my recent reads

In the last couple of weeks, culminating in this past weekend, I've read through 4 books. This is somewhat out of the ordinary (ordinary being the trend of the last number of months) considering my shelf full of unread and partially read books. Some I will continue reading, some will be finished someday, and some may never be read.

Anyway, I'm sensing a theme that runs throughout the most recent reads.

As far as I can remember, the first book I completed was It's Really All About God by Samir Selmanovic.

My takeaway: God is bigger than any one "God management system", a phrase used by Samir to define how religions often posit themselves. In the end, no one really has God captured and figured out. God is a mystery. His presence is presented throughout His creation and His image is seen in every human. Thus, we can learn more about Him by being open to learning from each other, in every religion and tradition. This doesn't mean that there should be a great melting pot for religion, but that there is an opportunity to improve our world by respecting and listening the the various ways that God lets His presence mysteriously leak through a whole host of human diversity. Truth is not always learned through concrete certainty about who God is and what He does, but through the tensions that we often experience. Just such a tension is the pull between faith and doubt.

The second book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, written by a favorite author of mine, Donald Miller, was the second book I completed.

My takeaway: Our lives are opportunities to write good stories. Donald had felt his life slipping into meaninglessness after landing huge successes with his previous writings. He was approached with the offer to help write a movie about himself. Through this process he learned about what makes a movie a good movie (i.e. a meaningful story) and wondered if those same elements applied to making one's life meaningful. Indeed, for him, they did. The elements can be summed up like this-"A character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it". Naturally, the story is better if the the thing the character wants is for the good of others and has a relational aspect to it.

The third book, Speaking of Faith, written by Krista Tippet, host of the radio show by the same name, was a book I started on earlier this year. I have been blessed by her approach to matters of faith and spirituality on the show and knew I must read her book.

My takeaway: Religion is a topic that is well known to be divisive and polarizing. Often it's either manifest in the midst of debate and argument or in the context of proselytizing. For such reasons many want to dismiss it altogether. Krista argues that religion and faith, in spite of the persistent problems both with it and associated with it, hold much potential to improve our world. We need to find ways to "speak of faith" that don't create conflict and confrontation. She emphasizes that faith is more about mystery and questions than hard certainty.

The fourth book, Have a Little Faith, by Mitch Album, I just discovered recently and when I ran across it in Wal-Mart last Thursday, I purchased it on impulse. I sailed through it's easy read by Sunday. I have read several of Mitch's other books and, again, knew this must be read as well.

My takeaway: Mitch recounts the story of being asked by the rabbi of his childhood to present a eulogy upon the rabbi's death. Mitch agreed with the condition of being able to get to know the rabbi on a personal level. So began an 8 year journey that not only helped Mitch come to love and appreciate the rabbi, but also another clergyman from his own town. The lessons about faith were similiar, but the men from whom he learned, in this case, were vastly different. One a rabbi, the other an ex drug dealer poor Christian pastor.

Mitch was inspired to remember/notice that there is a Divine Spark implanted in each human soul.

All four books seemed to tie together in the sense of speaking about matters that truly bring meaning to life.