From My Bookshelf

Shadow of the Almighty, by Elisabeth Elliot

Over the course of years, I have read books by Elisabeth Elliot, wife of slain missionary Jim Elliot. One day I decided to read Shadow of the Almighty, Elisabeth’s publication of her husband’s diary. The subtitle is The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot.

A line from the diary, often quoted, bears out Jim’s life: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Yet his humanness is evident, too, which makes all the more compelling the realization of how God uses ordinary people, even flawed ones.

Though I have never felt God’s call to be a missionary in the traditional sense, I am increasingly convinced of God’s call to each Christian toward particular tasks he has for them. Jim Elliot gave his life in 1956. At that time, Christians and Christian ideals still commanded respect from most Americans, yet the average perception was a more cultural or civic understanding of religion than personal. Today those of us who remain in the faith would do well to discover Elliot’s kind of personal dedication. Christian influence in this country recedes from the culture but paradoxically can lead to a growth in commitment by American Christians.

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The novel, Book Thief (find below), just sold two million copies, according to Publishers Weekly (December 15, 2011). The story, narrated by Death, tells of a young girl’s growing up in World War II Germany.

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Escape Stories, Including Brother Cadfael and a Few Georgette Heyer Heroes and Heroines

I’m a character junkie, not a plot junkie, so when a desire for pure escape seizes me, I settle down with stories like the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters. Cadfael, a medieval monk, chose the cloister after years as a Crusader, with a few incidents in his past that show up, over time, in the stories. The monk’s insightful and practical religion leads him to solve the mysteries that come his way as well as lead the innocent to reach goals, escape false accusations, or simply learn the lessons of life.

Once in a while, I read a Georgette Heyer regency romance. From the first few pages, we know exactly who are the hero and heroine. We know they will experience trials but their love will win out. It’s the delicious way Heyer has of making us delight in the characters. We know the conflict that puts them at odds will eventually draw them together. We read with confidence, knowing Heyer will not let us down and leave us with a bitter taste. Just innocent escape.

Yes, once in a while a bit of chocolate gives needed pizzaz to our lives.

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Soul Survivor, How Thirteen Unlikely Mentors Helped My Faith Survive the Church; by Philip Yancey

On page five of this book, Yancey states “Sometimes I feel like the most liberal person among conservatives, and sometimes the most conservative among liberals.” These words hooked me. I have experienced this divided view most of my adult life but don’t remember meeting anyone who expressed my feelings so perfectly.

Raised in a racist, legalistic church, Yancey speaks movingly of his journey from the mindset of this upbringing to a stronger Christian faith.

The thirteen mentors who brought him insights include Christians like G.K. Chesterton, John Donne, and C. Everett Koop. Others, like Mahatma Gandhi, may surprise some Christians. Yet ideas from each increased Yancey’s Christian growth and faith.

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When Sparrows Fall, by Meg Moseley

Characters more than plot cause me to remember a novel after I’ve read it. The characters in this  book by Meg Moseley touched me. Miranda Hanford; her brother-in-law, Jack Hanford; and Miranda’s six children, are people I’d like to meet in real life. They’re people I care for. I want to know what happens to them.

The plot is intriguing enough. Miranda’s husband died a couple of years before the book opens. She’s left with six children. Her church’s pastor suddenly wants to uproot his congregation from the Georgia mountains to North Carolina. The church teaches that all decisions must be made by the men. Miranda doesn’t want to leave her roots and the land she owns, but the pastor appears to have a hold over her, and the reader senses she’s playing some kind of game with him to put him off.

When she’s injured by a fall from a cliff, she calls on her husband’s brother, Jack, for help. Jack, a college professor, comes, reluctantly at first, but soon develops a tenderness for Miranda’s children and concern that Miranda will make a terrible mistake if she follows her pastor’s dictates. Seemingly, Miranda and Jack are different people with different backgrounds and ways of expressing their Christian faith. Miranda resents Jack’s views and his tendency to run her life. Jack is put off by Miranda’s ideas on everything from food to the place of modern medicine.

It’s the interplay between the two that gives the book its spice. The relationship between the adults and the children complements the growing appreciation of the two adults for each other.

Jack is a no-nonsense guy but he has his own vulnerabilities and hurts from his childhood and broken marriage. We appreciate the decisions both have made as the story progresses.

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The Clash of Civilizations, by Samuel P. Huntington

An article published in Foreign Affairs in 1993, “The Clash of Civilizations” caused more discussion than the magazine had seen in many years for one of its articles. The author, Samuel P. Huntington, a professor at Harvard University, eventually expanded his ideas into a book, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger called it “one of the most important books to have emerged since the end of the Cold War.” Huntington stated on its opening pages: “The rivalry of the superpowers has been replaced by the clash of civilizations.” And, he believed, we live in, not just a multipolar world, but a multi civilization one as well. He discusses the various civilizations. Major ones include western, Hindu, Islamic and Chinese.

All of his ideas cannot be distilled into a few words. One stands out: A world that is supposedly on its way to becoming more secular and liberal has, instead, seen a resurgence of religion. As masses of people found themselves confronted with unprecedented change, they became more religious precisely because the modernizing process induced a need for meaning and purpose. Modernization could not provide this; religion did.

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The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief is written from the omniscient point of view, meaning that the narrator always knows what is in each character’s head, a rarely used narration today. The omniscient character is Death.

Death, however, is presented as a sympathetic observer. He doesn’t grieve for those who die—they pass on. His sympathy is for those left behind. He hates their suffering and tries to avoid looking at them, but in this story, he is drawn to Liesel Meminger, a German child during the Second World War. Liesel’s young brother dies at the opening of the book, and she ends up in the house of foster parents, whom we grow to love, despite the gruffness of the mother at first.

We grow to love others, too: First, Liesel’s good friend, Rudy Steiner. Second, a Jew whom she and her foster parents hide. Liesel also becomes friends with the mayor’s wife, from whom Liesel at first steals books, then begins to know the woman and her sorrow. The woman allows her access to the wonderful library, where Liesel can hide from the killings and atrocities all around her.

We see the tragic events of the war through the inhabitants of Liesel’s town. We witness small acts of courage and caring. The courage and caring endure beyond the tragedies.

A subtle book that moves the reader with its understated style.

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Two books by Dorothy L. Sayers, of Lord Peter Wimsey fame:

The Mind of the Maker

An examination of God the Creator reflected in the artistic imagination

I especially enjoyed the chapter, “Problem Picture,” in which Sayers discusses the types of problems that fiction presents us: those that can be solved, those that can be partially solved, and those that cannot be solved. She illustrates with her Peter Wimsey novel Gaudy Night. The detective type problem is solved when the perpetrator of the book’s crime is found. A relationship problem is partially solved when the main protagonists enter into a new relationship. Since this new relationship involves fresh situations, the solution is not final. The third problem is not solved. It is a problem of values colliding: “Is professional integrity so important that its preservation must override every consideration of the emotional and material consequences?” Sayers suggests that a new value might be forged by the tension between the two values.

The Whimsical Christian

This book is a collection of Sayers’ essays. They range from “The Greatest Drama Ever Staged” (the plot pivots on the problem: What think ye of Christ?) to “Dante and Charles Williams” to “The Faust Legend and the Idea of the Devil.” I especially like “The Other Six Deadly Sins” with her discussion of acedia or despair. This sin “believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, loves nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive only because there is nothing it would die for.” More than any other, perhaps, this is the sin of our current age.