not to cook; that is the question. Whether it is better to turn on the oven and heat the house even more or eat peanut butter sandwiches for the rest of the week.

It is not nearly so eloquent as Shakespeare’s soliloquy in Hamlet, is it? Nor is it likely to last for 400 years and more, stimulating the philosophical imagination of millions of people. No, it is just the question we face on these hot summer days. For those with air conditioning, the question may seem even more significant as we pay to cool the house and then deliberately set one appliance working against another!

Many years ago when I was a youth, farms had no air conditioning but some had summer kitchens to solve this dilemma. This was a room on the back of the house, or sometimes a separate building with the capacity to prepare meals or do the home canning without heating up the main house. There would be some kind of big stove (wood fired in the era of my childhood), and at least one big table on which to prepare the food to be cooked. In some climates, it may have been a room with less than four walls, which would not keep out the flies, but would at least allow in any passing breeze.

Whatever happened to summer kitchens? Did urban dwellers ever have such things? Did they just become too expensive, too luxurious for the modern world? Did the era of the supermarket and fresh produce all year round supersede the need for such a device?

I stand in my kitchen and idly ponder this question of no importance at all, then glance out the window to my back porch where my eye falls on what I realize is probably the modern equivalent: the bar-b-que! Talk about miniaturization; a whole room has been replaced by a fairly small device! Of course you are unlikely to can your peaches in the bar-b-que, but most of us don’t do that any more anyway, do we? We simply store all those sealers in the cold room in case we ever decide to try it again. Mostly we just cook frozen hamburgers and hotdogs. Oh there are persons who are really industrious who try some more exotic creations in the name of keeping the house cool; my wife once baked rhubarb crisp in there, but mostly we don’t, do we?

All of this means nothing at all that I can think of, and that is exactly the point. Every one of us need time, once in a while, to contemplate what are merely the musings that get caught in an idle mind. It all rather reminds me of Eeyore in A. A. Milne’s The House at Pooh Corner;

They haven't got Brains, any of them, only grey fluff that's blown into their heads by mistake.

How delightful! No wonder I love Pooh so much.

I hope you are enjoying your summer, and blessed with time for some idle musings of your own.

Posted by Carman

bloggers

I had a note from one of my sisters the other day. Her email contained the disappointing news that she is not able to come for a visit, but it also held a delightful surprise. My sister shared a link to some writing she has been doing on a blog of her own. I read her posts, and was totally delighted. It was enough to make me feel a sense of instant connection. I had a glimpse into her distant life, her relationship with her now grown children and even her dogs. It was wonderful and made me want more.

That lovely surprise got me thinking about you, and made me wonder how many of you are writing. It occurred to me that, of all the blog links we have on the lower left of this page, only one is written by a reader and follower; our delightful Tomato Transplants. Surely that is just not right! While we do not know exactly how many there are who follow these pages, we know there are more than a few hundred who check in with some regularity. It seems highly unlikely, therefore, that there is only one writer in the whole bunch!

Are there other bloggers out there that we don’t know about? Come on now, fess up! Are you writing and not sharing? This need not be a one-way conversation you know. If you are writing, will you not share with the rest of us?

If you are writing and willing to share (and I can’t think of a reason you would write a blog unless you were), would you please send us the link? You can do it privately if you wish, but we would be delighted to read your poetic verse or prose. And just in case you are shy, I promise we will not publically add you to the list of blogs we follow unless you give us permission.

So how about it; are you writing and willing to share with the rest of us? After all, enquiring minds want to know! Lets make this more than a one way connection, okay?

Posted by Carman

Packing

I’ve been busy packing books to send off the various reunions. While it is a bit of a chore, it is also a pleasant chore. It’s nice to handle all these great books that I’m sending off to be discovered by all my friends, the “book people” who shop at the book tables every summer.

This is one more of those “last times I’ll be doing this” things that are occurring in my life as I count down to October when I will be leaving the job. It is true. I will not be doing this next summer! Let this be your warning. If you are one of my “book people”—and you know who you are—please consider this your last call. Take a good look over the selection I’m sending you. If you want that book, grab it now.

The shelves are nearly empty now as each full bin has been sent off for all you eager readers at Mcgowan’s Lake, Ziontario, Noronto and Erie Beach. A big Thank You goes out to Mel Kelley, Connie Heath and Mel Dupuis who faithfully unpack and repack and chat about the books each summer. One thing we’ve learned about your and from you is that folks who love books also love to talk about books. I hope you find plenty to chat about in this year’s collection. And I hope you buy them all so I don’t have to find other ways to clear them off these shelves. Let me challenge you to empty those tables by the end of the week. Who can do the best job?

People always ask me “Have you read all these books?”

The answer is, of course, “No.”

But they are all books that I would read. I have read many of them. And if I haven’t read the whole book I’ve read some essential parts of it. I’ve checked out the covers and the prefaces and likely the first couple of chapters. I’ve checked out the Table of Contents and any parts that look like they may have something good to say or some useful tips for things I know you’re doing or working on or might need some pointers about. I’m careful to send you works by authors I know or publishers I trust. If it’s on my table you may be assured that it won’t lead you astray.

Now you may have some work to do. You’ll need to adapt or reflect about or even pull a group of friends together to discuss or discern how this book is trying to reach you. It might be trying to stretch you or intrigue you or challenge you. It may be something you’ll look over quickly and reject, or it may be something you’ll put on a shelf and come back to again and again. I hope so.

For right now, all the packing is done. Treasure boxes of books are making their way to a reunion book table near you. Make me proud. Empty those tables and enjoy what you find there.

Posted by Marion

Classics

I acquired another box of great books from a congregation's closing library. Fortunately there's a kindred book person there who couldn't bear to just discard some of the classic books from their shelves when they left those shelves behind. We don't have nearly as many new books being published by Community of Christ authors as we did in the hey days of Herald House. As resources for publishing have decreased and new ways of spreading the word have increased, we look to on-line sources as well as to other quality publishers of excellent materials.

Nevertheless, there are a few classic titles that still have a place on our personal and congregational shelves. And some of those turned up in this latest acquisition of mine. Of course I shall be looking for good homes for them as well as for the hundreds of books I'll need to be passing along from my library soon.

Here are a few of those classics. Do you have these? Are there others you treasure? Let's share a list of some of our classic favourites. I'll start:

"Treasure in Earthen Vessels" by Bill Russell
"The Book of Mormon Speaks for Itself" by Roy Cheville
"The Writings of President Frederick M. Smith" compiled by Norman Ruoff
"Untangling Our Faith" by Elbert Dempsey Jr.
"Fire in My Bones" by Robert Mesle
"The Hazards of Theology" by Geoffrey Spencer
and another couple, not Herald House, but classics on my shelf
"Mormon Enigma, Emma Hale Smith" by Linda Newell & Valeen Avery
and "Nauvoo, Kingdom on the Mississippi" by Robert Bruce Flanders.

So there's my short list this morning. What are your classic Community of Christ/RLDS titles?

Posted by Marion

Literacy

There is what you say and then there is how you say it. Similarly, there is what you read, and the way you understand it. Consider the following four ways of expressing the same verse from Genesis 12:5.

NRSV
Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother's son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan.

Inspired Version
And Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

The Message
Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and arrived safe and sound.

The Living Bible
He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth--the cattle and slaves he had gotten in Haran--and finally arrived in Canaan.

Isn’t it interesting that here we have four ways of saying the same thing, and four expressions to describe a certain group of people:
persons whom they had acquired in Haran,
souls they had gotten in Haran,
people they had gotten in Haran,
slaves he had gotten in Haran.

I actually checked 10 different versions of the Bible in preparing this blog, and The Living Bible was the only one that was prepared to use the word slaves in the text. (To be fair, the New American Bible adds the following definition of “Persons” in a footnote: “Persons: slaves and retainers that formed the social aggregate under the leadership of Abraham;”, so I suppose we could say that two versions acknowledged this truth.)

The point here is not that the various versions are trying to hide anything. The point is not that Abram apparently began his great adventure with a trip to the slave markets in Haran, nor is it that God’s chosen man of the hour was some horrible person because he was a slave-master. Slavery was a sad reality throughout all the periods of history touched on in the Bible. The point is that almost all the various versions of the Bible gloss over or do not point out this fact, and it is very easy to miss. It is an argument for biblical literacy; an informed and educated approach to understanding what the Bible is really saying. It also makes a case for using more than one version of scripture when we read.

Just in case anyone is now thinking, “Well I am not a trained Biblical scholar, so I guess I just won’t bother to read it at all”, let me hasten to add that becoming biblically literate is a life long process. It is also an enjoyable adventure; a delightful quest of discovery and a growing relationship with a text that has inspired millions of people for millennia. It is part of our faith journey; our soul-filling quest for and adventure with the God of life and love.

Here’s to reading the Bible again, whether for the first or fiftieth time.

Posted by Carman

Fiction

Last week I went back for the first time in a couple of years to my writing class. I believe I shared here with you that I had decided I needed to inject a little more discipline into my life and that registering for an actual class would do that for me. As in years past the evenings I have available have lots more to do with which topic I pursue than any other great desire to learn this or that or to practise one skill over another. So this year it was Thursday that was available, so fiction it is!

Of course the first evening there is the predictable go-round when each person shares why they’ve elected to learn more about (in this case) writing fiction and I share that I have been thrust into this class because it’s Thursday and I can actually complete the whole series and only miss a single class. Ergo: fiction it is!

Given all that background, however, I am really quite pleased to be spending the next twelve weeks considering, reading, thinking about, discussing and even writing some fiction.

I recall once listening to a panel of writers discussing the merits of fiction vs. non-fiction. I believe it was Ray Robertson who claimed to have given up the writing of non-fiction because he realized he had only limited time left to write anything and since he wanted only to write “Truth” he would only write fiction for the rest of his life. After much chuckling, the rest of the panelists all agreed with him that “truth” was a much closer synonym for “real fiction” than anything else they could think of. If I’m into the discipline of fiction, I really have to agree with them.

My reading practices over my lifetime have not been entirely consistent. During some times I’ve read mostly fiction; at other times—usually prescribed by study—I’ve focused more on various types of non-fiction. I realize that it’s easy to fall into a reading habit that takes me into a particular genre at the expense of other areas I don’t really want to neglect. And reading good fiction is one of those types of reading not to be neglected. I think the reason I appreciate it so much is the very fact that it tends to bring those deep truths to mind that those writers were alluding to. Truths about love and relationships, about life and the complexities of living, solving problems, setting priorities, articulating values somehow find their way into and out of works of fiction.

Another writer suggests that reading fiction tends to make her more empathic and compassionate and cites a study to that effect. I agree this too is a noble goal.

Those of you reading this blog are well aware that I write lots of words, some of them you’ve read—and many more you haven’t. Over the next twelve weeks I shall be spending some disciplined time thinking about, and perhaps writing some fiction. I suspect there will be fallout of this practice showing up in this blog.

If you’d like to share your own experience with reading or writing fiction or if you have thoughts as to how truth is or is not expressed in what you’re reading, I’d love to have you join me in my quest.

Posted by Marion

Keeper

I’ve just read an essay about how the Chronicles of Narnia shaped the writer’s life! After the Bible, says pastor Julie Clawson this work was the most formative in her developing character and theology. Narnia was never part of my literary life, either in childhood or adulthood, although my children and grandchildren claim ownership of this C.S.Lewis classic.

As Christmas approaches and some of us are seeking out that keeper book to give to the readers on our gift list, perhaps we, like Clawson, are recalling some of the books that brought meaning to our own lives, and would be likely gifts to give to a learning to read child (maybe Charlotte’s Web? Or Stuart Little?). Who is ready to meet the Hobbits for the first time? Or maybe Black Beauty, or Treasure Island or the Robinsons (Crusoe, or the Swiss family)?

My reading grandchildren are great library users, but sometimes there are some books that you just need to own for yourself, to keep and be able to read again, or at least to let them live on your very own bookshelf. For example, I see those colourful volumes of Harry Potter everywhere! Those are the ones I try to figure out and find for them.

You’ll not be surprised to learn that two of the authors I favoured as a child were Louisa May Alcott and her writing heroine “Jo March” and L.M. Montgomery’s Anne (with an “e”) Shirley, also a scribbler. The latter even more appreciated because of her Canadian roots and the rural context I could recognize. That row of dull green covers still sits in a place of honour on my own top shelf. I’ve only recently read Jane Urquart’s short but revealing biography of Montgomery and have developed an even greater appreciation for this writer and the literary value of her work. (Check it out here .) I think I'll be pulling one or more of those dear volumes down to re-read over my Christmas holiday.

So my question for the day is not: what are you reading now? But what book or books shaped your life? What are the keepers for you? And if you want to be very generous, share a line or two about why a particular book has been important in your life.

Posted by Marion

Borg

Thinking of Carman's many "read" and "book" posts, I must say something about one of the authors who very much helped shape my thinking on matters theological, Marcus Borg.

Several years ago now, I first met Borg in a thin little book I encountered, I know not how or where called The God We Never Knew. I was at a place in my life of deciding just what I did or did not think or believe about God. Up until then, I'd supposed it was a matter of one thing or the other. Either you did or you did not believe in God--whatever that meant. I still own that book and it is much marked, underlined, question-marked, worn and tattered. I've bought several other copies of the same book since. I've led discussion groups about it and used its thoughts in many classes and sermons.

It was Borg who first introduced me to the notion that it was possible to think about God in several very legitimate and faithful ways. That it wasn't a matter of Yes or No, but of How. And that how could change or evolve over time; in fact it should change over time. Most of us are aware of some people who've never got past the God of their infancy and find that child's belief inadequate for the challenges of adult life.

The God We Never Knew was not a scholarly book, although Borg himself is a New Testament scholar. It is a personal book about his own look at faith. Since that first book I've also read his most well-known book of scholarship Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time. Later still another book that has become a favourite for teaching and preaching: Reading the Bible Again for the First Time with its lovely subtitle (those who know me know how I value subtitles!) Taking the Bible Seriously, not Literally.

Borg is a member of the famous --or notorious, depending on your perspective-- Jesus Seminar. He's tended to be labeled "liberal" by some, but he is also a practising Christian and he is not above entering into productive and respectful dialogue with well known "conservatives" as evidenced by his book The Meaning of Jesus co-written with N.T. Wright. He's also done some exploring with a bit more radical thinker John Dominic Crossan in The Last Week, a great book to find some new perspective on Jesus' life.

Borg never stops thinking. He revisits former books and updates them. He examines ways his theology (and ours) shapes our Christian life and the life of the Christian church. The Heart of Christianity, Rediscovering a Life of Faith and Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teaching and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary are two great examples of that.

All that exploring, rediscovering, struggling, dialoguing, even arguing have helped shape my own faith journey. And I am very grateful to Marcus Borg for his excellent guidance along the way. If you haven't made his acquaintance yet, let me recommend any of the titles in this post, or indeed anything else you encounter written by this one of my favourite writers.

Posted by Marion

Classic

I’ve been unpacking some book bins from reunions, reshelving, sorting and classifying. It’s been a good summer in the “book business” and I’m glad that many of my good friends out there are in possession of some of my good “book friends.” I hope you’re looking forward to a time of reading or studying. I suspect many of your new books are sitting in a pile somewhere waiting for your time or attention. That’s OK, I’m enjoying the last of this wonderful summer weather too.

One thing I expect to do soon is to feature some of the excellent congregational support resources that are still left on my shelves. From time to time over recent years I’ve brought them to your attention—especially if you are a pastor or congregational leader. CPI, their mentors, newly ordained or about-to-be-ordained high priests, or participants in this or that Temple School class.

The nice thing about so many of these great books is that they really don’t get stale. They are classics that always have something useful to say to someone. Book people recognize that you don’t really read the same book twice—no matter how often you revisit it. You are different; times are different; circumstances are different. You wonder why you highlighted or underlined that paragraph last year. And a whole chapter just makes so much more sense now, you can’t believe you overlooked it before.

So watch for some book titles, recommendations, maybe even a quick review or summary coming your way soon. These classics are just too valuable to sit on this shelf any longer. What are the questions that are on your mind just now, Brother or Sister Pastor, Christian Ed Leader, novice (or tired) Preacher? I may have a classic just for you.

What are the classics that you return to again and again? Any titles you'd like to add to our list? All recommendations are welcome. Let's share some of our favourites.

Posted by Marion

Legacy

If you don't occasionally glance over there to the left of this page to see other Blogs we're following, I want to remind you to do that. Carol Howard Merritt, one of my favourite authors on the issue of encouraging/mentoring/nurturing young adult church leaders is talking about creating a legacy. If you haven't read it, I encourage you to do so.

For quite some time I've been considering what I should be doing with all these great books that surround me. Sometime over the next several months I will be disposing of most of them. It's nearing the time for me to down-size in a major way. Most of my reference books will not be needed when I no longer visit congregations and consult with pastors and other congregation and reunion/retreat/camping leaders.

I spent a wonderful day recently in a congregational library helping sort, organize and toss the books that had been assembled there. I also made some suggestions for building up the library. I would really love to do this kind of work in some of the other libraries I've seen. I too would love it if our congregational libraries were better used, had wonderful resources available for members there. And I would happily bequeath my books to any librarian who undertakes the job. (Perhaps I should say, the vocation!)

Give me a call, if you're interested in tackling your congregation's library. I have a system that will help you get started. And I will reward you with a donation of current, highly recommended books to assist your task. I'll call it my Legacy Project.

Posted by Marion

Stacks

It probably won’t surprise many of you that I have several stacks of books on my desk, beside my armchair, on the filing cabinet…a few are even on the bookshelf! Yesterday I received a box with four more brand new ones, samples from a great publisher who sends me these freebies from time to time.

My problem is that several of these books are sitting there waiting to be read. The titles call to me; they promise great content. And I’ll be passing along recommendations as soon as I have dipped into them and have a good idea who else should be reading them with me.

Some of the titles I love: Know Your Story and Lead With It, Beyond Maintenance to Mission, The Answer to How is Yes, The Wisdom of the Seasons, a New Climate for Theology, Finding (Living, Teaching) Our Story. That last one is a three-volume series!

Most of these books are skinny little volumes that really shouldn’t take too long. In fact not one in that list is longer than 200 pages! And the authors are folks I already know and trust like Sally McFague and Peter Block.

I’d be so happy if someone out there would volunteer to read one or more off this stack of mine and help with the task of referring others. Who are the readers? Please identify yourselves to me.

I have been known to whine a little that people don’t read any more. Maybe that’s true. But if you’re willing to give me a hand with these stacks of mine, I’d gladly share. Or if you’re looking for something in particular, by all means let me know.

(I have several stacks that I have read, and I’d gladly share them too.)

Posted by Marion

Read

Are you a reader? Do you read a lot? Do you have favorite authors or genres? Do the local librarians all know you by your first name? Do they know your tastes so well they automatically set books aside for you, knowing you will stop in one day this week to refresh your stock?

I used to read a lot of books. Fiction, non-fiction, historical fiction, biography; they were all companions I loved to spend time with. Having served twenty-three years in the publishing industry, perhaps that was to be expected. As a former children’s book salesman, my children’s library was also well supplied. Richard Scarry, Mercer Mayer, Robert Munch, and many others were wonderful family friends.

I still like to read, and usually have a couple of books on the go, but I don’t seem to have near enough time for it any more. Finishing a book may take days if not weeks.

What I read has also changed. Even when I lived in California, I was a devoted reader of Canadian fiction authors. It was there I discovered the revealing Vincent Lam and his title Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures. Lately, however, I only seem to find time to read books I hope will help me in my ministry. Much as I value the insights gained there, I miss reading great and innovative authors like Yann Martel and his clever story The Life of Pi.

But Christmas is coming! Surely there will be time to take a few days off and just curl up with a good book! In particular, I think it is time to read a couple of works of fiction again!

So let me ask you; read any good books lately? Would you care to recommend an author or a title or two? What about your ministry list; read anything there you really liked recently? Let’s have a good conversation about the books we enjoy! Care to start it off?