Wholly Bible: A View from the Pew
It Is Written
By Ray Waddle
The season of Lent: time to slow down and wake up.
Writer Annie Dillard declared: "The life of sensation is the life of greed; it requires more and more. The life of the spirit requires less and less; time is ample and its passage sweet."
Not a bad motto for Lent's six-week spiritual walk toward Easter (which is April 16).
Lent is about the ash of mortality but also reassessment and renewal. There's no shortage of Lenten advice ... Read the Gospels. Do volunteer work. Turn off the TV and write a letter. Talk a long walk. Clear the clutter. Eat a simple meal, slowly, and give thanks.
And read a book or two. They patiently stand by, inviting us to deepen belief or explore new ground. Take the time, soak up the quiet. Here's a dozen (mostly) recent titles that I'm keeping nearby:
-- Blessed are the Peacemakers: Christ's Teachings about Love, Compassion & Forgiveness, edited by Wendell Berry (Avalon) ... Christian "abundant life" is connected to nonviolence and freedom from fear.
-- A Year with C.S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works (Harper) ... A fresh sampling of his writings for each day.
-- Mary Magdalene: A Biography, by Bruce Chilton (Doubleday) ... The author says Christians should rediscover her role in the Easter story.
-- Wesley for Armchair Theologians, by William Abraham (Westminster John Knox) ... A sprightly summary of John Wesley's dramatic life and thought.
-- Always We Begin Again, by John McQuiston II (Morehouse) ... A little guide for serenity: "The first rule is simply this: Live this life and do whatever is done in a spirit of thanksgiving."
-- One Nation Under God: The History of Prayer in America, by James P. Moore Jr. ... The story of prayer as a unifying force of national identity. -- Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris (Riverhead) ... A writer's musings on faith words like hospitality, hell and God-talk.
-- Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality, by Philip Newell (Paulist) ... Celtic belief says God's image resides deep within us all. -- Night, by Elie Wiesel (Hill and Wang) ... The classic memoir by a survivor of the Jewish Holocaust, humanity's modern descent into evil.
-- The Faces of Jesus: A Life Story, by Frederick Buechner (Paraclete) ... A novelist/minister ponders the impact of that face (as infant, teacher, condemned criminal, Risen Christ) on history. -- Why People Do Bad Things in the Name of Religion, by Richard Wentz (Mercer) ... People do evil when they worship gods of their own making (power, purity, vengeance, self-pity, security). -- The Saints' Guide to Happiness: Practical Lessons in the Life of the Spirit, by Robert Ellsberg (Doubleday) ... Saints are holy, but happy too, deeply in touch with their true selves, the person God asks them to be.
--Ray Waddle, a columnist in Nashville, is author of Against the Grain: Unconventional Wisdom from Ecclesiastes, published by Upper Room Books.
