As Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to John Adams, "I cannot live without books!" This is also a fairly common sentiment among Presbyterian pastors and Presbyterians in general. I love reading and it warms my heart that Wyatt loves reading and that not only does Josselyn love us to read to her but she can now read some simple books on her own. Not bad for a kid just short of her fifth birthday! As a part of my love for reading, I also like to share what I have read with others. Here is a list of the books I've read over the last couple of months and just a few sentences about each book. If you're interested in borrowing any of these books just let me know.
The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday
The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday
This is a contemporary treatment of Stoic philosophy. The Stoics are famous for remaining calm and focused in response to great challenges. According to the Stoics, the things that happen in life shouldn't be labeled as good or bad. That is unhelpful. What happens simply happens. What matters is how we respond to what happens and whether or not we take our challenges and turn them to our benefit. The Stoics don't spend much time on "Why?" They spend all of their time on "What now?" I found this book very helpful.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
A lot of folks (I used to be one of these folks) go through life thinking that each of us is either born with "it" or born without "it." If we fail at something we must just not be good at that. This is called the "fixed" mindset. It is very common and very detrimental to progress, improvement, and achievement. The fixed mindset says, "I am not good at that." Fewer people have the much more helpful "growth" mindset. The "growth" mindset says, "I am not good at that... yet, but I will work hard at it and I'll get as good at it as I can." Dr. Dweck's point of view is that fixed mindset folks aren't stuck with it. They can learn the growth mindset. This book completely changed my way of thinking.
The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World by Stephen Mansfield
Benjamin Franklin once said, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." This book tells the story of the famous Guinness Brewery in Ireland, but even more than that it tells of the Christian faith and philanthropy of the Guinness family. I had to go out and get some Guinness Stout to drink as I read the book. The Guinness family is a great example of what is called "righteous wealth," meaning that they had a lot of money but that they used that money to do the things of God.
Lincoln's Battle with God: A President's Struggle with Faith and What It Meant for America by Stephen Mansfield
This is what you might call a spiritual biography. It traces Lincoln's expressions of faith (and non-faith) from a child reacting against the hardcore fundamentalism of his parents in Kentucky and Indiana, to his public statements of atheism as a young man in New Salem, Illinois, to what seems to be a developing faith during his years holding public office. I felt that this book was really honest and balanced. It didn't try to claim that Lincoln was some kind of Evangelical Christian as some do (the evidence is against that) or that he was atheistic and anti-religion throughout his whole life (the evidence is against that too). Mansfield (himself a conservative Methodist) just offers the evidence to the reader and then says, "We don't really know for sure, but what do you think?" I thought it was a wonderful look at one of the most important individuals who has ever lived.
Grant: Savior of the Union by Mitchell Yockelson
This book was only about 180 pages long. It is a part of The Generals series, which is published by Thomas Nelson press and edited by Stephen Mansfield. There are somewhere around eight books in the series that cover from George Washington to George Patton. This book is about Ohio's own Ulysses S. Grant. I have been wanting to learn more about U.S. Grant but I'm not up for a 1,000 page biography so this was a good way to learn about him. What I admire about Grant is that he was constantly calm and focused. He was not easily rattled. He also cared deeply for his family and cared much more for the freed slaves than most white folks did back then. He also handled the surrender of General Robert E. Lee with grace and respect. I'm now reading the book in this series about another son of Ohio: William Tecumseh Sherman. With Sherman I am learning a lot about how not to live.
When God Says War is Right: The Christian's Perspective on How and When to Fight by Darrell Cole
I've spent quite a bit of time on this book already in my blog series on Captain Phillips. This is a short book that explores Christian "Just War Theory" as it was developed by St. Augustine and then further developed by Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin. It makes the point that sometimes Christians must make the decision that the best way to "care for the widow and the orphan" and to love their neighbor is to take up arms to protect their neighbor. This book was informative, but not all that interesting of a read.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo
This is the classic short novel about a shepherd boy in Spain who sells off his herd of sheep to travel to Egypt to find a great treasure. It is his destiny to find the treasure so no matter what happens he must continue to follow his destiny. It is told like a fairy tale. There are no names for most of the characters, just "the shepherd boy," the "Englishman," the "alchemist." It is a story of quest and purpose and love and God. It didn't change my life or anything like it has for some people, but it was good.
A Simple Act of Gratitude: How Learning to Say Thank You Changed My Life by John Kralik
You can hear all about this book by listening to my sermon from November 23, 2014 on our church website:
A Simple Act of Gratitude: How Learning to Say Thank You Changed My Life by John Kralik
You can hear all about this book by listening to my sermon from November 23, 2014 on our church website:
Everett
