thrifty!

All this for $0.30.  No lie.  

Yes, please, I think I will.

Thus far, then, our Lewis collection:

The Abolition of Man

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Four Loves

The Great Divorce

A Grief Observed

Mere Christianity

Miracles

Reflections on the Psalms

The Screwtape Letters

The Space Trilogy (sans Out of the Silent Planet)

Till We Have Faces

The Weight of Glory

...And some biographies.

Sarah

Sarah, by Marek Halter

This was a quick read for me (I enjoyed it immensely, and it was rather shorter than the other books I've attempted lately).  The first book in the Canaan Trilogy, by French-Jewish author Marek Halter, is an imaginative retelling of the story of Sarah, wife of Abraham.  Though it departs somewhat from the biblical tale (he paints a picture of Sarah as a princess from a neighboring kingdom to Abraham, rather than Abraham's half-sister, as the Bible indicates), the perspective of early civilization, idol worship, and the thorough torment of barrenness put flesh to the story I've heard untold times.  Cliche, I know, but the Genesis story comes to life.  Sarah is given a personality.  Abraham, too.  And he's not perfect.  

Read this if you're interested in historical fiction, if you enjoy retellings of biblical stories with biblical characters, and are just in the mood for a light read with a slightly feminist edge. 

Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would

Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would: A Fresh Christian Approach, by Chad Thompson

Obviously, this is a controversial issue.  But it's one that Christians need to rethink and readdress.  Constantly.  Our view on loving our gay friends (not to mention the gay and lesbians in our nation as a whole) needs to be constantly resubmitted to Christ and His love for these children of His.  

This book addresses practical ways to demonstrate love and acceptance to a group largely rejected by the Church.  Written by a self-proclaimed "ex-gay", Chad explains why he believes that through love (not necessarily clinical rehabilitation, or those awful and oft-stereotyped classes our more liberal friends like to poke fun at and loathe), it is possible for homosexuals to change... but here's the catch... if they want to.  The opportunity is there.  As one who is living this process (because, as he says, it is a process, a journey), Chad offers a sort of inside perspective for those of us who are not gay, or those who do not have close gay friends. 

Read this book.  You may disagree with his approach, but it is just about impossible to disagree with his heart, and his aim: to merely represent Jesus in relationship with the gay community.  Love as Jesus would.  Not just in theory, in practice. 

Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

1 John 3:18

8.14 [currently reading]

Currently reading:

Do Hard Things, by Alex and Brett Harris - reading with one of my youth group girls.  Surprisingly, I feel challenged and convicted. 1/4 complete.

The Weight of Glory, by C.S. Lewis - because I cannot get enough of Jack.  (Cannot wait to meet this guy and have tea with him in heaven.)  1/8 complete.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor - one of my absolute favorite stories.  1/16 complete.

The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer - reading with another of my youth group girls (soon to be college-bound!)  This one is tough, and we've both been busy.  Unfortunately, on a back-burner for now.  1/32 complete.

I like this mix.  Some fiction, some non.  Each important, in their own way. 

The Help

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

I realize I'm about a year or two late in reading this gem, but I must admit I have an aversion to reading the "trendy" ones.  So I had to wait.  And, since I picked it up at the airport when I had finished the only book I brought on our trip to Jersey, I guess you could say I was almost forced into reading it now.  But what a glad and unexpected incident!  

This book, as I'm sure you know, discusses at length the racial segregation of the South during the 1960s.  This topic is near and dear to my heart, having grown up at Camp Beechpoint, ministering to and with a primarily African American population.  Racism didn't (and doesn't) make sense to me, honestly.  So, in reading this book, it was tough for me to remember it is set in the '60s.  Not all that long ago.  That was the foremost tragedy to me.  Beyond that, that this tragedy still occurs to a large degree in our country.  Perhaps not to the same extent, and not protected by law, but the culture is still there.  That hurts my heart. 

I loved the theme of reconciliation.  It's an important one.  The book signed for Skeeter by the hundreds of black churchgoers who applauded her stand, the work she did to give them a voice... made me cry.  More so than any other part of the book, I think.  I loved the relationships.  I loved the anecdotes.  

The movie is on its way from Netflix, and I am excited to see faces and voices set to these vibrant and boisterous characters.  They practically leapt off the page at me, anyway.  

If you haven't read this one yet, please do yourself a favor and pick it up.  It's one you certainly won't regret as a gratuitous summer read.  

Your Life in Christ

Your Life in Christ: The Nature of God and His Work in Human Hearts, by George MacDonald

If the title alone doesn't do it for you, let me preface this review by noting that everything this guy writes is about two miles above my head.  Ok.  Now that you're properly warned, here's what my dear friend Jack has to say about Mr MacDonald:

I dare not say that he is never in error; but to speak plainly I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself.... I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master; indeed I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him.

I could not agree more, nor have put it better myself (as is all too often the case with Lewis and me).  MacDonald has such a distinct perspective on so many aspects of theology, and while I agree with the majority of it, there are glaring dissimilarities between what I believe to be true and what he argues with such passion.  I would encourage you to read him for yourself and see what you think... rather than use my space and your time to split hairs and indict one who is clearly more intelligent and spiritual than both you and I.  Ha.

So.  Read this book.  Even if you can't get through the denser stuff (it's all pretty dry, honestly, and as I said above, so far over my head), I urge you to read the chapter entitled Opinion and Truth.  Heartbreakingly relevant in this period in my life, I am almost certain it will be in yours.  Listen to what he says on page 206:

Do you ever feel thus toward your neighbor: 'Yes, of course, every man is my brother.  But how can I be a brother to him so long as he thinks me wrong in what I believe, and so long as I think him wrong in his opinions and against the dignity of truth?'  I return: Has the man no hand that you might grasp, no eyes into which yours might gaze far deeper than your vaunted intellect can follow?  Is there not, I ask, anything in him to love?  Who said you were to be of one opinion?  It is the Lord who asks you to be of one heart.  Does the Lord love the man?  Can the Lord love where there is nothing to love?  Are you wiser than he, inasmuch as you perceive impossibility where he has failed to discover it?

Ouch.  Can you relate?
Here are three other excellent quotes (seeing as I am doing a thoroughly inadequate job of reviewing the book as a whole.)

But if anyone be at all otherwise minded -- that is, of a different opinion -- what then?  Is it of no consequence?  No, verily -- it is of such consequence that God will himself unveil to them the truth of the matter.  This is Paul's faith, not his opinion.  Faith is that by which a man lives inwardly and orders his way outwardly.  Faith is the root, belief the tree, and opinion the foliage that falls and is renewed with the seasons.

Let us think to ourselves, or say to our friend, "God is.  Jesus is not dead.  Nothing can be going wrong, however it may look to our hearts that are unfinished in childness."

I find in Paul's writing the same artistic fault, with the same resulting difficulty, that I find in Shakespeare's -- a fault that, in each case, springs from the admirable fact that the man is much more than the artist.  It is the fault of trying to say too much at once, of pouring out stintless the plethora of a soul, swelling with life and its thought, through the too-narrow neck of human utterance.

And if that doesn't convince you of MacDonald's brilliance... I'm not sure what will.