Top Christmas Book Picks

There are books I return to, because they give me new gifts every time I open them. Sometimes these books give me old gifts too, and that is good, because I delight to relive the wonder or joy, the philosophy or challenge.

When I consider these again-and-again books, I realize that although I've taken certain things from them, they also promise to give general gifts to their readers. Perhaps some of these gifts are the kind you might want to put on your wish list or share with someone else this Christmas...


The gift of writing-freedom

The Soul Tells A Story: Engaging Creativity With Spirituality In The Writing Life and The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life. Does writing call you? Are you answering that call? What gets in the way? What might move you forward? Here are my two favorite books that offer writing-freedom, not just anecdote or advice.


The gift of spiritual rejuvenation

Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation. Are you tired, maybe disillusioned, or in search of deeper direction in your spiritual life? This gentle book is worth reading once a year.


The gift of reassurance for mothers

Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God: Encouragement to Refresh Your Soul. This is my standard baby-shower gift, or anytime gift for mothers who could use wisdom, solace and a dose of light humor.


The gift of reconciliation (denominational and ethnic respectively)

The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus and Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical's Inside View of White Christianity. Both of these books give a new twist on subjects we think we already know about. And they pave the way for reconciliation. The latter might even bring you to tears, it's so honest and beautifully written.


The gift of forgiveness

Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places. I used to think this was a book about grace. And it is, in its way. But somewhere along the line, I realized that many people were finding a particular kind of grace in its pages: forgiveness. One woman wrote to tell me that she'd been told to forgive for a long, long time... through friends, sermons, religious books, and nothing had ever made it possible. Until she read Stone Crossings. This sentiment has been echoed elsewhere, including in Glynn Young's precious revelation of how the book helped him forgive his father.


The gift of a poignant story

The Summer Book is a gorgeous telling of the relationship between a young girl and her grandmother, both coming to life and facing endings in their own ways. Kristin Lavransdatter changed the way I write. Undset's choice of details is often simple, yet conveys powerful emotions of love and loss. The Things They Carried was one of those books that took me by surprise. I don't ordinarily prefer war stories, but this one gets to the heart of humanity in amazing ways. It also makes you think about the nature of truth and story.


The gift of poetry

How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry and Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words. As children, we are naturally drawn to poetry. Yet many of us lose our love of it along the way. Both of these books will help you find the joy and necessity of poetry again, the first lyrically so and the second creatively so.


The gift of better blogging

Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers. This is one of my all-time favorite books on how to navigate the blogsophere and grow an audience. Every blogger should read it at least once.


The gift of thoughtful morning devotions

Celtic Devotions: A Guide to Morning and Evening Prayer. Simple yet deep, this is a beautiful book. The prayers are like poetry (which makes sense, because many are taken from Celtic song).


The gift of smart humor

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. This one is hilarious and gives a fun perspective on our Old Testament roots. It's worth buying the book just for the description of how he tries to live the Proverb "slow to anger" while at Mail Boxes, Etc. (Do remember that this is a book written by an agnostic. I probably don't need to say that, but I didn't want anyone to be surprised when the author admits to believing or not believing in things that various kinds of Christians might hold dear.)


The gift of simplicity

Not So Fast: Slow-Down Solutions for Frenzied Families. This good-humored book will make you smile while giving you practical ways to simplify your life and dig deep into family relationships.


The gift of art

A Profound Weakness: Christians & Kitsch is a bit expensive, but if you can afford the price tag it's full of excellent art philosophy. And the pictures are gorgeous (all the more amazing because she has photographed kitsch in unusual, beautiful ways.)

Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art, and Culture will give you new ways to think about art and faith. The essays have a great balance of both the personal and philosophical.

What gift do you want to give someone this year? Maybe you can find it in this little Christmas list.


Stone Crossings Christmas photo, by L.L. Barkat.

Remembering Real

At last, the day.

The Real Mary goes to # 21, Anonymous, signed "Grace and Peace." Congratulations! Please contact me by Monday, October 12, 6:00 pm. EST, with your name and address and I'll send along your copy. And if you like, you've also won the chance to guest-post on Beliefnet, to share your thoughts about the book.

[UPDATE: Alli from SC is the new winner of the giveaway, as Anonymous has let the deadline for contacting pass. Thanks, Anonymous, for your gracious comment. And congratulations, Alli! :) Please contact me by Wednesday at 6:00 pm EST.]

Since today is poetry Friday, I'm also offering... a poem! In answer to our The Real... prompt at High Calling Blogs...


"Page 5"

The menu
says strawberry
shortcake

with whipped cream

but here's the deal:
I remember what's real,
my mother's child-small

hands turning flour

sugar, shortening
the "size of a big egg"
so the old recipe

instructed, I remember

sun-kissed fields of
furrows, hills my
grandmother's rough

patched, yet painted

hands turned and raised
for strawberries blushed
and bleeding real juice

not perfumed water

that pretends ripeness
cut and strewn over too-
sweet cake. I remember

cream, real, whipped.

_________

A special thank you again to everyone who posted about and linked to/tweeted/or Facebooked the giveaway. You made it a Grand Celebration. And thanks to Scot McKnight for writing a fine book.

POETRY FRIDAY:
High Calling Blogs Real Business Men Read Poetry
Monica’s Attracting His Gaze
Laura’s Fast
Bonnie’s The Bloom of Becoming
Maureen’s The Real Me
Glynn’s The Real Poet
A Simple Country Girl’s Little Things
Kelly’s Real Time
Claire’s This Concept of Real
Monica’s The Real Paul
Tweetspeak’s Poems of the Ruby Moon
Fred's Cooking 1 and Cooking 2
Deb's Mothers, Mary and Obedience

The Real Mary photo, by L.L. Barkat.

Did I Really Pray That?

"Hail Mary, full of grace..."

It was one of my first responses. And it surprised me.

I'd just experienced some ungracious treatment. Surprising. Baffling. Seemingly designed to hurt. And this was what came to mind.

The words are part of a Catholic prayer. But as far as I could tell I wasn't praying. Not to Mary, so it seemed. This felt more like the kind of supplication I'd written about in God in the Yard. An inchoate longing. Oh, to be full of grace, like Mary long ago.

The ache was so keen it brought to memory a beloved book... Scot McKnight's The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus.

In this book, McKnight asks, "What kind of woman would sing a song [a poem!] like this?"

His answer is a steady look into the face of Mary. McKnight gently reminds us that while this woman had her foibles, she was full of grace. And I can tell you, that's just what I needed to hear. I sought to respond to this message in gratitude.

Most of you know I'm not a big promoter of books. I only share what I like. I only speak to you what speaks to me. Today, I want to go one step further and give what gave...

Simply comment below by 6:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, October 8, and if your number is picked by the Random Generator (no worries, it doesn't hurt), I'll send you a copy of The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus. And know that if you are here reading this today, you have my prayers to be full of grace.


"Grace Revisited" art, Mineral Pigments and Gold on Kumohada Paper, (c) copyright Makoto Fujimura, 2002. Used with permission from Makoto Fujimura. Also available as Grace Note Cards at the International Arts Movement Store.

"Graced" photo taken at Laity Lodge, by L.L. Barkat. (Scot has spoken at Laity Lodge, but he showed up exactly one day after I left. Ah well. For an interview I did with him, that reveals his approach to writing, read Writing the Natural Way.)

____

AND YOU?

Would you like to share your own thoughts on Mary and grace, parenthood or friendship and grace, or just... grace? Post a poem or story and drop your link info here. I'll give links to All at the bottom of this post. For now, I await your grace...



YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
TUC's If Jesus Were My Son
Amber's On the Mother of God
Jim's Grace in the Streets
Glynn's May it Be to Me
Kelly's this grace
Joan's There's Something About Mary (Joan is offering the winner a GUEST POSTING opportunity on BELIEFNET.)
Laura's Giving it All Away. (And, in celebration of a brave teen, she's giving away 2 copies of her book Brody's Story)
Monica's Attracting His Gaze
Marcus's Hail Mary, Full of Grace and Controversy
HighCallingBlogs Turning Point Poetry
Cindy's The Mary Beyond, Human, But More
Jessica's Resounding
nAncY's home again
Heather's Forever Grateful
Ann's Grace to Please the Lord
Maureen's poem The Etymology of Mary
Glynn's He Had to Be
Jennifer's Dangerous Love: A Sword to the Soul
Bonnie's Do You Enjoy Fear Gazing
Jubilee Conference's Motherhood, Vocation, and a Free Book
Bradley's [challenging] Something About Mary
Tina's Amazing Grace
Kim's Entering the Story
Glynn's final of the triptych You Son, Now
Deb's Mothers, Mary and Obedience

Is it Safe to Come Out and Sing?

Life as jazz. Sweet improvisation. Singing one’s song for the world. Such thoughts should inspire, but ironically this chapter in Make the Impossible Possible made me tire of Strickland’s hopeful refrain.

True, he warns that 'choices we make are incredibly risky. They could lead to surprising and sometimes disastrous consequences.' And he reminds, 'when a jazz artist launches on a solo, he takes a frightening leap of faith. Every note, every phrase, every bit of color and texture he or she brings to the music is a risk that could backfire and make the player look like a fool. He could play himself into a corner. Worse, he could play himself out and find he had nothing to say.' But he concludes we can still achieve the impossible if we 'risk ourselves, our time, our careers for what we believe…' (p105)

In a world with all things being equal, this should hold true. And because Strickland comes from a world where all things were not equal, he should be a convincing voice (which, at some level, he certainly is).

But what if the world isn’t ready for our song? I consider a conversation that began over at Scot McKnight’s blog. I asked one of the participants to tell me more and let me share her thoughts here. This is what Barb answered, and I wonder what systemic dynamics work against her song.

Says Barb, 'I don’t like women’s bible studies because women’s groups seem to like to read women’s books. Prime authors include: Beth Moore, Joanna Weaver, etc. No men I know have ever read any of these books—even if the topic could be seen as gender neutral.'

She continues, 'The authors of these women’s books presume that women need woman-friendly examples to understand theological truths—that if it can’t be translated into cooking, child-rearing, house cleaning, or getting along with your husband then women just won’t get it. Favorite topics of books for women, by women, usually relate to personal devotion. A woman’s emotional experience trumps her intellectual experience.'

Finally, Barb asks, 'Where are those gifted women who write like Scot Mcknight (just one example)? He can proclaim a profound theological or biblical truth in a visual and conversational way—I’m thinking about ‘blue parakeets’ and ‘water-slides.’ I’m not really interested in what someone writes in her personal journal. I’m interested in how she (using both sides of her gifted brain) connects what she finds in scripture with her faith and her world. And I would love it if she would write about it in a detached enough way so it’s not limited to her gender’s perspective. I know that women are gaining ground in many areas, but when I look at the big stack of books by my chair—none are written by women. Is this a problem? What can we do?'

The song Barb is singing… is there a place in the world where it can be heard? Or do Strickland’s promises fall flat to women who feel this way? (Men, I’m interested in your response to this too. And, to everyone, it probably goes without saying, but I'd like a cordial discussion, since I'm thinking we all have our sensitivities regarding the issues Barb raises.)

Hidden at the Window photo, by Sara. Used with permission.

OTHER BOOK CLUB POSTS:
High Calling Blogs All that Jazz
Erica's Jazz and Balance

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• How Cool is That: Scot McKnight, Atheists and a Renegade Bird (seedlingsinstone.blogspot.com)

No Need to Be Real About Jesus

Sun pours through the car window as I wait. Girls are in piano lessons, playing holiday duets. Christmas is coming and I'm bundled, oblivious to the stress of the season for just this snippet of time, here in the car, in the sun before tomorrow's predicted storm.

Oblivious because I'm immersed in, of all things, the gift I bought myself for Christmas. The Jewish Study Bible. Not light reading for the hectic holidays. But I'm intoxicated.

The person who wrote the introduction is talking about the preeminence of story in Genesis and other parts of Torah. Genesis is not, he reminds me, philosophical proof or confession of faith or theological tract but story. (Hey, Scot, this reminds me of Parakeet too!)

Story is messy. It gets told from different points of view, it seems inconsistent at times, it is not rigid but fluid. It has, as the writer notes a high tolerance for different versions of the same event. I chuckle to myself and think about calling this post Torah 'n Me, because I realize I drive my husband crazy by a similar ancient-Near-Eastern approach to reality (it looks like I'm thinking inconsistently, Dear, but I'm just the Torah type!)

I close my eyes and think about a quote I read in A Profound Weakness...

... images of the birth of Jesus tend to focus on symbolic, formulaic aspects of the event because realism isn't essential in promoting story. Realism puts an event in time and place but doesn't necessarily point to the 'subplot', to the invisible. p.52

On the night before Christmas, we too will put realism aside. We'll think on the sweetness of God not with treatises but by biting into challah bread dipped in honey. We'll raise our makeshift tent (sukkah) and participate in the story of God's people seeking respite (the way the Israelites found respite in God in the desert). Each person will have a chance to sit in the shadows of the tent, smell and taste that bread, which a child will hand them, saying...

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life, and you shall dwell in the house of the LORD your whole life long. Ps 23

And the one who receives the bread will say, Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God. (Ps 31:5)

Each of us will bring our secret and not-so-secret stories to the tent. Knowing me, I'll close my eyes, feel the moment like it is the warmth of the sun shining, regardless of storms. And I'll feel bundled, like a child listening to a story before good night. Before good night and, in this season, before Merry Christmas.

POETRY FRIDAY:
RAP: Ache of Advent by L.L. at High Calling Blogs
Poetry Friday: Oasis at Erica Hale's
Six Christmas Poems at GoodWordEditing


Christ Child watercolor by Salvador Dali. Photo by L.L. Barkat.

How Cool is That: Scot McKnight, Atheists and a Renegade Bird

A long time ago I interviewed Scot McKnight. I learned that he writes books based on burning questions. Soon after, I decided I probably should read one of his books, so I picked up The Jesus Creed and found a kindred spirit. He seemed to love all things Jewish, as do I.

But what probably impressed me more was how down-to-earth he was for a theologian (somebody please cry, 'Biased against theologians!' at this juncture). Now the cool side of Scot has come out full force in The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible.

Let's just say I was a little under the influence when I started the book (What are you thinking?! I was foggy-headed from residual flu syndrome). Yet I still managed to read half the book in about an hour.

That's because, flu or no flu, I could see that Scot had outdone himself in down-to-earthiness, pursuing yet again a burning question (this time one that reminds me of things my atheist friends are always saying, like... 'how come Christians pick and choose what they'll follow from the bible?') Scot turns that question into his main question, which is 'How, then, are we to live out the Bible today?' (sound familiar?)

He asks that question and then he (serious bible-commentary writer that he is) talks about a blue parakeet escapee, uses words like snarky, starts a chapter with a generous discussion of blogging, calls the Bible a set of wiki stories and remarks at one point, 'How cool is that?'

Even in a brain fog, I could see this was, to date, not only one of the most thoughtful books I've come across on how to read the bible but definitely the down-to-earthiest too.

Really, how cool is that?


Photo of Blue Parakeet by L.L. Barkat.


JUST BECAUSE:

Random Acts of Poetry: Prepare Your Mind With Culture and Poetry at High Calling Blogs

Random Acts of Poetry: Morning Comes... at Erica's

I was so pleased to see Sara and her family in the New York Times. How cool is that?

Shadows of Conversion

Antony Flew took 81 years to make up his mind. Or to change it. I'm not sure which. And now he's written a book about how he morphed from the "world's most notorious atheist" to being a God believer. What kind of God does he believe in? I suppose his book talks about that. At the very least, the God he believes in is both subtle and powerful enough to assure life with the perfection of the simple electron. (It is the electron, I hear, that tipped the scales for Flew.)

In my experience, conversion hinges on the most unpredictable of matters. An electron. A song. The weight of biblical prophecy. Maybe even a good night's sleep, or a bad one. In other words, "the moment" can seem to hinge on a small catalyst. But to change one's mind is a big thing, probably involving an almost untraceable series of events and impressions.

I like the way Scot McKnight describes this process, saying, "...conversion is more like the evening soft-shoe dance of the summer shadows across the lawn. It's hard to see, but the shadow is moving, and at some point we see that it has, in fact, covered the lawn....[It] is a series of gentle nods of the soul..." (p.96, The Jesus Creed)

Maybe it is a little like falling in love. Or better yet, maybe it is like figuring out what to do with love once we have fallen. I wish I could be more definitive about this, but I admit that it remains largely a great mystery to me. So that I feel I can only touch the shadows of conversion.


Shadow in the Garden photo, by L.L. Barkat.

Seedlings Invitation: If you write a post related to this post and Link It Back Here, let me know and I'll link to yours.

Unauthorized Advice from Scot McKnight

What follows is unauthorized advice from Scot McKnight... Lifted without guilt from his book The Jesus Creed. (A new personal favorite of mine, by the way, so prepare to receive posts.)

I heisted the advice from chapter 9, which I like to call the "chutzpah chapter" (because McKnight says that the Gospels "clearly show that [Mary] had a significant impact on [Jesus'] teachings," (p.88) ).

Anyway, here it is. McKnight has a whole chapter on Mary. And do you know what he did? Rather than leave her there in the chapter, he moved forward to write a whole book about her. Called The Real Mary. Which officially makes him the mega-chutzpah man (because Mary is not exactly a non-controversial figure in Christendom).

This also officially gives us some very sage advice: we writers needn't necessarily find radically new topics to pursue as we go along. We can just dig deeper into subjects we've already tackled. And maybe pray for a little chutzpah.


Virgin Birth photo, by L.L. Barkat. Corn Husk woman in photo, by Sara.

Seedlings Invitation: If you write a post related to this post and Link It Back Here, let me know and I'll link to yours.