Hearts & Minds Books

Sunday in Kyoto Songs by Gilles Vigneault Illustrated by Stephane Jorisch (The Secret Mountain) $16.95  This is so cool and rather rare, so had to tell you (since I know you are interested in music.)  This is a wildly illustrated kid's book, with very sparse text, telling a whimsical story about an old Cajun banjo blues player who moves to Japan with his Asian wife, where he meets up with various musicians who come to play--a classical guitarist from Spain and several Asian musicians with their unique instruments---bouzouki, the koto, a shamisen--- who all then do a concert for some Buddhist monks in their flowing robes, and a surprise ending. There is a CD-rom slipped in the back that has a great audio recording of the song that this story grew from, and 13 other quirky story-songs, all written by the famous French Canadian, Gilles Vigneault (who some call the Pete Seeger of Quebec.)  For what it is worth, if you want some little-known street cred with hipster kids, this publisher did a similar storybook/CD to some songs from the band Trout Fishing in America.  Betcha didn't know that!

We've carried their Down at the Sea Hotel book/CD of tender (and sometimes odd) lullabies, sung by the likes of John Gorka, Eliza Gilkyson, and the Wailin' Jennys (before they were quite so famous) doing songs by the likes of Nanci Griffith, Carole King, Greg Brown and (yes!) Bruce Cockburn (Little Seahorse, naturally), so we like this publisher. Sunday in Kyoto, showcasing these songs of Gilles Vigneault, is fabulously interesting, even if you are not a French Canadian. Enjoy.

Hearts & Minds 234 East Main Street  Dallastown, PA  17313     717.246.3333

Am I all a-flutter about the new episode of Lost?  Yep, you betcha.  Beth and I have become fans even though (you might know) that most evenings I'd rather be reading, maybe even something like Puritan theology, social ethics, or some heart-breaking memoir.  Beth continues to read novels, research Lyme disease, and generally avoids most of the pop stuff on TV. (Our daughter insists that we are the only family she knows who doesn't have cable.  Shoot, I know families who don't have a TV!) But then we discovered Lost a few years ago on DVD and we've been loving it ever since. I'm so hooked.  And all those book references? The philosophical names? The Biblical allusions?  I'm not going to lie: we love it.

So, The Gospel According to Lost (recently published by Thomas Nelson; $14.99) is the latest by Chris Seay, a pastor in Texas who serves a church gathering called Ecclesia.  He's done The Gospel According to the Sopranos, a pretty cool book on The Matrix films (The Gospel Reloaded) and a brilliant book interviewing crooks from the Enron scandal, asking how it could be that people raised in a Southern fundamentalist culture could go to work and cook the books.  Ahhh, that old sacred-secular dualism, that compartmentalization, that failure to connect the dots between Sunday and Monday, between prayer and politics, between work and worship. 

Well, our man Seay, who will be on the main stage at the CCOs Jubilee conference in Pittsburgh in a few weeks (it is not too late to sign up!), is a master of seeing God's truths in popular culture, in exegeting the images of our times even as he exegetes the Bible.  He is wild about Lost, has a real passion for the show, and does some interesting ruminating about the meaning of it all as he dedicates a chapter to each main character. And I mean he is exploring the Meaning Of It All, as only a Lost fan could do.  This is a fun and interesting book, and some have said that even if you haven't watched the show, it is a great way to generate faith-based conversations with those who do watch the show.  So, fan or not, this is a great primer, because it allows the deeper questions that so naturally surface in the show to come to the fore. 

There are included some painted "icons" of each of the main characters, too, and these full color plates are worth the price of the book for true fans. Saint
Hurley, Sayid, and the one of Daniel Faraday ("Patron Saint of the Mystic Scientists") are especially moving to ponder. (Oh, and the one of Iko is powerful, with that weird walking stick with the Bible verses, and the icon of John Locke, while not particularly endearing, is very well done.)  But the artwork is the icing on the cake: the great part of this book is how the author explores an essential theme in each character, developing insights, perplexities, joys and sorrows of each, and honors the artistry of the show on its own terms.  And then, wisely, slyly, even, he shifts from some arcane detail of episode such and such, or some scholarly footnote about a name or book that appears in the show, and he's off, hipster preacher that he is, talking about eternal things, offering a distinctively Christian perspective on the issues of the episode.

Yes, it could be cheesy,using the show for his gospel purposes.  Given the way the arts work, and the utter urgency of the gospel itself, I don't necessarily think that is always wrong; using stuff from nature or culture or the world of ideas as a springboard to deeper conversations isn't necessarily inappropriate. Although some secularists might object, it is, most should agree, a way to honor the art, to take it seriously. (This is a case that is very well explored in Bill Romanowski's ground-breaking and very important Eyes Wide Open: Finding God in Popular Culture [Brazos; $21.99. Call us immediately if you need some good grounding in this; it's the best!) 

There is no doubt in my mind that Seay is not just "using" the popular arts for his own purposes, he is deeply engaging it, as one who appreciates and enjoys it, and he does so as a follower of The Christ.  His reflections end up being intregal, not somehow exploiting the show, but woven together, most often nearly seamlessly.  Seay cares about the characters, and he obviously gets a kick out of the communal nature of the Oceanic buzz, the speculations, the blogs and water-cooler conversations, even the pop songs that have emerged from the show, the that song by The Fray.  It has been a while since a show has generated wide-spread conversations about faith and reason, about social philosophers like John Locke, or the nature of God's providence in matters of good and evil.  That this is a cool show, an intelligent show, a show with some overtly Christian content (despite some very troubling matters, from violence to gnosticism, to paganism) and a show that has drawn in a large part of our nation can't be denied.  That a joyful Christian leader would engage it with such verve and true insight is a blessing to behold.  There may some day be a more definitive Lost text.  For now, we are so happy to be able to tell you about this.  And very excited that we'll get to meet Chris at Jubilee 2010.

Check out The Gospel According to Lost by Chris Seay.  Then, if you're up for it, consider Lost and Philosophy:The Island Has Its Reasons edited by Sharon Kay (as part of the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series) which is a fully serious collection of contemporary philosophy buffs doing serious cultural studies work, using Lost as a springboard for some very deep speculations.

I couldn't resist showing this picture from Chris Seay's twitter post today, showing Kate all dressed up at the Hawaii parties this week, with The Gospel According to Lost in her hands.  How cool is that?  She is, by the way, known as a person of faith, a star who spends her off time in refugee camps in Africa.  From what I hear, she's the real deal.  And she's happy to have the book.  You will be too, even if you aren't wearing an evening gown when you order it.

A new Wendell Berry book is always a cause for celebration, and I've wanted to announce this for several days.  Being away, I couldn't update BookNotes, but now am just thrilled to be writing.  I really am thrilled--this is beautiful, wonderful stuff.

Imagination in Place (Counterpoint; $24.00) is the latest collection of essays by Mr. Berry, and it is brilliantly conceived.   In the last year or so Berry's publishers have done a gift book reprint of the old Mad Farmer's Liberation Front poems, a very new poetry volume (Leavings) and a children's book, Whitefoot.  To be honest, I don't recall when the last collection of essays came out. (Was it The Way of Ignorance in 2006?)  And the last several of those were about a variety of subjects, his typical anthology of writings or speeches or letters about agriculture, culture, politics, the nature of the common good, environmentalism, local eating, theology, or the ways in which daily practices of rural living can give insight about the nature of a life well lived.  Michael Pollen newly edited a fabulous collection of Berry's writing about food and eating, Bringing it to the Table: On Farming and Food, which we announced late this fall--what a great idea that was, too.  Those pieces, though, were not new, and gleaned (pun intended) from his various books and publications.  Still, only the most avid Berry collector would have had them all (some were from old books, some from journals or magazine pieces.)  What a great idea that was for a new paperback collection. 

Imagination in Place is, on the face of it, popular literary criticism.  Each chapter is about a poet or novelist or writer he admires.  However, there is a deeper theme here (although even a random collection of Berry's admiration of and friendship with different writers would itself be great.)  Each of the writers he describes here are writers of place.  Wallace Stegner on the American Southwest, or Ernest Gaines and his Louisiana plantations, or Donald Hall's New England are the sorts of well-known novelists or poets he celebrates.  Berry laments (the dust jacket says) "today's dispossessed and displaced, those writers and people with no home and no citizenship, but he argues that there is hope for the establishment of new local cultures in both the practical and the literary sense."

(One chapter, "God, Science and Imagination", which starts out as a critique of fundamentalist scientism, and ends up talking about human rights.  It is a piece he just wrote, apparently, and while not quite in keeping with the theme, it is, naturally,  rich and thoughtful.)

The book picks up a theme that is foundational in Berry---"imagination is particularizing and a local force, native to the ground underfoot." (A thoughtful college student might take this up as a study topic for a thesis; I wonder how this compares to C.S. Lewis On Stories, say?)   I must admit, the several chapters I've read in this so far have been utterly delightful and profoundly insightful.  I read pages and pages out loud to Beth, laughing together at a few of his wry observations.  Standing By Words is an old favorite of his, about the writing life, however this new one seems to me to be so much more interesting, less dense and more anecdotal.  He tells stories of meeting authors, shares lovely details about his friendships, and tells how certain books have kept him going.  One exceptionally moving story is in the chapter "My Friend Hayden" about how Denise Levertov gave him the soon-to-be-published carbon-copied pages of the first book of poetry by Hayden Carruth (who later went on to become the poet laureate of Vermont.)  Berry was in considerable anguish about living in New York and as an up-and-coming writer, had friends who insisted he should stay in the high cultural center of Manhattan.  Reading the poetry of a rural farmer in Vermont consoled him that his move back to his Kentucky homeland was not a bad thing.  What a beautiful chapter, a chapter that illustrates well the point of this collection: the best writers are rooted in a place, and this sense of place (as it is often called) can teach us how to pay attention to our own places.  In our highly mobile, late modern (or is it postmodern?) fast-paced world, staying put is counter-cultural.  Berry's deeply informed views of literature and poetry show us how to appreciate not only the authors he teaches us about, but points us to this remarkable vision of hope, hope for a place, hope for decent living, hope for God's good world, as we nurture our imaginations.

I could tell you more, but will say just these two things: the first chapter is one of the best I've read to understand Berry's literary sensibilities.  Other than the large collection of interviews with him, published by the University of Mississippi Press,  this is a great introduction, as he tells about his interest in agrarian writers and, more, agrarian principles, and even more, agrarian practices.  It is all about good farming, for him, living well on the particular plot of land you've got.   Inner spiritual disciplines or abstract ruminations on worldview or theological principles of social justice all have their place, he might say, but it finally comes down to your literal neighborhood, your watershed, your real and unique life, here, now.

His ruminations on how his fictional Port William's characters and stories are shaped by his own membership in his real place of Lane's Landing are wonderful to read; obviously for those who love Memory of Old Jack or Hannah Coulter or Jayber Crow will want to read this. Anyone who wants a good eye guiding you through some of the great literary voices of our age will also appreciate this with delight (whether they are firstly drawn by his localism or not.)  Anybody who wants to live well, I'd say, should celebrate this kind of work. 

I can't let this glorious announcement stand without also noting how these notions of  localism and subversive imagination are most profoundly explored in Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement by Brian Walsh and Steven Bouma-Prediger (Eerdmans; $24.00.) When I announced a few posts ago that Steve Garber's Fabric of Faithfulness (in its expanded edition) was my pick for the Book of the Decade, I also gave a nod to Beyond Homelessness.  I have mentioned it often in these pages, not just because Brian and Steven are friends of ours, but because it really is the only book that discusses this stuff with such Biblical fidelity, such theological insight, such prophetic critique of the powers that be and the spirit of the age.  It does study the concrete problem of urban homelessness and domestic poverty, but its grand thesis is that economic systems that help cause and sustain patterns of injustice are, in part, caused by a worldview of carelessness for place.  From heaven-bound rapture theologies to hipster nomadic lifestyles (they discuss the then little known novel by Walter Kirn, Up in the Air) to postmodern restlessness, our disregard for tradition and family and place and neighborhood and creation leads to an unsustainable and inhumane way of life. (Have you seen the new book Next Stop, Reloville: Life Inside America's New Rootless Professional Class by Peter Kilborn?  Wow!) The ideologies of capitalism and progress that drive the American way of life, impacting rich and poor alike,  fly in the face of Biblical values and Beyond Homelessness, more powerfully than any, calls us to grapple profoundly with a new imagination that has eyes to see people, animals, plants and places as given gifts of grace.  By using home-making metaphors, and exploring the Biblical theme of exile and the redemptive promise of home-coming, Beyond... deepens the insights of books like Al Wolter's Creation Regained or Andy Crouch's Culture-Making and the many good titles on creation-care and the call to stewardship and the cultural mandate.  

Brian Walsh (and his wife Sylvia Keesmaat) were so taken by a Berry-esque vision of embodiment in a place that they helped form an intentional community, Russet House Farm, a small gang who bought an organic farm and learning center in rural Ontario. They are learning homesteading skills even as they read Scripture anew, with creation-care practices illuminating their work as Bible scholars and their Biblical studies work shaping their farming lives. Berry's line from Imagination in Place comes to mind where he says he has "written as a farmer and farmed as a writer." Brian & Sylvia are in a similar place, holding workshops on everything from bread-making to Biblical studies of Eucharistic bread-offering.  It was Walsh & Keesmaat who I first heard publicly cite, in a sermon years ago at the annual February Jubilee conference, Mr. Berry's old subversive Manifesto:Mad Farmer's Liberation Front poem that we had relished years ago, the one with the concluding line, "practice resurrection." (That line is taken up as the title for the brand new Eugene Peterson book, the fifth in his solid series of spiritual theology, by the way. I'll write about that soon.)

So, Imagination in Place tells of Wendell Berry's literary influences, each who captures a sense of place, and how that particularity in poetry or novels or memoir can help us all gain new imagination, new attention, new ways of seeing, our own places.  Odd, how particularity can yield such universal insights.

And, then, a reminder of the urgent and rich and deep work offered as theological resource for this project of stewardly care for our places, Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement by Walsh & Bouma-Prediger.  Two related books, though different in style, and both very highly recommended.

I've been wanting to type up the final draft of the Best Books of the Year Part Two that I promised, but just can't find time.  Soon and very soon.  I hope...thanks for your patience.

So, I hope you don't view this as a delaying tactic.  I really do want to tell you that I will be appearing on the radio on Pittsburgh's WORD-FM this Wednesday around 4-5 PM (EST) with the best talk show hosts I know, John & Kathy.  All this week they are doing a good series on Christian engagement with popular culture and will have rock music critics, film makers, novelists like Anne Rice, me....uh, did I say me?  Yep, right up their with Pittsburgh Steeler Daniel Sepulveda, and other great folks who live out their interests "in but not of" the world around us.  I talk books, publishing, classics, the shift to electronic reading, reading for study, reading for pleasure, and mumbling a few cheap words about buckling down and making time for what matters most, including reading. Like I have that figured out.  I hope you enjoy listening in if you are able.  I think it might be on their website eventually, too.  The whole week's series is going to be great!
(You can be friends with them on Facebook, too, here.)  Scroll back through and see who they've interviewed----and then feel free to order the books from us, if you'd like.  

I rattled off a list of great classics with which we should at least be familiar.  I also admitted that I appreciate handbooks to such stuff, guidebooks and suggestions, to help us along, such as the wonderful Invitation to the Classics: A Guide to the Books You Always Wanted to Read edited by Louise Cowan and Os Guinness (Baker; $26.95)  It is encyclopedic, full color, interesting, and with some suggestions as to why people of faith might find these master books to be of use.  From early church fathers to the key figures in Western thought and literature and theology, this is the best book of its kind. This is a beautifully produced book with many solid contributors, helping us learn about the best of Western literature, explained well from within a thoughtful, appreciative, Christian worldview. 

Tell us if you listened to this interview (if you really did, of course) and we'll sell Invitation to the Classics to you at half off.  That's 50% off.  Kind of a payback after the radio initiation rite.  Fair enough?

We're now out of town selling books with some UCC clergy friends for a few days (with guest speaker, old pal Graham Standish, author of Becoming a Blessed Church and Humble Leadership, both published by the Alban Institute) so we pre-recorded the interview.  Hosts J&K seemed pleased, and we hope you will be too--Wednesday, January 27th at 4:00-5:00 EST.

While I'm presuming to invite you to listen in to the sound of my voice---catching, perhaps,
some of my enthusiasm and joy for the printed page and our high calling of bookselling that you may not get if you are a BookNotes reader or friend of the store on Facebook---you might recall that my friend Jory Fisher, who has an internet radio show on life coaching, calling, and purpose, had us on her show last fall.  It was a very special time as she invited us to not only tell our story, but to tell of books that will help others find their passion and purpose and how all of us, as we discern our vocations and callings, can impact the world around us, to God's greater glory

The interview with me can be found at the archives of Heart & Soul With Jory Fisher here and we'd love for you to hear our little song and dance.  While you are there, check out the other good stories she has uncovered--she found some good folks to share some remarkable testimonials about how they make a difference in their corner of the world.  I was especially impressed with the good interview with Gordon Smith, a wonderful author who nicely brings together a serious sense of vocation and calling, and attends to the inner journey of spiritual formation along the way.  It is very helpful to hear him, as a conservative Protestant, to draw so nicely on the Ignatian method of spiritual honesty and discernment.  See, for instance, his book Courage and Calling: Embracing Your God-given Potential (IVP; $15.00)  It is particularly wise and mature study of this vital topic that Jory explores so nicely in her interview with him.

Anyway, thought you might like to hear my interview with her, and learn a bit about us, our bookstore, and why we so appreciate our mail order friends alongside our local customers.

Tell us if you listened to this interview (if you really did, of course) and we'll send you a book any book on vocation, calling or purpose that I mentioned, at half off.   That's 50% off any one mentioned. Good deal, huh?

Thanks for caring about books, for keeping indie shops alive, for your interest in our writing, reviewing and ruminations about our Kingdom living in God's good world.  I hope these audio interviews might remind you, as it does us when we get to speak it, what we are all about.


 

The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief & Behavior
Steven Garber (IVP, 2007) $16.00

In the mid 1990s I had this long, wonderful, interesting conversation--late, late into the night---with my friend Steve Garber. He was working on his Ph.D. in education, trying to learn through research, vast reading, great conversations with leading mentors and educators, and tons of first hand interviews with not-so-young-adults---what caused Christian faith to take hold in meaningful, long-lasting, and integrated ways. I was happy to regale him with stories of my own college years, and into my journey with the Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO) doing campus ministry. Steve and I had many mutual friends, some common interests, and shared an affinity for professor of philosophical aesthetics, Calvin Seerveld, and all-of-life-redeemed philosopher /preacher Dr. Peter J. Steen, and the agrarian essayist and poet, Wendell Berry. Each gave feisty and academic legs to the vision of God's Kingdom coming in every area of life and invited us to live life with an earthy, Christian lifestyle. Steve told me about his early days as a college student living in community and running a thoughtful, Christian activist newspaper and his days learning from Francis and Edith Schaeffer in their Swiss study center, L'Abri. I told him about my feeble activism on behalf of the United Farm Workers, advocating for nonviolent social justice in ways inspired by Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez. Mostly, we pondered how in God's great grace He has drawn us to good authors---I think I was re-reading J.I. Packer's Knowing God at the time---and the good people in our lives who kept us going as we attempted to live faithfully for Christ's reign in our callings, careers, and vocations.

I didn't know, or don't recall thinking, that this interview would end up being in a book, let alone a book that great leaders (from Stanley Hauerwas to James Sire) would insist was one of the best books ever about the journey of young adult faith into serious, integrated whole-life discipleship. After having read Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief & Behavior in the University Years,(first released in late 1996) and enjoying the many, many stories of fellow pilgrims who told their stories to Steve, I realize that my little late night interview wasn't all that vital. Some of the stories, however, are truly amazing, and some of the folks he tells of in the book are stunning in their insight and eloquence. Still, all of us who were interviewed, nearly every one, had some testimony of the same three things, three things that Steve has identified through research, reading, and his excellent knack of listening so very well, to be the things that most characterize what Eugene Peterson's book on the Psalms calls "a long obedience in the same direction." Three things that help us keep on keeping on, long after the heady and idealistic years of campus fellowship groups and young adult commitments.

Sure, Peterson swiped the line from Neitzsche. And Garber swipes lines from everybody from abolitionist William Wilberforce to novelist Walker Percy, from Bono to Beavis, from third century Augustine to twentieth century Newbigin, from Calvin (and Hobbes) to Calvin (of Geneva.) It makes for a fun and engaging read, a contemporary and urgent book, at once learned and urgent. I mention it often in my own book reviewing and public speaking; it has become a touchstone of sorts, a classic.

When pondering the best non-fiction Christian books of this decade, in fact, a few continue to impress me, haunt me, challenge me, and reassure me. Among others I could name, I think Brian Walsh & Sylvia Keesmaat's remarkably faithful, postmodern Bible study, Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire (IVP) and the delightful and insightful Culture-Making: Recovering our Creative Calling by Andy Crouch (IVP) or all three of the titles by Lauren Winner stand out for me as perhaps the truly most significant of the 2000s.

Yet, in the later half of that first decade of the new century, Steve Garber's Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief & Behavior was re-issued by InterVarsity Press, allowing me to declare here that it is "the book of the decade." Of course the great new cover really helps and the shortened subtitle (showing that its audience is most often those who have graduated from college and, perhaps approaching mid-life like many of those interviewed in the book, were longing to more fully understand the relationship of the Biblical themes of vocation and the Kingdom of God.) Yes, that subtitle makes it clear that this is a book about integrity, about living with coherence and clarity about "connecting the dots" between our deepest worship on Sunday and our deepest struggles on Monday. Such integration is the foundation upon which long-term, hopeful discipleship emerges.

But, most importantly, there is, quite significantly, a fabulously interesting and very important new introduction and afterward.

These two new chapters, which include moving stuff about William Wilberforce, about valiant Chinese dissidents, about Steve's' meetings with the likes of seeking rock star Billy Corgan or Peter Gabriel, are among Garber's most eloquent writings, and they set the stage for the re-launch of Fabric as a truly adult book. It is to some extent about learning, about young people in their yearnings for a life of coherence, and it was written when Steve was mostly working with collegiates. Deans and administrators and educators have used it. He does talk about rock stars and youth trends and pop culture. So, yes, yes--- it is a book even for college students. But more, especially with the significant new book-ends of powerful forward and afterward---you have to read them for yourselves to see what I mean---this is now more than ever for anyone who longs for the deepest joys of discovering a sense of vocation, of relating faith to their tasks in this sorrowful, broken world, for those who long to make a difference, in the arts, culture, business, civic life or other areas where a Christian worldview might most profoundly shape our thinking and practices, allowing us to engage the societal pressures and resist the cultural forces so well described and analyzed within these pages.

So. BOOK OF THE DECADE it is, thanks to the expanded edition that appeared in 2005. I thought to celebrate it here at decade's end I would reprint a review I did when the book first appeared in the late '90s. I've changed very little, and trust this long review will convince you that this is a book worth having, a book worth reading and re-reading, a book worth working on, discussing, and sharing.

It's a good, long review which I hope you'll read over at the November '09 monthly column.

I know I usually do book reviews but this piece about Robertson's latest gaffe is too good not to post.  It has some literary references, after all.  Plus both Luther and Lewis commend mockery to push back the Devil.  Sorry about the biting ending. What do you think?

Published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Dear Pat Robertson,

I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I'm all over that action.

But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating. I may be evil incarnate, but I'm no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished.

Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth -- glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven't you seen "Crossroads"? Or "Damn Yankees"?

If I had a thing going with Haiti, there'd be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox -- that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it -- I'm just saying: Not how I roll.

You're doing great work, Pat, and I don't want to clip your wings -- just, come on, you're making me look bad. And not the good kind of bad. Keep blaming God. That's working. But leave me out of it, please. Or we may need to renegotiate your own contract.

Best, Satan

A few days ago I was displaying a large spread of books among a mission-minded, justice-seeking, group of energetic, evangelical folks.  Per usual, I was given the chance to highlight some books in the crazy-talkin' book blitz announcements I do.  That week I had begun to read the very moving collection of stories about Haiti, Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle: Living Fully, Loving Dangerously by Kent Annan (IVP; $16.00.)  I chose not to push this book amidst my other book plugs because I did not want to appear as if I was trying to sell books at the expense of the horrific tragedy unfolding on the news that very day.  That one good friend, sitting near me, there, himself was from Haiti, and had a brother missing (pray for him, please), again, made me fall silent about this fabulous book.

I am wondering, however, if my sensitive conscience did not serve the community well that day. Maybe I should have highlighted Annan's book.  Subsequently, I've been asked "what is the best book on Haiti" and "are there resources on knowing what to do to respond to such an international crisis?"

Well, there is plenty of stuff on line. (What did you think of the David Brooks piece in the New York Times about cultural change?)  We could recommend some fascinating historical studies of the colonialism, despotism and poverty of that troubled land, and there are memoirs that capture much, such as the award winning  Brother I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat.  Perhaps it is important to study a bit, even now as we pray and fret and give.  Many of us know people in Haiti, and some BookNotes readers have gone there on short term mission projects.  In the months and years to come, we will be called upon to think through strategies and policies for church and state.  It doesn't hurt to be thinking about that, now.

And so, here it is: Kent Annon's brand new book is incredibly powerful, including challenging Biblical reflections and tons of stories gathered as codirector of Haiti Partners.  We mentioned it when it first came out last month, and we respect and trust his work.  As the title suggests, it isn't just about Haiti, though, but a reflection to all of us about Godliness and service, about love and hope. You may recall that we've promoted the provocative and creatively-written books about urban ministry by Greg Paul (God in the Alley and Twenty-piece Shuffle.)  Of Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle he says, "Kent takes the reader on a ride through the hot spots of both this world and the individual's soul.  By turns wrenching and funny, and always honest, his own story puts an unerring finger on that difficult place where a questioning mind and an open heart meet."   There are no platitudes here, and he is a raw and honest writer, giving us a very good read.  Mostly, though, it is about his journey to the island culture and the poverty and joys of  work in Haiti. And what it all means about our own commitments to live with passion and risk and hope.  Highly recommended. 

Haiti Partners can be found, here.


I listened to two songs this morning, one which we sang in church, one which we listened to on my daughter's ipod on the way home.  The first was a brand new hymn lyric written by my friend Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, who has two songbooks (Songs of Grace and Gifts of Love) that we sell which are full of such custom-made song-writing for special occasions, often with an eye to God's call to do justice and serve others.  You can find read or listen to her song "In Haiti There is Anguish" (to be sung to the tune of "Beneath the Cross of Jesus" )here. (Others of her songs are at the Church World Service website, available for free.  Interestingly, Carolyn gained a great concern for the poor and global missions while going on a short term mission trip to Haiti years ago when she was a college student.)  If you are involved in helping craft litanies or liturgical experiences around disaster relief, here is a page that is jam-packed full of links, pages, and resources from across our denominational landscapes, prayers, artwork, songs and more. 

After worship, Marissa and I listened to the understated song Haiti, by the unusually thoughtful alt- rock group, Arcade Fire. (Their singer Regine Chassagne has a Haitian background, and sings of the atrocities others experienced under Duvalier.)  Watch this nicely done colorful YouTube video of the song, with lovely footage from Haiti.  It is an allusive piece, some of it sung in French. I recommend the passion of this live version, here, and the lyrics, here.

Carolyn's hymn and a rock ballad. Different musical styles and themes, both helpful to encourage us on the journey of these trying days.  Listen, and pray, study and learn.

Part one?  Yep, this baby is big. 


We've listed some categories---trying to be just a tad clever, but nothing over the top---and named our choices for the best of the best.  Best Books, Most Important, Best Contribution to Theology, Best of Social Concerns, we've named awards for everything from memoir to worldview studies to church life to one that was mediocre but I still wanted to honor, so we made up that category.  Of course these are highly subjective, and merely the---ahem--odd opinions of this old bookseller (I hope the author doesn't mind the back-handed compliment.)  I am sure you'll find some titles that I am sure you've heard of and will agree deserve commendation, and I suspect you'll be surprised to find a few new gems.  We know our little bookstore and blog doesn't get any press and these poor authors sure don't gain anything from our hoorays, such as they are.  But we want to name them.  We hope you enjoy seeing our choices. 

PART TWO is being lovingly proof-read by the lovely Beth, my partner-in-crime in this ceremonial listing.  Look for that next week, Lord willing.

Wish we had a Hollywood red carpet and some glitzy ballroom in which to do our announcing. These authors, editors, and publishers deserve all the honor we can offer.  These may be hard days for booksellers and we all wonder about the future of print, the habits of our heart and mind these days among our people, and how the discipline of reading may or may not fare in the days ahead, even in the church.  But these are tremendous days for religious publishing, and we are proud to give some attention to those we have most loved and most appreciated in the year of our Lord, 2009. 

We've cleaned up the gift wrap from out Epiphany celebration (Three Kings Day some call it) on the 12th day of Christmastide.  Now, even though we can't bear to take down our greenery and white lights, we must admit the season is passed and the New Year is really here.  Oh my.

If you are like me, with 350-some more days to go, you haven't rushed to pick a daily devotional.  Many serious readers, I find, don't take a liking to these little devotional guides, but I think that is a bit foolhardy.  Of course some are cheesy and some are shallow and maybe some don't speak your love language.  But some devotional guides are extraordinary and can be used very profitably.  Some have meaty, serious text, some are creative and fascinating, many can deepen your resolve to live faithfully, even teaching a bit in short bits. So, for yourself, or to pass on to others, here is an eccentric little list of a few you might want to consider.  I'll be brief, naming only a few.  Call us if these don't seem quite right, but you'd like other advice.

Grace Notes: Daily Readings with a Fellow Pilgrim  Philip Yancey (Zondervan) $19.99  This is a sturdy, handsome hardback, with one-page readings selected for each day.  The readings are gleaned from decades of his work, including some hard to find essays and an out of print book or to.  If you have appreciated Yancey's good reportage and ruminations over the years, if you value a literary, thinking, open-minded, very talented evangelical, if you've been glad--as we certainly have been!--that just such writers are published these days, then this is a perfect way to dip into his work, be reminded and refreshed.  If you don't know Yancey's writing, we truly commend this as a way into his large body of very wise and insightful work.   (I think) I like the blurb on the back that says "a year with Philip Yancey will make your heart think and your mind feel."  Thoughtful, rich, interesting. Very highly recommended.

Take Hold of God and Pull  Calvin Seerveld (Paternoster) $20.00  This paperback includes a few woodcuts, but the text is think and heavy.  I might say that Seerveld (Rainbows for the Fallen World, Bearing Fresh Olive Leaves, Reading the Bible To Hear God Speak, Voicing God's Praise among others) is my all time favorite author. Well, even if that is more conclusive than I might aver (I've got so many favorites) there is no doubt that I esteem him as much as any man alive and appreciate his books among my all time top few.  His writing can be at times rather eccentric, so be warned.  I think he makes up words.  And it is seriously, seriously Biblical; he translates and exegetes texts, and not only explains and preaches and proclaims, he spins off towards contemporary application in ways that sounds like some Biblical prophet; he's got the Word in his bones, racing from passage to passage, harsh and gentle and winsome, not selling anything, but often urgent.  These were firstly given as chapel talks at a small, mostly Reformed Christian college (Trinity Christian in Palo Heights, IL) in the hey-day of the late 60s and Seerveld, mostly known as a philosopher of aesthetics, spoke in ways that were (I'm told by those who were there) electrifying. He has cadences that are both ancient and contemporary, philosophical yet with a blue-collar plainness at times, in a way that few match.  I had a different edition of this in college, and I think I'd say it was one of those transforming experiences with the printed page that drew me to books and bookselling.  Beth and I are grateful that this British publisher has kept it in print in a compact sized paperback. 

On Being Human: Imaging God in the Modern World  Calvin Seerveld (Welch) $7.00  At just over 100 pages, this thin book is deceptively brief.  Yet the chapters should be read carefully, and often, as there is thick wisdom here.  Each Biblical meditation in one way or another explores what it means to be fully human, and it does so in conversation with an art piece that he happily shows off in the start of each chapter. (Some are contemporary paintings while others are classic;  several are sculptures, and there is a photograph and a lithograph.)  There are songs, here (meant for singing he says), artworks for imaginative viewing and prayers offered which he hopes you will pray out loud.  Part art reflection, part Bible study, part gospel proclaimation, this short book brings yous enjoyably into the living presence of God, where we find ourselves as "listening, sinful saints" sharing truth with our neighbors.  "Humans should use a book humanly" he writes.  Get ready to sing and pray and think and perhaps breath a sigh of gratitude for writers like this.

66 Love Letters: A Conversation With God That Invites You Into His Story  Larry Crabb (Nelson) $22.99  This has the feel of an older book, with a textured paper, with a brown cover, a photo of a rope that almost feels real.  I don't know if they are conjuring up some mystery, but the idea is clever: this is an imaginary conversation where God is explaining God's ways in each book of the Bible as Dr. Crabb replies.  This is a playful--yet, I'd say, exceptionally serious--process, where Crabb cries out and listens, celebrates and praises, scratches his head and wonders.  "Read on!" God says, as the story unfolds, as His grace and providence and goodness and faithfulness is increasingly seen.  These are (the front cover reminds) 66 love letters "From God to You."  Here is a fresh, relational look at Scripture.

A Year With God: Living Out the Spiritual Disciplines  edited by Richard Foster & Julia Roller (HarperOne) $22.99  You may know the reliable work of Renovare, a ministry rooted in the deepest mystic and thinkers of the church, a ministry that invites followers of Jesus to know God deeply, and to sense God's presence as we serve Him in contemplative ways throughout our daily lives.  Here, Foster (the founder of Renovare) offers some of the best short selections from some of the best writers of spirituality, including much lifted from the Life With God Bible. For each day they present a Scripture passage, then a commentary on the passage, a spiritual practice followed by a quotation, prayer or reflection relating to the passage.  These are morsels---bits of sustenance for the journey.  There is a wonderful format here, a nearly rigorous plan covering great amounts of spiritual practice.

The Love Chapter: The Meaning of First Corinthians 13  St. John Chrysostom*  (Paraclete) $12.99  Who hasn't heard this glorious bit of ancient writing from Paul's great letter to Christians living in Corinth? It may be the most well-known section of the entire Bible!  And yet, there are very few books that explore it.  (Ahh, do you know Jonathan Edwards' serious Charity and Its Fruits?  Now there is some meat for ya!)  Here, in this new modernized text, we have 11 meditations---sermons from one of our earliest known preachers, the famous, beloved "golden-mouth" orator himself. John Chryostom lived in the late 300s as an archbishop in Constantinople.  Churches in the West and East honor him as a saint.  Spend a week on each one of these beautiful sermons, I'd say: they are too rich to read quickly, one after the next.  As in the best sermons, he brings together other portions of the Scripture, cross-references intriguing passages, and, inspired by God's grace in Christ, calls us to mirror the Divine love in how we relate to others. 

*by the way, for those unfamiliar, I quote from the lovely forward by Frederica Matthews-Green:

As was true of St. Paul, St. John Chryostom was not impressive in appearance but his words were with power.  He had more than one conflict with the imperial court, as he chastised the wealthy and powerful for their self-indulgance and lack of care for the poor.  (Chrysostom himself lived a simple life, despite his high ecclesiastical rank; in his first year as bishop he saved enough money from his personal expenses to build a hospital for the poor.)

Voices From the Past: Puritan Devotional Readings  Edited by Richard Rushing (Banner of Truth) $28.00  Puritans--often wrongly confused with the Victorians--were a robust and lusty bunch, relishing God's call to live good lives in a good creation.  They made a huge, huge difference for God---with some glaring problems and blind spots, to be sure.  But their energetic worldview was rooted in a serious and abiding understanding of their great need for a savior from their sins, and the great savior the Lord Jesus in fact really is.  The holiness of God, the lostness of mankind, the mercy of God and the Kingship of the Christ, the need to rely on God's Spirit in times of struggle and pain---this is classic, rich, important stuff, not watered down, not made easy, but sweet to the soul nonetheless.  Their preachers and theologians were very well educated, deep men who were prolific.  Here you will meet the names that shaped generations of Protestants, mostly in Northern Europe and in North America---John Bunyan, Richard Baxter, Thomas Boston, Stephen Charnock, John Flavel, William Gurnell, Thomas Manton, Richard Sibbes, Thomas Watson (and many more.)  And yes, the towering Edwards and the extraordinary John Owen.  You are offered a Bible verse (or a phrase) and a one-page dense explication. I do not (by the way) fully agree with C.S. Lewis that we should read more old books than new.  But we certainly should read some old authors.  This is a history lesson, a reminder of good theology, and a great assurance of the sovereign grace of God.  What a gold-mine!   For those who like this sort of writing, I hope you know of The Valley of Vision:  Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, also published by the Banner of Truth. (Regular-sized paperback, $16; pocket-sized leather-bound, $26.)

Faith and Culture Devotional: Daily Readings in Art, Science and Life  Kelly Monroe Kullberg and Lael Arrington (Zondervan) $16.99  We promoted this last year about this time, and I am still stunned at how great it is, and how little it is known.  Our pal Kelly M K worked for Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship at Harvard, is a gracious and thoughtful leader, who desires for us to think faithfully about the world, to God's glory.  This is inspiring, educational, informative, and a great, fairly simple example, of what we mean when we talk about developing a Christian worldview.  Can we see God's hand in scientific discovery?  God's beauty in wonderful art? Biblical wisdom in popular culture? Can we come to understand the missional vision of the Kingdom as cultural engagement and responsible social concern as well as typical church involvement and evangelism?  Of course!  With thoughtful Christian leaders as diverse as Dallas Willard, Scott McKnight or Joy Jordan-Lake, Eric Metaxas, Bruce Herman or Hans Rookmaaker, this is a wonderful collection of short daily readings, inspiring and formative.

Praying for Peace Around the Globe  James McGinnis (Liguori) $10.95  McGinnis (with his wife, Kathy) long ago impressed us with their organization Parenting for Peace & Justice, a network of educators, activists and ordinary family members wanting to live out the radical call to peacemaking and justice work in ways that kids could join in.  Here, he gives us a guidebook to praying for some country or some concern, several for each month.  They are somewhat arranged to coincide with national activist dates or historic days, marking our weeks with concerns and prayers, action suggestions and meditations so that we can pray and act for peace on a daily and weekly basis.  There is a shor "Pray of Petition" that provide faiths communities a ready aid to use in corporate worship, too.  A nice resource.

I'm not sure why you have subscribed to BookNotes, or what drives you to support Hearts & Minds bookstore, but we are truly grateful.  It has been a good year for books, if a hard year for bookstores like ours, and I am creating our "best of" list to share soon.  We are glad you seem to be interested in thoughtful religious book-buying from a home-grown place like ours.  When we realize who all has ordered from us over the last years, and who sends us notes, clicks through from Facebook or Twitter, or stops by (sometimes from out of state) we are both blessed and humbled.  You are a fine lot, a community of readers who share some common concerns and a fondness for our quirky wares.  Thanks, thanks, thanks.

Just recently I've had some very unpleasant on-line discussions with a few folk who think we sell really bad books and are warning others against us.  They knock authors we appreciate on their web-page and blame us for the alleged heresies of some ministries we serve.  To read an author with whom one disagees (let alone applaud him or her for stuff they do well) is anathema to them, and they say so with dire drama.  They don't believe in reading widely, and our best efforts to say that this is a wise and good practice have blown up in ugly debate.  There are an array of theological (and other) differences among us, but one large point is that they do not believe Christian disciples should care much about this world.  They believe it is bad and will be soon destroyed. Jesus can save your soul, but not much else.

And so, as a reminder to myself of a more faithful theological perspective and as an encouragement to others, I wrote a little meditation about an "a-ha" moment in a class with a favorite teacher.  It was posted today at Living Jubilee, the blog affiliated with the CCOs February Jubilee conference.  It was a hot summer day in the late 70s and the lesson included a line from a Christmas carol. It was a defining moment and reading about it might help you understand even more why we do what we do.  Although it was written for college students, mostly (Jubilee is designed for collegiates) I think you'll like it. It tells a part of our story here, and, hopefully yours as well.  Happy New Year.  Thanks for caring.

It was just a week ago that most of us sang Christmas carols.  One of the most enduring is Joy to the World.  I sang it as a child and into my college years until I really heard one line. One line--a line that has been as helpful to me as nearly anything I've heard about the meaning and scope of Christ's redemption. I will never forget the time the "lights came on" and I had a glimmer of the far-ranging truth of that one holiday verse.

Interestingly, it happened one hot summer afternoon when some of us were in a class with Dr. Albert Wolters, author of Creation Regained: The Biblical Basis for a Reformational Worldview, learning about a Christian worldview, and how to help college students relate their deepest convictions about Christ and His Lordship to the theories and subjects in the university classroom.  That fascinating word, worldview, is used to explain that Christian faith is not only a matter of inward piety, not only a system of theological truths, not only a matter of being a dedicated follower of Jesus. Although personal spirituality, proper doctrine and a serious commitment to obey Christ are indeed vital aspects of Christian discipleship, these must also be allowed to shape our very perception of who we are and how we see reality.  That is, a worldview is like a pair of glasses, that color, tint, make clear (or unclear if they aren't proper) whatever it is we are looking at.

And we look at a lot, don't we?  From textbooks to text messages, art work to school work, from the beauty of nature to the ugliness of war, the joy of loved ones and the horror of global climate change, from beautiful buildings to beautiful ideas, from cool computer games to cool TV shows, from broken relationships to broken bread, we look, look, and look, day in and day out, making sense of things, learning how we fit in to all that we see.  We engage.  We interpret.  We make meaning.  Things are construed, valued, cherished or despised, understood as good or bad or something other.  We "lean into life" based on the ultimate story we tell about our life, and this narrative trajectory---the direction in which our life unfolds---is determined by the meaning we construe, the stories we tell, the glasses we wear. 

 

It is possible to be a true Christian with glad assurance of being pardoned from sin and of being part of the community of believers that exalts in Jesus' birth and life, death and resurrection, and not have a Christian framework for understanding the issues of life.  We can believe all the right stuff, experience God's saving grace, and still not have truly Christian perception. We can have other glasses on that distort our way of seeing.  Or, to change the metaphor, we can live by the ethos and values of the daily news, the political parties, the ideologies and ways of life that are told (over and over) on CNBC or Fox News, the cop shows, the schoolbooks, the comics, the movies, the latest buzz on MySpace or Twitter. 

 

It is imperative--and this is one of the chief goals of the Jubilee conference--to tell a better story of what life is about than the one we hear most often in our culture. We must allow Christ's story to shape our understand of everything, to live out of His worldview and into His way of life, even in college.  We need Godly glasses, a backstory and framework and set of presuppositions that are shaped by the gospel, so we can "see" life as we should.

 

What does a Christian worldview and a new story about seeing all of life from God's perspective have to do with the beloved Christmas carol?

As we struggled to think how to explain the Jubilee conference to students, and invite collegiates to see the implications of Christ's salvation for all of life, our teacher Al Wolters quietly quoted Joy to the World as he does in his book.

 

He comes to make

His blessing flow

far as the curse is found

far as the curse is found

far as, far as, the curse is found

 

A cornerstone of a deeply Christian worldview is to see Christ as the long-awaited Messiahwho comes to do something, something the carol writer understood: to bring His redemptive grace wherever " thorns infest the ground."  Where are there thorns and curse?  Everywhere, and in everything!  Where, then, is Jesus at work, bringing healing and hope?  Everywhere, and in everything!  Indeed, all of life is in spiritual struggle, as sin and grace battle.  Nothing is as it should be, but everything can be better than it is.  God is at work, just like the carol assures. Christ did not come just to save our personal souls or to bring inner change to a few.  Anywhere there is curse, He is turning it to blessing.

 

The far-reaching scope of this broad view of the power of Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension cannot be better said than in that life-changing stanza of Joy to the World. And---to add insightful icing on the cake---the carol lyric notes that this is to be known among the nations.  Indeed, "He rules the world, with truth and grace."

The mid-February Jubilee conference is about hearing a new story, a deeply Biblical worldview, a way for students to see their college experiences through the light of Christian truth.  Because, after all, He comes to make/His blessings flow---far as the curse is found.  In your life, in your family, in your major, at your college, in your future career.  Wherever there is sin and brokenness, Christ rules.  That gives us an exciting worldview that raises the horizons of possibility for faithful Christian insight.  Next time you sing Joy to the World, I hope its glorious truths polish up your lenses.  You'll see everything anew.