Archive | June 2005

Acts of Faith by Phillip Caputo

Jun22

I just finished this book, written by the same author who wrote a memoir of the Vietnam War that I read twenty years ago for a college class, A Rumor of War. I remember two things about that book: the descriptions of war were vivid, violent, and sometimes nauseating, and the author quit believing in a resurrection because the bodies he saw blown to bits in the course of battle were incapable of being resurrected. (This loss of faith seemed to me then to be unjustified since any God worth believing in would be capable of manipulating matter and energy and life in any way He chose.) In the novel Acts of Faith, set mostly in Kenya and southern Sudan, Caputo continues to explore the contradiction between faith in a good, powerful, and loving God and the reality of evil. Near the beginning of the book, a skeptical reporter tells a naive young evangelical Christian:

“Belief is a virus, and once it gets into you, its first order of business is to preserve itself, and the way it preserves itself is to keep you from having any doubts, and the way it keeps you from doubting is to blind you to the way things really are. Evidence contrary to the belief can be staring you straight in the face, and you won’t see it. No, not stupid. True believers just don’t see things the way they are, because if they did, they wouldn’t be true believers any more.”

The easy way to answer this objection to Christian faith is to say that not all beliefs are equal and that believing in truth is different from believing in a lie. However, what’s harder to do is to admit that there is some truth in the reporter’s words as they apply to Christian believers. I was in a Bible study last Wednesday night, and we were discussing why bad things happen to Christian people (not good people, there are no good people). I could only conclude that I often do not understand why God allows bad things to happen. However, I still believe He is in control because I settled that question a long time ago. One of my favorite Bible verses is Job’s statement of faith: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” (Job 13:15a) Another is Peter’s statement in response to Jesus: “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:67-68)

I know enough to believe that I have no choice but to believe. Where else can I go? What other belief even begins to make sense? Even when I don’t understand God’s ways, even when evil seems to be triumphant, I have already made the choice to follow Christ, the choice to trust Him. I don’t ignore evidence that contradicts my belief in a powerful and loving God; I simply know that such evidence is not the whole story. Jesus’s life and death and resurrection are evidence that God does care, that He does understand our suffering, and that He is powerful enough to defeat death and evil in the end.

I’ll have more to say about this book in another post. Caputo has written an excellent story with complex characters, some of whom are evangelical Christians. And he gets the portrayals of Christians and Christian theology right most of the time–with some notable exceptions. This novel of relief workers, Sudanese rebels, gun-running pilots, and Arab Muslim raiders is filled with questions that deserve thoughtful answers or at least careful exploration. I would recommend the book to anyone who is interested in thinking about the complex interaction of good and evil within the human heart, with one caveat: the novel is explicit in its descriptions of both violence and sex. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Picture Book Preschool

Jun19

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase an updated, downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

WEEK 25 (June) ASIA
Character Trait: Appreciating Others’ Differences
Bible Verse: (Jesus said) This is my command: Love each other. John 15:17

1. Haskins, James. Count Your Way Through China. Carolrhoda, 1987.
2. Say, Allen. The Bicycle Man. HoughtonMifflin, 1982.
3. Yashima, Taro. Crow Boy. Viking, 1955.
4. Mosel, Arlene. Tikki Tikki Tembo. Holt, 1968.
5. Bishop, Claire. The Five Chinese Brothers. Coward, 1938.
6. Lobel, Arnold. Ming Lo Moves the Mountain. Greenwillow, 1982.
7. Flack, Marjorie. The Story About Ping. Viking, 1933.

Discuss: How do people live differently in Asia than in the U.S.? How should we treat people who seem different from us?
Activities: James Haskins also wrote Count Your Way Through Japan and Count Your Way Through Korea (same publisher). Read these if you have time and compare the countries. Which one would you rather live in?

Born June 19th

Jun19

Blaise Pascal, b. 1623 In 1656, while he was still in his early thirties, Pascal began collecting material for a book, Apology for the Christian Religion. H wrote down his thoughts “upon the first scrap paper that came to hand . . . a few words and very often parts of words only.” These fragments of thought became, after his death at age 39, the Pensees, edited by a group of monks who shared his Catholic faith. Some pensees:

“Jesus Christ is a God whom we approach without pride and before whom we humble ourselves without despair.”

“There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who believe themselves sinners; the rest, sinners, who believe themselves righteous.”

“Misery induces despair, pride induces presumption. The Incarnation shows man the greatness of his misery by the greatness of the remedy which he required.”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Prince of Preachers, b. 1834.

Every Sunday evening Mrs. Spurgeon was accustomed to gather the children around the table, and as they read the Scripture, she would explain it to them verse by verse. Then she prayed, and her son declares that some of the words of her prayers her children never forgot. Once she said, “Now, Lord, if my children go on in their sins, it will not be from ignorance they perish, and my soul must bear swift witness against them at the day of judgement if they lay not hold of Christ.” That was not at all in the modern vein, but it was the arrow that reached the boy’s soul. “The thought of a mother bearing swift witness against me pierced my conscience and stirred my heart.” There was enough in him to cause his mother anxiety. His father recalled that his wife once said to him, speaking of their eldest son, “What a mercy that boy was converted when he was young.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon: A Biography by W.Y. Fullerton

I would that my children had a mother like Susannah Wesley or Elizabeth Spurgeon, but God has given them me, and my prayers, poor and inconsistent as they are, must be enough. Finally, of course, it is God’s mercy and grace that must suffice.

10 Most Helpful Fiction Books of the Last Two Centuries

Jun18

My response to the Human Events article listing the 10 Most Dangerous Books of the Last Two Centuries is this list. I wrote a few days ago that there was no fiction on the Human Events list. This list is not definitive; it’s just my opinion. You’re welcome to comment and replace my picks with yours, but remember these are not the BEST books of the last two centuries, although most of them are very well-written, and they’re not the most influential books, but only those fiction books that have had the most influence for GOOD.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (b. June 14, 1811). When Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe, he was supposed to have said, “So you’re the little woman who started this great war!” I guess someone could say that Mrs. Stowe caused a lot of harm with her story of Southern slavery, but she also gave people a picture of the horrors of slavery and made them care.

David Copperfield by Charles DIckens. Dickens magnified the problems of child labor and debtor’s prison and encouraged reformers to outlaw both of these institutions.

The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. What Harriet Beecher Stowe did to expose slavery, Solzhenitsyn did to expose Stalin’s gulags.

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Lewis talks about temptation, sin, and the Christian life in the form of letters from a junior devil to his superior.

Nineteen Eighty-four by George Orwell. Orwell taught us to see the dangers of totalitarianism in the form of futuristic fiction.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. Neither Hercule Poirot nor Jane Marple approves of murder, and although they may understand the murderer’s reasons for his actions, they nevertheless eschew moral ambiguity. Because so many people have read Dame Agatha’s stories, she’s been quite helpful in maintaining some sort of moral standard in Western culture.

Lord of the Flies by WIlliam Golding. This one, too, has been widely read, and it’s helpful in showing the depravity of unrestrained, unregenerated human nature.

Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. Didn’t this book, more than any other, illustrate the evils of apartheid and the possibilities of redemptive love to change both whites and blacks in South Africa and elsewhere?

The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. I think this book gave many people, Christian and nonChristian, permission to imagine and dream and try to create a back-to-nature kind of community.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Published in 1960, this book may have been part of what made the Civil Rights Movement successful. How could anyone continue to condone the kind of injustice that is illustrated by Scout’s story of prejudice in a small Southern town?

Any other nominations?

Love, Twue Love

Jun16

Love means not ever having to say you’re sorry.

Author Erich Segal was born on June 16, 1937.

Ah, nostalgia! Who else remembers the days when Ali McGraw and Ryan O’Neal were the icons of Hollywood’s cult of romantic love? If one could just find a love like the love in Love Story, it would be possible to live happily ever after.

Author Lars Walker on America’s National Religion of Romantic Love. Although I am very happily married, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

“Everyone who has come near to salvation in the religion of Romantic Love discovers that he is not in fact among the Elect. That Beloved who seemed to be all he could dream of turns out to be less than anticipated (even in good marriages). The changes in himself that the lover expected to see don’t all appear either. He finds himself in the end one-half of an ordinary couple, neither especially beautiful nor especially romantic nor any longer young. And in the end there’s death for all involved.”

I don’t want to spoil a good movie, but Love Story doesn’t provide salvation for any of its characters either. Oh, and love means asking for and accepting forgiveness many, many times over the course of a lifetime.

Movie Trivia Quiz: What post-Love Story movie includes this conversation, and who played Howard and Judy?

Judy: Love means never having to say you’re sorry.
Howard: That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard.

Oh, and by the way, Erich Segal said that the character of Oliver Barrett IV was based on Al Gore and his Harvard roomate, Tommy Lee Jones. But Tommy Lee Jones had a small part in the movie, not Al Gore.

Facing East

Jun14

Facing East: A Pilgrim’s Journey into the Mysteries of Orthodoxy by Frederica Mathewes-Green is an account of a year, a very liturgical year, in the life of a convert from Episcopalian high church to Eastern Orthodoxy. I remember Mrs. Mathewes-Green from way back. I believe I used to read and enjoy her writing in Christianity Today before she converted to Orthodoxy, a conversion that took place over ten years ago in 1993. She’s a good, engaging writer.

Mrs. Mathewes-Green begins the book with a preface/disclaimer. First of all, she says, she’s no expert on Orthodoxy, not a “church historian, theologian, or liturgical whiz.” Next, she asks forgiveness if in relating her experience in a small Orthodox mission church pastored by her husband, Gary, she has made the Orthodox church as a whole seem less than majestic and dignified and holy. In other words, she wants the book to be read as a sort of memoir, a firsthand account of one woman’s journey into the Orthodox faith, not as an authoritative guide to all you ever wanted to know about the theology and practice of the Eastern Orthodox church. As such a personal account of the world of Orthodoxy, the book is quite successful.

Part of the charm of the book is the author’s honesty and transparency. Mrs. Mathewes-Green admits that it was her husband who was fascinated by Orthodoxy after becoming disillusioned with the increasing apostasy he saw in the Episcopal church. She remembers thinking during an Orthodox service about her feet which were hurting and wondering “why they had pews if you had to stand up all the time.” (It turns out that many Orthodox churches don’t have pews) Everything about Orthodoxy that was appealing to her husband felt strange and difficult to Mrs. Mathewes-Green. The rest of the book is about how she got “past the bare truth part, the aching feet part, to discover the rich, mystical beauty of Orthodoxy.”

I come from a lot farther away than Episcopalianism to discover what beauty and truth there might be in Orthodoxy. I’m Southern Baptist through and through. So there were some obstacles for me in reading about this journey that were mere bumps in the path for the Mathewes-Green family. I still don’t get the icon thing even though the author explains what an icon is and why icons are so important to Orthodox Christians about as well as it could be explained to a layperson outside the Orthodox tradition. I also doubt that the divide between “cradle O’s” as the author calls them and recent converts is as easy to bridge as it seems in this book, but again this story is just the experience of one small congregation, not meant to be indicative of all Orthodox churches everywhere. Fianlly, I don’t really see the distinction between venerating or honoring the saints and icons and worshipping the Triune God nor why the former practice is necessary or beneficial. I know it’s very Protestant, but I remain something of an iconoclast. (But I still think some of the icons themselves are quite beautiful and highly artistic.)

In the final analysis, the story is what makes the book absolutely fascinating. The personal details that Mrs. Mathewes-Green includes, such as her college daughter’s flirtation with a nose ring and the author’s grumpiness turned into joy on Pascha (Easter) Sunday, are what makes this book such fun to read. I felt as if I were discovering a wonderful and rich Christian tradition that holds many lessons and truths for all of us, though I would find it difficult to participate in many of the rituals that define Orthodoxy. I especially thought I could learn from the disciplines of fasting and feasting that the Orthodox observe, and I am drawn, as is Eldest Daughter, to the celebration of a liturgy and a liturgical year that places Christ at the center of our days and of our holidays.

The author begins and ends the book by inviting the reader to visit an Orthodox church, participate in the ancient liturgy, “come and learn firsthand what Orthodoxy is.” I feel as if I already have made such a visit and come away with much to think about and process and with new ideas about worship and about the holiness and majesty of our God. If you are at all interested in exploring the strengths of other Christian traditions, I highly recommend Facing East as at least a primer on modern Orthodox faith and practice.

Born June 14th

Jun14

Harriet Beecher Stowe, b. 1811. Harriet Beecher was one of eleven brothers and sisters, and she and her husband, professor Calvin Stowe had seven children of their own. In 1852, Harriet published her most famous book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Later, during their retirement years, the Stowes lived across the lawn from another famous author, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). During the time that the Stowe family and the Clemens family were neighbors in Hartford, Connecticutt, Mark Twain wrote his most famous novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Laurence Michael Yep, b. Mr. Yep writes mostly historical fiction for children and young adults. The books are usually set on the West Coast or in Asia and feature Asian or Asian American characters. I’ve read Dragonwings and Dragon’s Gate and enjoyed them very much. Laurence Yep also has a connection with Mark Twain. Two of Yep’s titles are The Mark Twain Murders and The Tom Sawyer Fires.

Picture Book Preschool

Jun13

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase an updated, downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

WEEK 24 (June) FATHERS
Character Trait: Love
Bible Verse: Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Exodus 20:12

1. Zolotow, Charlotte. William’s Doll. Harper and Row, 1972.
2. 2. Minarik, Else Homelund. Father Bear Comes Home. Harper, 1959.
3. Hoban, Russell. Bedtime for Frances. Harper and Row, 1960.
4. Zolotow, Charlotte. The Summer Night. Harper, 1974. OP
5. Keats, Ezra Jack. Peter’s Chair. Harper, 1967.
6. Carlstrom, Nancy White. Does God Know How To Tie Shoes? Eerdmans, 1993.
7. Yolen, Jane. Owl Moon. Philomel, 1987.

Discuss: How do the fathers in these stories show love to their children? How does your daddy show that he loves you? How do you show him that you love him?
Activities: Make a Father’s Day card or gift for your father. Make a list together of ways you can honor your father.
If possible, let your child visit Daddy at work. Talk to him/her about how Daddy loves them and works hard for the food they eat and the clothes they wear.

From a Woman’s Point of View

Jun13

Dorothy L. Sayers, (b. June 13, 1893) “I always have a quotation for everything – it saves original thinking.”
Dorothy Sayers quotations.
Jill Paton Walsh and Dorothy Sayers
Top Ten Mystery Writers
Biographical Sketch of Dorothy L. Sayers with a list of her published writings.

I like Dorothy Sayers. She was something of a character. She was one of the first women to graduate from Oxford with a degree in Medieval and Modern languages. She had an illegitimate son, Anthony, when she was thirty years old, and although she felt she could not raise him herself, she entrusted him to the care of a cousin and supported him financially and by writing him letters. She later married a war hero, Arthur Fleming, who was in poor health, and she took care of him until his death. She taught herself old Italian and translated Dante’s Divine Comedy She also translated Song of Roland from the French..

“The only Christian work is good work, well done”

“I am occasionally desired by congenital imbeciles and the editors of magazines to say something about the writing of detective fiction “from the woman’s point of view.” To such demands, one can only say, “Go away and don’t be silly. You might as well ask what is the female angle on an equilateral triangle.”

Dorothy Sayers was first of all a Christian, secondly a writer and a scholar, and her identity as a woman came in a distant third–or later.

Two Books

Jun12

I stayed up late last night reading Cut and Run by Ridley Pearson, the same author who collaborated with Dave Barry to write Peter and the Starcatchers, a prequel to Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. I don’t recommend Cut and Run; it’s an absorbing thriller about a heroine in the witness protection program running from a Mafia family hit man. However, it’s predictably bloody, and the descriptions of violent perversion are unnecessary and unpalatable. Why do modern-day writers feel that they must describe everything in such nasty, graphic detail?

The other book I finished yesterday erred, if it did err, in the other direction. Testimonies was Patrick O’Brian’s first novel, published in 1952. O’Brian is the author of the series of Aubrey-Maturin seafaring novels. Testimonies takes places on land, in Wales, and although the plot turns on a particular instance of sexual perversion committted by a man against his wife, the description is suitably vague. The wife testifies in such a way as to confuse the most careful reader, and the novel’s ending and the purpose and setting of the testimonies that make up the bulk of the novel are all rather confusing, too. The story begins:

“Mr. Pugh, I came to ask you some questions about your life in Cwm Bugail and about Mrs. Vaughan of Gelli, Bronwen Vaughan. But now I think it would be better if you were to let me have a written account.”

It’s not ever clear to me who is doing the questioning nor what the purpose of the written testimony is. Later on Bronwen tells her part of the story:

“Bronwen folded her hands and prepared to answer the questions. Her heart was beating high, quick strokes, but her hands lay calm and folded.”

Again I never did figure out who was doing the asking nor why whoever it was felt a need to ask for testimony. Nevertheless, when it comes to telling how the characters felt about one another and how their relationships changed and fell into tragedy, the author describes these aspects of the story in exquisite detail. The story tells of each nuance of emotion, decision, and indecision using subtle and beautiful language. Unfortunately, subtlety was the novel’s strength and its weakness. The ending eluded my understanding, and I don’t think an explanation from another reader would be very satisfying. Maybe I’ll be satisfied to wonder what really happened. If you can live with ambiguity, you may enjoy this rather mysterious tragedy.