The Shack continued

So last night was book club, discussing The Shack. We were a small group, some people had bowling and others had different conflicts. It was a good discussion, though.

Dan asked whether there were any scenes that people found particularly memorable. His example was the one where the main character is told to be the judge, in a way that God is. He was told, you have 5 kids, choose 2 to go to heaven and 3 to go to hell. After agonizing a while, the main character asks if he could go to hell himself so none of the kids have to.

I mentioned the way that God keeps saying she's "very fond of you." That reminds me of a sermon illustration by John Liu, who described God as a father who took out a wallet and had a huge folding fan out of photos, trailing to the floor, then he takes one, points to it and says, "This is my son, John. I love him so much." I like illustrations of how much God loves me, and us.

Another comment someone made was that they liked the way the Holy Spirit was an actual person. Often you picture the Holy Spirit as something different than a person. We had a brief discussion about the fact that God the Father was portrayed as a woman, and we all thought it "worked".

We ended up not yet choosing a date or our next book. We'll do that via email.

The Shack by William Paul Young

This is our next book club choice. I haven't started it yet. I wanted to wait until the meeting was a little closer, so I have it fresh in my mind. I don't think anyone in the group has actually read it yet but some were planning to because it's being talked about quite a bit right now.

Here's what my brother Joel said about our choice: "I think your group will like "The Shack," Mavis. I read it and I've talked about it with quite a few people. It's not top flight theology, though it's not a disaster either. And as literature it's pretty pedestrian. The power comes in a reconciliation theme in a chapter called "Festival of Friends." The book seems very helpful for people from broken or abusive backgrounds. At synod, I met a pastor who works with 20 somethings in Tucson. He gives out "The Shack" by the boxful. "

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

I purchased this book while visiting our family up in Lynden. I like Richard Russo and I think I've read all his novels. This one was still in hardcover and I splurged on it as a treat.

The main character is Lou, it's written in first person with Lou narrating his story. He is in a small town in upstate New York, in which, I believe, all of Russo's novels are set. Russo seems to often have a sort of simple, naive person as the protagonist. As I wrote that it reminded me of Flannery O'Connor and her use of the grotesque. In my first course of English at college, the professor taught for the whole course on Flannery O'Connor - her short stories and then a paper on a novel. I was so sick and tired of the grotesque and those weird stories with such strange people as the heroes or heroines. But even though Russo uses rather simple people for his heroes, I am not sick of his writing. They may be kind of simple but there's a lot to them and their families and friends and others with whom they interract.

To be honest, I've forgotten many of the details of this book. I'm planning to reread it soon. It's a big, thick book and I look forward to reading it through again. I like a big book when it's good. I like getting lots of details and not being left wishing for more. 

Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides

I wasn't sure how much I'd like this book, the one we chose to read after Wit. Sometimes non-fiction is tough for me to get into. I sometimes feel like I am slogging through heavy reading, like when you try to walk in mud and it's hard to lift your feet. I told someone once that "I don't take non-fiction to bed." It often feels like too hard of work for nighttime reading.

I was pleasantly surprised by Blood and Thunder, though. I enjoyed it a lot and had no problem taking it to bed. :) The sub-title is: "The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West." I thought it would be mostly a biography of Kit Carson. It definitely did tell the story of his life, but much more of the book was about the settling of the West including a lot about the Navahos.

I found it really interesting. Hampton Sides, the writer, is good at characterization -- which I would normally only think of in relation to authors of fiction. He made me feel like I was getting to know several of the military characters who fought the Indians, some of the Indians themselves and others involved in settling the West.

Reading about how the Indians were treated as settlers moved in can be a sad story. I was especially saddened at the story of Narbona. He was a leader of the Navahos. The author said that the Navahos didn't really have just one chief, which was a difficulty for the military when they wanted to negotiate settlements. They would always ask for the chief and the Navahos had many clans but no one real chief. However, Narbona came closest to being that. He was close to 90 years old when he died and well known and respected by all the Navahos. He seemed like a very intelligent man who was sad about what was happening to his people but trying to be realistic about the fact that the way the Navahos had been living was going to have to change. 

The book describes several events in Narbona's life. The last one is when he went to a meeting with the Colonel Washington, who was leading an Army expedition into the Navaho country to "chastise them for their constant raids and thefts" but also so get them to sign a peace treaty. At the meeting Narbona and other leaders agreed that they were "lawfully in the jurisdiction of the United States now, and they must respect that jurisdiction," and that "their friends will be the friends of the United States and their enemies the enemies of the Untied States" and they were "willing to be at peace with all the friends of the United States."

At the end of the meeting, the author writes:

"The council broke up to everyone's apparent satisfaction, and for a moment matters between the Navajos and the United States of America seemed hopeful. But then one of the New Mexican militiamen spotted a horse among the Navajo warriors that, he insisted, was his. The militiaman was sure of it, he said. The natives had stolen his horse a few months ago, and now he demanded it back. The Navajos did not dispute that the horse had been stolen, but they indicated that it had passed through so many different hands that it was impossible to ascertain the true owner -- and that, in any case, something like a statute of limitations had taken effect. There was a brief scuffle and charges were shouted back and forth."

Colonel Washington demanded that the Navajo hand over the horse and "the situation had become a tense standoff." The colonel told them they'd be shot if they didn't hand it over. The Navajo with the horse took off for the hills so Washington told the militiaman to pick whatever horse he wanted. As he went to do so, the Indians turned around and galloped away. "At this, Colonel Washington ordered, 'Fire!'"

Afterward there were seven dead Navajos (no U.S. casualties) and one of them was Narbona's. "If their leader's death was not insult enough to the Navajos," the author writes, "then what happened next proved to be the final indignity. A New Mexican souvenir hunter walked up to the old man's corpse, leaned down, and raked a sharp knife across his forehead."

"In his diary, Dick Kern did not suggest that Narbona had done anything to cause the attack, but neither did he express any moral outrage over the incident, which may have been one of the most decisive events in the history of Navajo relations with the U.S. government. But Kern did admit that he was furious wiith himself for not having the presence of mind to secure the head of Narbona for his friend and patron back in Philadelphia, the skull researcher Dr. Samuel George Morton.

"'He was the chief of the Nation, and had been a wise man and great warrior,' he wrote Dr. Morton a year later. 'His frame was immense. I should think his height near 6 ft. 6 in. He was near 90 years old when killed. I very much regret that I had not procured Narbona's cranium, as I think he had the finest head I ever saw on an Indian.'"

After I read that I had to lay the book down and recover. Isn't it incredible that they could think of someone like Narbona in such a non-human way? As if he were an object, like a souvenir you'd pick up on a trip?

And that story also emphasized how one event, or one person, can be so very pivotal in the unfolding events of history. There were several events and people written about in this book that made me think of that. 

I also thought to myself, if we could do the settling of the West over again, knowing what we know now, what would we do? And not just what would we do, but what if we decided we were going to do it right, and treat the Indians fairly? How would we do it? The Navajo clans ranged around a vast area, moving from one part to another. With settlers coming, that kind of living just really wouldn't work out. How would we fairly and kindly get them to completely change their way of life?

When I was telling my dad about this book he said that he was reading one he liked (which I cannot remember what the title was) and one reason he liked it was the author didn't go on and on about how terrible the white people or Christians or Americans were. It is tiring sometimes, to read and hear so much of that. But although the event I wrote about above does seem to be a mighty example of how terrible the U.S. acted,  the book did not have that kind of tenor at all. When I was telling my dad about it I said that, to me, it was more like the author was saying, "Wow, look at how interesting this is."

When we discussed the book at our meeting, all of us who had read it enjoyed it. One member remarked how, even though she majored in American history, she hadn't really known or read much about the Mexican-American war. And another remarked on the fact that he hadn't realized how much the Civil War and the question of slavery was involved in the settling of the West.

Some catch up

So, my experiment of blogging...not going so well. I haven't written since July! No excuse. I've thought of it often but never mustered the energy to sit down and do it. But here I go again.

I'll try to look back and write about what I've read in the interim. I'll do a separate post for each book. I figure when I look back to see what I've written about books it'll be a little easier if I have each book as a blog post title.

W;t

We chose Wit, a play by Margaret Edson, as our next book. It's a very short book, a quick read. Betsy M recommended it. She said it fit the definition for her of a book that is significant.

It reminds us how much is going on inside a person when on the outside you may not see much. In that way it made me think of the book by Joan Didion that I read, The Year of Magical Thinking, which she wrote in the year after her husband's sudden death.

The doctors in this play seem pretty much oblivious to the real "person-ness" of Vivian. They see her more as just a patient, something they're treating and watching for results. Sometimes they don't even look at her when they come in, just her chart or just the other doctors or nurses in the room.

In one scene, Vivian starts to ask a doctor if he'll be sorry when she dies, then changes it to ask more generally does he ever miss people. He says he tells people that he will and some are persuaded. Then when Vivian asks what he says when a patient is afraid or apprehensive he is so clueless he says, "Of who?" When she tells him never mind he starts to quiz her with questions you ask someone to test if they're confused - who's the president and that kind of thing.

There's a nurse in the play who is very caring, and a professor who taught Vivian (Vivian is a professor herself) who visits and is very kind, too.

The book has references to "wit" that I'm sure would be more meaningful if I knew Dante's work. In fact I'm sure the whole play would be more meaningful if I knew Dante. I'm hoping some of the other members will clue us into what I've missed.

How the discussion of Infidel went

So we had a good discussion of Infidel. We talked quite a bit about the Netherlands and how they do things. It's quite amazing the way the Dutch gave money and shelter to the immigrants. It's a very generous policy but hard to imagine being able to continue.

Ann M and Gert B are both Dutch immigrants themselves, or first generation, and had quite a bit to say about Holland. Some of their relatives seem to feel a little besieged by the new immigrants. They also talked about how the Dutch don't have a mechanism for assimilation. As we talked more about what that meant, the perception I got is that the Dutch tend to stay within their own circles and don't bring in newcomers, so the immigrants tend to form their own circles and they don't become Dutch in the way that immigrants to the US tend to become American. Ann said her relatives are amazed at how much we in our church visit each other and talk with each other; that's not done over there. They also brought up that there is more of a class society in Holland.

We talked a while about the way Islam is different from other religions in that it seems like their goal is to make everyone become Islam or those people are infidels, while other religions do try to convert people but they don't consider non-believers infidels in the way that Islam, especially Islam extremists, do. Someone said they heard that Ayaan is writing another book exploring the way Islam could be "done" without going to the extreme, and how that would look. Sounds like it might be interesting to read.

One thing we didn't seem to be able to come to a conclusion about is, so what do we do? We all agreed that Ayaan seems to be saying, "Wake up!" and that we're being naive about the Islamic religion and what the Islamic people want. But if we agree that, yes, we do seem to be naive about that, and, yes, we need to realize that their goals are frightening goals and threaten our safety, but then what? What should we do? Should we change the way we handle immigration? Is that some way to make sure people assimilate? Is there a way to ensure that people who come to our country conform to some basic practices and beliefs?

I read them what Joel had written about a "cut flower" society. I think there's a lot to think about in that but it didn't get much response. We also had the questions Dad sent and might have touched on them a little bit but I think there's actually a lot more that we could talk about in this book.

Betsy M voiced a feeling I had, too, which was it made her feel like she needed to figure out how she could help all the women living the life that the author described. I felt like that, too. How can I help to prevent others from being circumcised in that way, or forced into marriages, or treated so badly? They said the author's website has a way to donate towards her own security expenses. Here in the US she has to pay for her own bodyguards and security so you can donate towards that.

She is a brave woman to say what she says. Someone at the book club said they'd heard her give a talk called, "Let's say what it is" where she said straight out things about the issues being the Islam beliefs.

It was a good discussion but I wish we could have more!

Some discussion questions & comments about Infidel

My dad's bookclub read Infidel and he sent me the questions they discussed:

1. Are all Christian women freed from this ill treatment?

2. Are there any connecting/contact points between Christianity and Islam?

3. How does Islam’s doctrine about the Quran preclude any easy modification or modernization of Islam?

4. Does this presentation of Islam have any impact on our view of the war in Iraq or our war against Al Qaeda? Is a “conversation” with a Muslim country’s leaders possible or advisable according to Ayaan Hirsi Ali ?

5. How would we compare the sexual morality of the Dutch with that of Islam? How about the US view of sexual morality? Christian morality?

6. What do you think of the Dutch idea and practice of tolerance? How tolerant should or can a people or nation be? Can tolerance (Dutch) and intolerance (Muslims in Holland) co-exist? Church?

7. How much should we “fear” Islam?

8. What can or must we as Christians, as individuals or a church or a nation, do in this struggle with Islam? Are we morally responsible to do something/anything about these obviously immoral practices of Islam? Is missionary work a possibility in Muslim countries? Cp. Fr. Vincenso

I asked him what the reference "Cp. Fr. Vincenso" was and he sent this reply:

Fr. Vicenza Succi was our auxiliary priest in Izmir. He was a Franciscan priest, spoke 6 languages, had been in Turkey for 20 or more years, a simply wonderful person. His church was St Anthony’s. St. Anthony of Padua is the patron saint of the lost, poor, etc. Fr. did work with the Muslim Turks, provided them food and clothing. However, I do not think he had a single convert in his church. His parishioners were all people of European extraction who worked or just lived in Izmir. A Muslim once threw an axe at him as he came out of his house. We had two young Muslim women convert to Christian by way of our services in the Cathedral. Both were baptized in the Aegean Sea. I think I wrote a little about her in my book. Still, any attempt to convert Muslims to Christianity is very difficult and can be dangerous. I often think of Fr. Vicenza. Whenever we met, he always kissed three times, and the same when he said goodbye. I’ll never forget him.

My brother Joel also made this comment:

Good questions from dad re: "The Infidel."I believe contemporary Islam challenges people in the pluralistic western nations to realize that unless they recognize the religious roots of their society, they have no rational basis to defend their society. They may still choose to defend a "cut flower"* society on the basis of personal preference, but that's not the same thing as having a rational basis to believe that you live in a just society that is worth defending and developing. I believe Benedict XVI is trying to call Europe and the western world to recognize the Christian roots of the western world, which is the dominant social force in globalization. And in our own small ways we can live with integrity and pray for peace.

All good things to think about for our discussion.

*I had to look up "cut flower" and it appears to mean a society or country which was founded on certain beliefs but no longer is grounded in those beliefs -- so it's "cut" from its roots.

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

What an amazing story this is. I wasn't sure I wanted to read this book. I may not have if we hadn't chosen it as our book club selection.

This is a memoir of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's life growing up in a Muslim family in Africa, then escaping to the Netherlands and then moving to the U.S.

One thing in this book that I think I will never forget is the description of her circumcision. I had heard of female circumcision before but never really allowed myself to think of the details. How horrific it is. Three women held her down, "Then the scissors went down between my legs and the man cut off my inner labia and clitoris. I heard it, like a butcher snipping the fat off a piece of meat. A piercing pain shot up between my legs, indescribable, and I howled. Then came the sewing: the long, blunt needle clumsily pushed into my bleeding outer labia,..." She was 5 years old. And her grandmother held her down and comforted her while it was being done to both her and her sister, only 4. It's almost unbearable to think about. And it still happens.

Another thought I have after reading this book is to wonder why some people are born with the spirit and mind to escape this kind of upbringing, or any kind of hard upbringing. Why did Ayaan question the statements the adults in her life were making? Why did she decide to run away rather than go along with the inevitable? Within her is some kind of spirit that so many others in the same situation either do not have or do not act on.

I feel bad that Ayaan now believes in no God, no religion at all. She tried to be a devout Muslim. She reminded me of the soldier who worshiped the wrong god in Narnia. She believed Allah was good and loving and tried to be good and loving herself as a response. I feel sorry that she has no belief now, when she could have God's love and strength. I can absolutely see why she would give up the whole idea of God or religion. I just wish she could find the love of God somehow. Like when the soldier found Aslan after going through the door, I wish Ayaan could find that all along God has been loving her and holding her in His arms.

It is also amazing to me how much she loves her mother and father and others in her life who were so much a cause of the many bad things that happened in her life. In the introduction, Christopher Hitchens asked her about this. "Her response was twofold. First, she said, she felt on balance fortunate. She was, after all, alive to tell the tale. Second, she had seen what anger had done to her mother, a woman 'imprisoned' in resentment at the many ways that life had maltreated her." I think that beyond this, her attitude toward her mother and others shows the great power of love. Even when she tells about how her mother beat her or said terribly hurtful things to her, Ayaan finds reasons, or you might call them excuses, for what her mother does. She may say that her mother was acting out in anger for wrongs done to her or even more astonishing to me she might even say that her mother was acting out of love, just a misguided way of doing it. How powerful the love of a child for her parents.

This book also raises the question of how we should coexist with Muslims. We all try to be accepting and politically correct about it, to allow them to have their beliefs without condemning them for them. But there are some things that it seems obvious we should not allow. Something like female circumcision is most likely a fairly "easy" one. But arranged marriages is trickier. Even things like allowing the wearing of the hajib is difficult.

A phrase like "the power of story" can seem trivial and meaningless but in this story I think it takes on meaning. There is power in Ayaan Hirsi Ali's story -- the power to make us think about how we should act towards others, what we should do about awful things that are happening in the world, even how we can live as a Christian in a way that shows God's love rather than the many ways Christianity can be used to control others' thinking or behavior.

The Time Traveler's Wife

I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I wasn't sure I'd like it but I did like it, very much. It's told from the point of view of two people, Clare, who is the time traveler's wife, and Henry, the time traveler.

It's a love story but there are many twists and turns because of the time traveling. Clare meets Henry when she's only 6 and he is in his 40's. Each section begins with a date and the ages of the two characters. Then one or the other will speak. It sounds weird and science-fiction-y but it's not, really. I thought it was a really good story, well written, a page-turner in a way.

I'm reading The History of Love by Nicole Krauss for my other book club. It's pretty good so far. I started it as I began a plane trip to Michigan, then I stopped reading that and started reading The Time Traveler's Wife because that is a big, heavy book I hadn't wanted to carry with me on the plane. Now I'm having a bit of a hard time getting back into The History of Love. I may have to go back and re-read to figure out what's going on.

Been a while

I finished The Reason for God today and I changed my mind about it. As I kept going, I grew to like what the author was saying more and more. I plan to re-read this one.

The book club meeting went well. Steve made a good comment about Owen Meany, I thought. He doesn't read much fiction and he said he was having kind of a hard time reading the book. He kept waiting for more to happen. But once he finished he said that he thought a big theme of this book is that everything you do matters. You may not ever have something as dramatic happen as Owen did, but still what you do matters and you never know how it will.

We chose Infidel for the next book, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I read and watched some of the stuff on the web about it. Looks like it'll be very interesting and a good one to discuss.

Not Owen Meany

OK, so I feel like blogging but I have nothing left to say about Owen Meany right now. Our meeting is tomorrow. Maybe I'll have more to say after that.

For now, I'll write about some of my other reading. I took a trip to the used bookstore. Actually I went there thinking I'd find Owen Meany. That wasn't there, but a lot more was!

I picked up Marrying the Mistress by Joanna Trollope. She's a "member of the same family as novelist Anthony Trollope", according to the back cover, and I've read quite a few of her other books. I enjoy them. I think we read one of them in my other bookclub. If not, I know her name came up and Jan S., one of the members, did not like her, or at least not the book we were discussing at that point.

Anyway, I thought Marrying the Mistress was a good read. A man in his sixties, who was married for many years, had a 7 year affair with a much younger woman and finally decides to marry her. Of course the wife is extremely upset and so is his older son (he has two sons). This son already has a kind of strange relationship with his mother in that his mother relies heavily on him. The husband was extremely busy and not home much and the mother started depending on her older son instead. Now when the marriage breaks up, that dependency intensifies.

I like the way you get to know each of the characters so well. It's not actually told from the point of view from each of the characters but you're sort of "in the head" of each of them. It seemed very believable to me, and it was interesting to watch the developing emotions and thought changes as things progressed.

I also read a collection of short stories edited and introduced by David Sedaris called Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules. He said he named it that because he saw a work of art with that title and thought it was a fitting one for this collection -- he feels like a child in front of all these "Herculean" writers. Sometimes I don't like short stories. They often leave me feeling hungry for more. The short stories by Salinger do that to me, although I absolutely love reading anything more he wrote about the characters in the Glass family. But I want MORE, always.

Anyway, I enjoyed this collection, even the one by Flannery O'Connor. I was absolutely soured on Flannery O'Connor by an English class at Calvin that ENTIRELY her writing -- critiques and essays on her short stories and a term paper on a novel. Oh, I was so sick of "the grotesque". But I guess now that that course is over 30 years behind me I can get over it. :)

One of the stories in the collection I had heard already on my iPod. I listen sometimes to an NPR show where someone from "The New Yorker" magazine interviews a writer and the writer selects a piece of fiction that was at some time published in the magazine, to read and discuss. Every episode I've heard I've really enjoyed.

Another book I read was An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks. He's an interesting writer. It'd be something to do what he does, study people or certain kinds of people and then write in-depth about them and whatever strange neurological problem they're experiencing. This book had "seven paradoxical tales", as the subtitle said. I found the ones about colorblind people especially interesting. My brother Dan was colorblind and my son Luke is, too. Sometimes I think it must be sad not to see all the beautiful colors we're surrounded by. But these "tales" gave some different insights into that.

For one thing, a footnote said that during WWII colorblind spotters were invaluable. They could see people in forests or places where they were trying to camouflage themselves. People who could see color would miss them, but the figures stood out to colorblind people. Randy said they used them in Vietnam, too. So although they miss colors, there are other things that stand out more to them than to us.

There was one story about an artist who suddenly stopped seeing color. It was a really strange thing. He was in a small accident and after that lost his ability to see or even remember color. He was an artist and he used a lot of color in his art so he was just devastated by his loss. He felt suicidal about it. But slowly he started to adjust and even enjoy his new sight. He started living more at night. He would travel to new places and walk or visit them in the nighttime. He said it was like a whole new world to explore. He started painting in black and white and then began experimenting with putting some color into the paintings even though he can't see the color. After 2 or 3 years, I can't remember which, a doctor thought that he might be able to reverse the colorblindness with some surgery and the artist said no. He thought he might go through another terrible time of adjustment and he was content now. Pretty interesting.

Currently I'm reading two books. I don't usually do that but I am this time because one is non-fiction called The Reason for God by Timothy Keller and the other is fiction, The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold. Sometimes I don't feel like reading non-fiction. It doesn't give me that escapism I'm addicted to. So I'm reading The Reason for God during the day and when I feel like a story I read the other.

My brother Joel recommended The Reason for God. The subtitle is "Belief in an Age of Skepticism" and Joel said he's going to do an adult Sunday School class based on it. I often go through periods of doubt. Really, I'm pretty much always struggling with that in my faith. It's sort of like I have this faith but I'm constantly questioning whether it can all really be true. I try to push the questioning out and just believe and most of the time that works just fine. This book has a chapter about many of the "usual" sort of arguments against faith, such as the problem with there being only one true religion, suffering in the world, all that stuff.

What I've read so far has been pretty good. It seems, though, as if much of his response to these things is to flip it around and say that the person positing the argument against faith is himself doing the same thing he argues someone with faith shouldn't do. For example, someone who says religious people shouldn't claim that their religion is the only true religion are themselves claiming that what they are saying is the only truth. I'm not sure that's such a great way to take away the argument. But I plan to keep reading, I'm interested in what he says.

The other book, The Almost Moon, is kind of strange. Alice Sebold wrote The Lovely Bones, which was also very strange. This one starts with "When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily." Pretty gripping first sentence, I'd say! It's written in first person and I like the character so far. It's a woman somewhere in her fifties, I think, with 2 adult daughters, who has been taking care of her mother - although her mother was still living on her own in her own house. After that first sentence it goes back to how she ended up at her mother's house that day and then on to more of her life - her marriage, divorce, childhood and so on.

So, there we are. I'm going to try to keep blogging about my reading, just because I enjoy it, not just the books we're reading for the book club.

Finished Owen Meany

I finished Owen Meany this morning. I liked it -- again. It'll be interesting to hear everyone's comments. I wonder if others will see parallels to the Iraq war. I wonder what else they'll see and talk about.

How could I have forgotten? (spoiler)

Wow, how could I have forgotten? Owen cuts John's finger off!! I barely even remembered that Owen died so I guess it's not that astonishing. But what a detail to forget.

Anyway, I'm still very much enjoying the book. I'm curious how this thing with Owen's dream is going to turn out. Owen just said that John is in the dream. At first I thought that maybe Owen would die in Arizona, but it doesn't look like it. No palm trees, as Owen says.

It's interesting to read what John says about the Viet Nam war and compare that to the Iraq war now. I know some people don't want to draw those parallels but it's pretty hard not to.

At one point Owen says that without the draft no one would care about the Viet Nam war. But here we are without a draft and people do care. But it's true there aren't a bunch of young people leading protests the way they were in the sixties.

I'm enjoying A Prayer for Owen Meany. Some parts are so funny. I'd forgotten that. In one part where Dan Needham comes to the house and meets the family, I laughed out loud. It tells how the adults all go into the living room, which is full of antique furniture "which my grandmother was preserving, for historical reasons, sitting in them was not good for them....and so a guest, his or her knees already bending in the act of sitting down, would suddenly snap to attention as my grandmother shouted, 'Oh, for goodness sake, not there! You can't sit there!'" Dan Needham is tall and has a "sizeable bottom" so even fewer seats were available to him, plus the maid Lydia in a wheelchair blocks the way here and there. It says, "And so the living room was a scene of idiocy and confusion,..." I loved that "idiocy and confusion". It reminded me of some of Barbara Pym's remarks about her character's "wild" thoughts. And the scene where Owen is in the mother's bed and the grandmother comes in, all wet, and Owen screams. That's another one that makes me laugh out loud.

There's a LOT of foreshadowing in this book. If any English teacher ever wanted examples of foreshadowing for their students, they could find one on almost every other page.

I'm enjoying it and knew I had liked it last time I read it. So far I'm not sure why it would be considered something that changes your thoughts. But perhaps that is yet to come.

Been a while since I've blogged. We went on a vacation plus I had to order the next book and just received it.

I picked up one book that was on the "also ran" list from the club, The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. It was pretty good but I don't know yet if it would make my personal significant books list. In the story a woman has twins, a boy and a girl, and the girl is born with Down's Syndrome. Her husband gives away their daughter and tells his wife that the baby died. It changes their relationship forever.

Anyway, our next book is A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I thought I owned it because I read it with my other book club, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I ordered it and just got it yesterday. I read the intro. John Irving talks about how much he likes the book's first line. I can't recall it just now and I'm feeling too lazy to get up and get the book. My favorite first line of a book is "Life is difficult", from The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck. That book would probably make my significant book list.

I don't know why I thought of this now but I remembered another book, Shantung Compound by Langdon Bilkey, that would probably make my list, too. That would make my mother happy. She recommended that book to all of us. In fact, I think she bought the book for us. It's been a long time since I've read it but I think I'll read it again soon.

Well, not much on our chosen book but I don't actually remember many details at all about A Prayer for Owen Meany. I just remember I liked it. I'm looking forward to reading it again.

The first meeting

Well, our first meeting happened this weekend and it was terrific! I should have taken some notes to remember some of the things we discussed. Next time.

The discussion just flowed. I started out by talking about logistics type things, such as did we want to meet on Saturday nights, was the time a good time, planning on once a month, deciding the next date at each meeting, and the "agenda" of prayer, then discussing the book, then dessert & coffee which would be the signal to talk about our next book and vote. After that "business" I said, "So, what did you think of the book?" And that was all it took. We talked and talked.

A couple people remarked that The Last Battle was their least favorite of the series, that they thought it seemed a little didactic or that Lewis was trying to tie everything together in a not so good way. I was kind of surprised at first because I think it's such a good book. I could see their points, though, as we talked. I guess it's just that there are some passages that are so very meaningful to me, even though what they say may be true.

I had made a bunch of food but no one wanted it! I had said I'd have snacks so everyone ate right before they came. Oops. Not a problem, though, we just had some leftovers. And people did have the dessert and coffee.

We decided to read A Prayer for Owen Meany as our next book. I read that some years ago with my other book club and we all enjoyed it. I don't see it in my library, though, so I'll have to buy it. It was tough to decide. People had lots of good choices.

So, I'll write more when I get started.

Narnia, the movie

I thought I'd talk a little about the Narnia movies. So far it's just been The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but others are coming.


When I first heard that Hollywood was making a movie of The Lord of the Rings I was extremely skeptical. In fact, I said something along the lines of, "Oh, no. They'll ruin it! Now no one will know how great the books are!" And I was wrong. Peter Jackson did a great job.



So, after that, when I heard they were making a movie of the Chronicles. I withheld judgment. It turned out the first movie was quite good. I wish it could have been more true to the book. They took some liberties. But they did seem to stay true to the spirit of the book, pretty much. I enjoyed the movie very much. I wished it could have been longer. I wanted to keep going. So I'm looking forward to the next one.


I like this picture of Aslan with Edmund. I wondered how the movie Aslan would look. They did a good job with that, too. He looked like a lion, not a cartoon. People who know me know I like cows. I've liked them for years. But lately I've been thinking I might start to collect lions the way I do cows, because of Aslan.


This picture of Edmund and Aslan seems like a good depiction of several times in the Chronicles books where characters meet Aslan and feel unworthy or ashamed. Aslan's response is grave, understanding and loving. It makes me feel like I think I'll feel when I face God.

The really memorable stuff

So, I finished the first book and then re-read The Last Battle. Some parts of this book I think of very often.

One part is where the dwarves are in the new world, or at least they're in the other side of the door to the Stable. I wrote about that already earlier. This makes me think of The Screwtape Letters, also by C.S. Lewis. It's been a long time since I've read that but I believe it, too, portrays a kind of "hell" that is a separation from God, not the eternal burning and torture that is so often used.

I know some would consider it heretical, but I just have a hard time thinking that all the people in the world who don't believe in Christ will be tortured and burn in hell for eternity.

Then the other part I often remember I also wrote about earlier, where the soldier serving Tash is accepted by Aslan. Here is a (rather long) quote; the soldier is speaking about his meeting with Aslan in the new world:

But the Glorious One bent down his golden head and touched my forehead with his tongue and said, Son, thou art welcome. But I said, Alas, Lord, I am no son of Thine but the servant of Tash. He answered, Child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me. Then by reason of my great desire for wisdom and understanding, I overcame my fear and questioned the Glorious One and said, Lord, is it then true, as the Ape said, that thou and Tash are one? The Lion growled so that the earth shook (but his wrath was not against me) and said. It is false. Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him, for I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore, if any many swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath's sake, it is by me he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him... I said, Lord, thou knowest how much I understand. But I said also (for the truth constrained me), Yes, I have been seeking Tash all my days. Beloved, said the Glorious One, unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek.

I love that. I love it the thought that God takes for his own those who worship him but don't know it. Who knows if it's right -- how can we know until we get to heaven? -- but I like to think that many people who are worshiping other gods are worshiping the one God but don't know it. There are so many good people who truly believe in their own system of faith, whatever that is, and who serve mankind so well. How can it be that they will all be tortured and in agony for eternity? And thinking this doesn't mean you therefore think that all gods are the same.

Our church council read a book called A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren. McLaren quotes the same passage as I did. Before quoting it he writes:

Imagine that you have just died and passed through the doorway of death. And you enter heaven. And it is a place of intense brightness, a place fragrant with goodness, a place alive with love... [lengthy description of a wonderful, perfect place]. OK, do you have that picture? Think about how you sould feel upon entering that place.

OK. Now I want you to imagine that someone has walked beside you through that doorway of death. And that person has lived his life cramped in hatred and fear, tight in guilt and greed, ingrown in lust and selfishness. He has spent every day of his life complaining and being bitter and blaming others and being ungrateful... an expert at lying and cheating... proud, arrogant, unwilling to admit he is wrong... These aren't just the behaviors he has practiced, these are the features of the person he has become. Now, how would that person feel?

Could it be that the very light that seems beautiful to you would seem blinding to him? Could the very warmth of the love of that place that to is so perfect seem to him horrible? Could the acceptance and love and trust and openness that welcome you seem to him disgusting, weak, terrifying, insipid, or repulsive? Sometimes I wonder if we have it all wrong. Maybe it's not that there are two places beyond the door of death, heaven and hell. Sometimes I wonder if hell is just what heaven feels like for those who haven't learned in this life what this life is intended to teach. I believe with all my heart that God is not willing for even one person to miss out on the joys and glories of heaven. I believe with all my heart if there is any way for individuals to be rescued from their wrong choices in this life, I believe they will be rescued and redeemed...

But, I must tell you, I don't think we are ever in a position to judge others. After all, Jesus said that many who are seen as last here will be first there, and many who are first here will be last there. So I don't think it's our business to prognosticate the eternal destines of anyone else, as a story from C.S. Lewis makes clear.

And he goes on with the passage from the soldier.

There's also Puzzle the donkey, who impersonates Aslan and sins greviously. Even though he's persuaded to do it by the Ape, his actions cause suffering and death for many. On the other side of the door, Puzzle is ashamed of what he's done, and afraid to meet Aslan. When he does meet Aslon, Puzzle is "the very first person whom Aslan called to him", and Aslan whispers to him. We don't know what words he said but you see that Aslan is restored and forgiven. I love that, too. He's forgiven after death.

Re-reading The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe

So I started reading the first book. One passage with the kids and the beavers is a good example of the way Aslan is portrayed as someone you fear yet desire.

"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "...Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good..."
"I'm longing to see him," said Peter, "even if I do feel frightened when it comes to the point."

I like the friendly tone of Lewis' writing, too. I enjoy authors who "talk" to the reader. I suppose it could be done badly but I like it when Lewis does it.

It's interesting that these books and another series I love, The Lord of the Rings, have quite a bit of violence and killing. I just read the part about Peter using his sword for the first time, killing the wolf. In Lewis' science fiction book Perelandra Ransom, the main character, realizes that he has to kill the bad guy (can't remember his name). He fights the bad guy several times and wounds him, but slowly he realizes it will never end unless he actually kills him. I think that might be a reference to killing sin in your life, being dead to your old self.

More re-reading to go.

Chronicles Thoughts

I thought tonight I'd write some thoughts about the Chronicles books before I re-read them for the book club meeting. I forget a LOT; it's one of the reasons re-reading is so enjoyable to me. But since this book club is about memorable books, I decided to write some of the things I remember.

I wrote already in an older blog about the way it helps me to think of Aslan to get the feeling of closeness and friendship combined with the awesome-ness of God. Another memory of Aslan that I like is where Lucy floats on Aslan's breath. I can't remember what book it was in but Aslan gets Lucy to a different place by lifting her with his breath. She is able to lie back and float on the current. I like the imagery -- floating on God's breath the way you float on water, the way you float on God's love, the way God's love supports you, lifts you up, moves you.

I love the lamppost in Chronicles. My friends Luke & Jan Seerveld have a lamppost in their front yard. I'd like to have one in mine someday. It's just cool.

Some of my favorite memories of the Chronicles are the scenes in The Last Battle. I think often of the soldier who worshiped "Tash" (Was that the other god's name? Can't remember that either, pathetic) and Aslan forgave him after he came to the new world. Aslan said something about how the soldier was somehow mistaken in the god he served; he was actually worshiping Aslan.

Another scene from The Last Battle that often comes to my mind is the part where a bunch of people ended up in a circle not seeing the beauty around them, and eating the food in the new world but thinking it tasted like straw or something bad. This is kind of the "hell" they're in, where they're not able to be with Aslan, to enjoy the new world. But they're not gnashing their teeth writhing in fire and brimstone for eternity.

Lots of small thoughts or images come to mind. I love the tender friendship between Tumnus and Lucy. I often wondered what Turkish Delight was and only saw it for the first time around a year ago. It's kind of like a soft jelly bean in a square shape covered with powdered sugar. When we played "freeze tag" when I was a kid it made me think of all the statues in the queen's palace. I like the story of creation in one of the books where for a certain period of time while the earth was new, everything that fell in the ground grew. So some coins grew into a kind of "money tree" with fruit that looked kind of coin-like. I often think of that when I hear the song "Morning Has Broken".

I like the image of going to heaven and meeting a God like Aslan. I know I'll be ashamed of the many things I've done or not done that were wrong but I imagine God seeing my heart, forgiving me and loving me anyway. In the books he sometimes licks a person with his rough tongue. I hate it when a dog licks me but I like the image the way Lewis writes it. And I think in at least one instance Aslan puts his forehead against a character's forehead. That's such a loving gesture. I do it sometimes with my kids.

So, those are some thoughts.

The Significant Books Club Begins!

So, it's been a LONG time since I've blogged. Didn't work out quite so well as I'd hoped. But my sister Jan had a good idea. She suggested I blog about the books I'm doing with my new book club. I decided to do that, and to also just blog about the group itself.

When our church's minister, Brad Smith, said that the church was going to start an effort to begin small groups, I talked to him about the thinking I'd done regarding starting a book club. As I said at the beginning of this blog, I'd been thinking for quite some time that it'd be fun to have a book club where we discussed books that had changed peoples' thinking or maybe even their lives. I asked if that would "count" as a small group. He welcomed the idea and I decided to go for it.

One of the things I'd kind of struggled with, and a reason I'd hesitated to begin the book club, was because I wasn't sure if I should just ask people at church, or perhaps friends, or if I should try to use it as some kind of outreach. Finally, I decided that it was fine to invite the church members as a part of the small group effort and just see how it goes. I hope it'll grow.

I was very happy at the response. 10 people signed up! One more is thinking about it. It's terrific. I'm really looking forward to beginning. I created a Google group for our club (no surprise!) and for lack of anything better I called it "Significant Books Club". I didn't want to call it "Special" and it was too long to call it Books-That-Changed-My-Life-Or-Thinking-Or-At-Least-Challenged-My-Thinking. :)

Our first meeting is scheduled for March 15th. A couple people can't make it but I'm sure we'll still have a good time. If it's a small enough group, we can meet in our library, the great previous bedroom that Randy made into such a beautiful little library.

For our first book, I chose two, the first and last books of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. It'll be fun to hear what others choose as books that have affected them. Can't wait to start!