Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver Mary Oliver Penguin Press, 480 pages What a feast of poems for the hungry heart! This is the definitive collection of Oliver’s selected work that covers her 50-year career of creating finely crafted poems that evoke the presence of the Holy One in the natural world. Sacred Dying Journal Megory Anderson Paraclete Press, 128 pages The author is the founder and director of the Sacred Dying Foundation. Here she offers her wisdom to those who desire to face death mindfully. The journal format encourages prayer and thoughtfulness around the event that comes to each of us, ready or not. You will be more ready by using this journal. Night Driving Chad Bird Eerdmans, 160 pages Part memoir, part theological exploration, part testimony to the unrelenting love of God in Jesus who is the friend of sinners. There is a deep shot of love in this book, written with clarity and a compelling honesty. A Complicated Pregnancy: … [Read more...]
Future Home of the Living God: A Novel
Louise Erdrich HarperCollins, 288 pages Reviewed by Leslie A. Klingensmith White liberalism. Roman Catholic theology. Native American displacement. Women’s rights. Cross-cultural adoption. Government intrusion. Reproductive choice. Evolution. Science vs. faith. Global warming. Creation spirituality. Motherhood. These are some of the issues that Louise Erdrich addresses – either explicitly or implicitly – in her latest novel, “Future Home of the Living God.” I loved the book. Erdrich’s ability to touch on so many important topics without being self-righteous or pedantic should be the envy of all who aspire to write. She has written a story that somehow manages to be both terrifying and hopeful — and all too possible. Cedar Hawk Songmaker is a woman in her mid-20s, Native American by birth but adopted and raised by white parents. As her story begins, she is in the early stages of pregnancy. She has had the name and address of her birth mother for a while and ignored the … [Read more...]
Anxious to Talk about It: Helping White Christians Talk Faithfully about Racism
Carolyn B. Helsel Chalice Press, 128 pages Reviewed by Karen Branan As a pastor and professor of preaching at Austin Seminary, Carolyn B. Helsel understands deeply the anxiety many white people feel when the topic of race comes up. She’s been there herself, but she also knows it’s an issue that can no longer be avoided by white Christians in America. And so she has written a book designed to ease us into the conversation and help us stay there despite our anxiety, guilt and fear. When I began “Anxious to Talk about It,” I thought, “Uh-oh, she’s going to sugarcoat reality so that timid white people can feel good about themselves without actually facing the truth of our national situation.” Helsel quickly proved me wrong. She has written this excellent primer so readers may “reconsider where race continues to operate in our society and in our lives” so that “when the opportunity to act comes, you will know what to do.” Because Helsel has been there (and sometimes still is) and … [Read more...]
As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God
Eugene H. Peterson WaterBrook Press, 379 pages Reviewed by Karen R. Dukes Eugene Peterson is known for bringing us “The Message.” He is less well-known as the pastor who gathered and led Christ Our King Presbyterian Church outside of Baltimore for 29 years. From 1962 to 1991, he preached sermon after sermon, Sunday after Sunday. “As Kingfishers Catch Fire” gathers 49 of his sermons on texts from Genesis to Revelation preached in this one place. These sermons are not intellectual essays floating in the ether. They are grounded. They are grounded in the Bible. They are grounded in the geography of Abraham and Peter. They are grounded in Peterson’s personal geography of his native Montana and the church’s location in Maryland. They are grounded in the seven preaching companions that organize these sermons, from Moses to John of Patmos. They are grounded in Peterson’s down-to-earth explorations of the text. They are grounded in Jesus, who walked the earth as we do. Ultimately, they … [Read more...]
Weak Enough to Lead: What the Bible Tells Us about Powerful Leadership
James C. Howell Abingdon Press, 164 pages Reviewed by Jenny Cannon To write a leadership book based entirely on the concept of weakness is a bit like writing a cookbook for people who don’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen. By design, good leaders aren’t usually known for their weakness. To be tapped as a leader in the first place often means that you have honed your strengths enough to be noticed and managed your weaknesses enough to relegate them to application and interview questions. But in “Weak Enough to Lead,” James C. Howell asserts that weakness itself is central to our understanding of leadership from a biblical perspective. While many business leadership models and even some current church leadership trends offer clear-cut steps for successful leadership, Howell insists that in plumbing the depths of biblical leaders we don’t find a clear set of principles, but instead the stories of human beings who could be both fallible and faithful leaders. As a counter to the … [Read more...]
Resurrecting Easter: How the West Lost and the East Kept the Original Easter Vision
John Dominic Crossan and Sarah Sexton Crossan HarperOne, 224 pages The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the heart of the Christian tradition. As Paul says, “if Christ was not raised from the dead, than we of all people are most to be pitied.” In this ambitious and creative book, the Crossans explore the ways in which that conviction has been portrayed in Christian history and, particularly, in art. The Crossans argue that the Western and Eastern streams of the tradition have treated the resurrection quite differently, and the consequences of those theological choices are a different way of perceiving the Christian life. They write, “Resurrecting Easter is a debate about ideas and images, or better, a debate about ideas presented in and by images.” What’s intriguing is the distinction they make between “direct” and “indirect” depictions of this event. The authors want to explore how each has influenced the understanding of faith and practice. Clearly influenced by the East, the … [Read more...]
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