Franklin Circle Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
What I'm Currently Reading!
I Love Reading!
Here's a chance to understand just a tiny bit more of my current thinking by seeing what I'm reading! Please feel free to share with your thoughts on any of the books, magazines, or articles that you've read!
Pastor Allen
Current Reading...
[For a list of my regular magazines and journals, scroll down this page, or click HERE!]
Take This Bread: The Spiritual Memoir Of A Twenty-First Century Christian by Sara Miles
From the Random House website:
Early one morning, for no earthly reason, Sara Miles, raised an atheist,
wandered into a church, received communion, and found herself
transformed–embracing a faith she’d once scorned. A lesbian left-wing
journalist who’d covered revolutions around the world, Miles didn’t
discover a religion that was about angels or good behavior or piety; her
faith centered on real hunger, real food, and real bodies. Before long,
she turned the bread she ate at communion into tons of groceries, piled
on the church’s altar to be given away. Within a few years, she and the
people she served had started nearly a dozen food pantries in the
poorest parts of their city.
Take This Bread is rich with real-life Dickensian characters–church
ladies, millionaires, schizophrenics, bishops, and thieves–all blown
into Miles’s life by the relentless force of her newfound calling. Here,
in this achingly beautiful, passionate book, is the living communion of
Christ.
“The most amazing book.”
–Anne Lamott
“Engaging, funny, and highly entertaining . . . Miles comments, often
with great insight, on the ugliness that many people associate with a
particular brand of Christianity. Why would any thinking person become a
Christian? is one of the questions she addresses, and her answer is also
compelling reading.”
–Booklist
“Powerful . . . This book is a gem [and] will remain with you forever.”
–The Decatur Daily
“What Miles learns about faith, about herself and about the gift of
giving and receiving graciously are wonderful gifts for the reader.”
–National Public Radio
“[A] joyful memoir . . . advocates big-tent Christianity in the truest
sense . . . a story of finding sustenance and passing it on.”
–National Catholic Reporter
“Rigorously honest, Take This Bread demonstrates how hard–and how
necessary–it is to welcome everyone to the table, without exception.”
–San Francisco Chronicle
“Moving, delightful and significant.”
–The Christian Century
Don’t miss the reading group guide in the back of the book.
About the Author
Sara Miles is the author of How to Hack a Party Line: The Democrats and
Silicon Valley and co-editor of Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems
of June Jordan and the anthology Opposite Sex: Gay Men on Lesbians,
Lesbians on Gay Men. Her work has appeared in The New York Times
Magazine, The New Yorker, The Progressive, La Jornada, and Salon, among
others. She has written extensively on military affairs, politics, and
culture. She lives in San Francisco with her family. Visit the her
website at www.saramiles.net .
Sara Miles, author
To order this book from Cokesbury.com, click on the book jacket above, or click HERE!
Just Read...
The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett
[AVH finished July 2008]
From the New York Times on the Web:
November 16, 1997
Sleight of Hand
In Ann Patchett's new novel, magic includes unexpected love and
redemption.
Read the First Chapter
By SUZANNE BERNE
Parsifal is dead,'' reads the startling opening of ''The Magician's
Assistant,'' Ann Patchett's third novel. ''That is the end of the
story.'' Since more than 350 pages follow, the reader has been fairly
warned to expect surprises and a few contradictions. And sure enough,
they begin appearing like doves from silk scarves. Instead of a medieval
knight, Parsifal turns out to be a gay magician, the owner of a rug
store in Los Angeles who has AIDS and who has just died of a ruptured
aneurysm while holding hands with his assistant, Sabine, whom he
recently married. ''I love you,'' Parsifal had said. ''I want you to be
my widow.''
A contradiction in herself, the beautiful Sabine has rejected many
admirers to devote her entire adult life to loving Parsifal, assisting
his magic act and finally helping him tend his dying Vietnamese lover,
Phan. Now middle-aged and alone in Phan's enormous house in Los Angeles
with only a rabbit for company, she slides into a dangerous, somnolent
despair, mourning the loss of a man she never had -- which means there
is no need ever to quit mourning him. Like Sleeping Beauty, she has
fallen under a spell that seems impossible to break.
This curiously fraught situation becomes more so once it is revealed
that Parsifal had a secret history. The tragic, privileged background in
Connecticut he had described to Sabine was all smoke and mirrors; it
turns out he grew up as Guy Fetters in Alliance, Neb., where his mother
and two sisters still live, though he hadn't seen them for decades. When
the frumpy Dot Fetters and her daughter Bertie show up in Los Angeles to
meet Guy's wife and see his grave -- right next to Phan's -- what began
as a complicated story becomes almost baroque. The Fetterses prove to be
tolerant, caring folks. Alarmed by her unhappiness, they invite Sabine
to visit them in tiny Alliance, and she surprises herself by going,
hoping for some sort of connection with the Parsifal she has just
discovered. ''When Parsifal died she lost the rest of his life, but now
she had stumbled on 18 years. Eighteen untouched years that she could
have; early, forgotten volumes of her favorite work. A childhood that
could be mined month by month. Parsifal would not get older, but what
about younger?''
The difficulty with this unusual romance is that it is never clear why
Sabine loves Parsifal so obsessively. He was generous and good-hearted,
but so are his mother and sisters and nearly everyone else she
encounters, including Phan, who regularly visits Sabine's dreams to
report on the afterlife and advise her on her quest. We are reminded
several times that Parsifal was a magician, and ''without magicians, the
assistants were lost,'' but that answer isn't satisfying either, even
for a novel that insists on becoming a fairy tale. Sabine remains an
enigma, a woman entranced by her own enchantment. Which explains why she
never generates enough sympathy to make her predicament truly absorbing.
Yet the kindliness of ''The Magician's Assistant'' is beguiling, and
Patchett is an adroit, graceful writer who knows enough tricks to keep
her story entertaining. She is especially practiced at the razzle-dazzle
of odd juxtapositions. As Sabine notes: ''People long to be amazed, even
as they fight it. Once you amaze them, you own them.'' Few readers will
be amazed that Sabine's search for Parsifal in Nebraska leads her to
find love unexpectedly or that by posthumously reuniting Parsifal with
his mother and sisters, she helps unchain them from a painful past. But
it is still gratifying to watch Patchett pull each rabbit out of the
hat.
The real appeal of ''The Magician's Assistant'' lies in the small,
accumulating ways in which Sabine and the Fetters family assist one
another out of isolation and sorrow. By the end, they have all been
somewhat transformed -- yes, by the magic of love. If it is hard not to
squint at some of the flashy paradoxes Patchett uses to construct her
narrative, then perhaps a struggle with credulity is precisely what she
wants to encourage. Improbable relationships can flourish; strange
havens do exist. Becoming accustomed to sad endings may be more naive
than believing, now and then, in happily ever after.
Suzanne Berne is the author of a novel, ''A Crime in the Neighborhood.''
The Relentless Tenderness Of God by Brendan Manning
[AVH finished June 2008]
From the Back Cover:
A God you can know Is God a wrathful judge? A gentle healer? A father?
Brother? Friend? In The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, Brennan Manning
brings you to a deeper understanding of the true nature of God. Through
poignant and unforgettable stories and challenging observations, Manning
helps you stretch your mind and reject simplistic explanations of who
God really is.
With rich insights you'll see how God can at once be a roaring lion, pacing the globe and seeking you out; and simultaneously a tender lamb, there to comfort you in any time of need. A unique experience, this book will forever change the way you think about God. "As I read these honest, grace-saturated, humbly iconoclastic, distinctly un-sugarcoated but still somehow gentle words, I could taste familiar water, living water that only people who are thirsty for life can enjoy. Read it--and hope again!" --from the foreword by Larry Crabb.
Brennan Manning is a former Franciscan priest and
author of a dozen books including the best-selling The Ragamuffin
Gospel. He has lived a faithful life of service to others and to God and
shares his intellect and love through the words found in this book.
About the Author
Brennan Manning is a best-selling author and spends more than half his
time on the road in a ministry of evangelism, directing weeks of parish
renewal, retreats and missions. Ordained a Franciscan priest in 1963, he
makes his home in New Orleans.
Mandate to Difference:
An Invitation to the Contemporary Church
[AVH finished May 2008]
Walter Brueggemann, Author. Louisville, KY: Westminster John
Knox Press, 2007.
Walter Brueggemann provocatively explores the complexity of faithful
living and ministry amid contemporary forces that vie for the control of
our attention and allegiance. These essays are wide ranging—probing such
topics as forgiveness, welcome, hope, Sabbath-keeping, the need for
theological certainty, and the use of the Bible in American
Christianity. What holds them together is Brueggemann's insistence that
"the church in this demanding moment of its life must recover and
re-embrace its missional identity that sets it in significant tension
with major political-economic-ideological developments in U.S. society."
Also central is his conviction that—at its root—faith is about
"openness to wonder" and "awe in glad praise."
Amazon.com
“If you
cringe at the boisterous, cocky new sound of religion in politics, if
you worry about the divisiveness of ‘red’ and ‘blue,’ and if you are
vexed that too many people claim to be speaking directly for Christ, you
might think that our Christian faith is all about getting the moral
issues right and leveraging others to think and act the right way, as do
we. But if you think that, you are very wrong, because such contemporary
loud posturing is not so much about faith as it is about anxiety and
maintaining control in the world. Our faith . . . is not about pinning
down moral certitudes. It is, rather, about openness to wonder and awe
in glad praise.”
—from chapter 1
In this his newest work, renowned Walter Brueggemann sets forth a new
vision of the Christian church in today’s world. Based on recent
speaking engagements surrounding his critical passion and
conviction—that the church in this moment must set itself in tension
with the rest of the world—the essays in Mandate to Difference
call the church to courageously defy political polarization,
consumerism, and militarism. “If this is God’s world and if the rule of
love is at work,” he writes, “then our mandate is not to draw into a
cocoon of safety; rather, it is to be out and alive in the world in
concrete acts and policies whereby the fearful anxiety among us is
dispatched and adversaries can be turned to allies and to friends.”
- Cokesbury.com
To order, go to:
http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=435917
Kitchen Table Wisdom (10th Anniversary Edition)
by Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen
Dr. Remen's New York Times bestselling book Kitchen Table Wisdom:
Stories That Heal is published in eleven languages and is presently used
in the standard Introduction to Clinical Medicine course in 18 medical
schools across the country. Kitchen Table Wisdom won the 1996 Wilbur
Award for best work of spiritual non-fiction and the Friends of
Libraries USA Readers' Choice Award for 2000.
"Rachel Naomi Remen is nature's gift to us, a genius of that elusive and
crucial capacity, the human heart. She has much to teach us about
healing, loving, and living." - Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., author of
Emotional Intelligence
"This is a beautiful book about life, the only true teacher." - Bernie
Siegel, M.D., author of Love, Medicine & Miracles
Review from the Barnes & Noble website:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781594482090&itm=1
Following Foo (the electronic adventures of the Chestnut Man) by B. D. Wong
Pastor Allen's thoughts: I simply loved reading this book. B.D. has such an energetic and quirky approach to life. Plus, with my love of children and lost longing to be a parent myself, this book offered a glimpse into what it must be like to be a gay parent. I highly recommend it, especially for those people who have no idea about how gay men or lesbians could really be parents. AVH
Every now and then there comes along a literary voice so strong, so
originally sincere, and so uniquely distinct that the words on the page
seem to sing and to scream and to dance -- all at once and all on their
own. Such is the wonderful writing debut of acclaimed actor B.D. Wong.
With a remarkable mixture of upbeat optimism, unexpected hilarity, and
heart-wrenching sadness, Wong takes the reader deep inside both his
psyche and the neonatal intensive care unit where he spent the better
part of three months following the harrowing medical twists and turns
that took place after the premature birth of his twins."Once upon a
time," as Wong explains in his true story, Following Foo: (the
electronic adventures of the Chestnut Man), "my partner and I found
ourselves expecting, with the help of a surrogate mother, modern medical
science, and lots of good luck and prayers. To add to our blessing, she
was carrying twins! Things were pretty swell ... until the twins arrived
almost three months early. For those of you who don't know, babies that
come almost three months early are pretty little, and boy are they
scary-looking. Especially when you're their dad ... "
Originally based on a series of real-time E-mails sent to keep his
friends and family abreast of the daily madness and miracles of "early"
parenthood, this book is a gem, a joy, and an inspiration to anyone who
has ever taken a ride on the roller coaster of life and tried to keep
both sense of humor and sanity intact.
Review from the Barnes & Noble website:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780060529536&itm=1
Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism
and the Christian Faith
by Eric Jacobsen
Description: There has been much ink spilled in the
evangelical community about "claiming our cities for Christ" and plenty
of lip service paid to the need to address urban concerns. But according
to author and pastor Eric Jacobsen, this discussion has remained far too
abstract. His Sidewalks in the Kingdom challenges Christians to gain a
practical, informed vision for the city that includes a broad
understanding of the needs and rewards of a vital urban community.
Building on the principles of New Urbanism, Jacobsen emphasizes the need
to preserve the nourishing characteristics of traditional city life,
such as shared public spaces, mixed-use neighborhoods, a well-supported
local economy, and aesthetic diversity and beauty.
Sidewalks in the Kingdom includes three appendices: a glossary of urban
vocabulary, an annotated bibliography of related sources, and a detailed
description of the principles and goals of New Urbanism. A companion
website with posted discussion questions,
www.sidewalksinthekingdom.com, makes it ideal for study
groups. Pastors, city-dwellers, and those interested in urban ministry,
politics, and development will be both encouraged and informed by
Sidewalks in the Kingdom.
Author Information: Eric O. Jacobsen is adjunct professor of theology
and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary. He previously served as
associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Missoula, Montana.
Jacobsen is a member of the Congress for the New Urbanism.
Where Have All The Prophets Gone? Reclaiming Prophetic Preaching In America by Marvin McMickle
From the Pilgrim Press website:
"Prophetic preaching in the American
pulpit has suffered a decline in the last 20-25 years. Several things
are to blame: an overzealous preoccupation with praise and worship; a
false and narrow view of patriotism; and a focus on prosperity and
personal enrichment themes.
"Where Have All the Prophets Gone? is a call for preachers to learn the
importance of keeping their eyes on the vision of Jesus and biblical
prophets when preaching - that of doing justice, caring for others, and
being equitable. The book attempts to make a biblical argument for the
importance and the content of prophetic preaching, and argues that the
issue is not preaching from a text taken from the prophetic corpus but
preaching on the themes that echoed over and over from the biblical
prophets themselves.
"MARVIN McMICKLE is pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio.
He earned his Ph.D. From Case Western Reserve University, his D.Min.
from Princeton Theological Seminary, and his M.Div. from Union
Theological Seminary in the City of New York. He is the professor of
homiletics at Ashland University and the author of six books."
The World of Normal Boys
by K.M. Soehnlein
Book review by Jeremy Quittner
Karl Soehnlein's stunning first novel, The World of Normal Boys, reads
like a cross between the film American Beauty and Edmund White's A Boy's
Own Story. The book, set in 1978 suburban New Jersey, unfolds through
the eyes of precocious 13-year-old Robin MacKenzie, who feels the
stirrings of his nascent homosexuality while his family suffers a crisis
that nearly tears them apart.
Robin's discovery is that he can't ever be normal, and his realization
unfolds with a hyperclarity that scrutinizes the complex tangle of
emotions--rage, love, repressed desire--that govern suburban
relationships. Along the way Soehnlein skillfully excavates the 1970s,
pulling up old Patti Smith lyrics, Galaxie 500 convertibles, and
scoop-neck T-shirts that, say FOXY LADY. He sets these reminders against
a familiar backdrop of the idiotic gym teachers, hypermasculine jocks,
stoners, bimbos, and family tyrants who made life hell for gay boys
everywhere.
Even if you're not a child of the '70s, The World of Normal Boys will
force you to relive the most painful moments of your adolescence. In the
process you'll reaffirm your decision to be who you are now.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Liberation Publications, Inc.
Broken For You by Stephanie Kallos
From Stephanie Kallos' Website:
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
A Minister's Meditations
"Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson takes readers inside the head of an
elderly minister.
Review by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Reprinted with permission from Spirituality & Health on
www.BeliefNet.com.
This beautifully written novel is set in 1956 when John Ames, a
third-generation Congregational minister, has decided to write a long,
memory-filled letter to his seven-year-old son. At seventy-six years,
this reflective man has been diagnosed with angina pectoris and doesn’t
have very long to live. John wants to pass on the faith that has filled
his life with meaning, the love that has sprung from his second marriage
to a serious young woman, and the forgiveness that has been a challenge
to several generations in his family.
John Ames, the narrator of this epistolary novel, is a sensitive and
intelligent country minister in Gilead, Iowa. He wants to share with his
young son important bits of family history. One of his fondest memories
is of a month-long journey with his father to find his grandfather's
grave in Kansas. The two men did not hit it off very well: one was a
violent abolitionist who was connected with John Brown and the other was
a pacifist. John sees this fissure of father and son repeated in the
life of his best friend, Old Boughton, Gilead's Presbyterian minister.
When his son Jack returns to town, this former prankster seeks out John
Ames for counsel and advice. He wants to know what the minister thinks
of predestination. Suddenly, Ames finds himself assessing his negative
feelings about Jack and wrestling with the meaning of forgiveness. The
final meeting between the narrator and this prodigal son is capped with
a deeply spiritual event that demonstrates the remarkable healing power
of certain Christian rituals.
What is so wonderful about this novel is that it slows us down to the
rhythms of the elderly narrator and the regularity of life in a small
town. In his meditative letter, the minister touches upon the battles
between fathers and sons, the meaning of friendship, the wonderful
beauty in the natural world, the rituals of baptism and blessing, and
the healing he has sought and found in Gilead. The time span covers the
bounties of Christian faith and service during 100 years of family
history. Here is a clergyman who loves hymns and has preached thousands
of sermons. He reflects on his 2250 sermons stored in boxes and his
respect for theologian Karl Barth. Ames has learned to respect the
mysteries of life and the small pleasures of living by honing the
spiritual gifts of wonder, attention, and listening.
With sober-mindedness, Ames tallies up the legacies of his pacifist
father, his wild grandfather with one-eye and many visions of God, and
the impact of losing his first wife and child in childbirth. He has
spent much of his life listening to others, and at one point, states:
"That's the strangest thing about this life, about being in the
ministry. People change the subject when they see you coming. And then
sometimes those very same people come into your study and tell you the
most remarkable things."
Whether pondering the delights of baseball, appreciating the beauties of
nature, or commenting on the many books he has read, Ames demonstrates
how the Christian life can be awash with enchantments if one takes the
time to count one's blessings and give all the praise to God, who is
wrapped in one mystery after another.
For some of my all-time favorite books, click HERE!
Magazines & Journals I Read Regularly...
Sojourners
I started subscribing again to this "progressive evangelical" magazine after having dropped it two decades ago because I simply never had time to read it. I read it... every issue and every article! I feel that even though not every author shares my point of view, it is a powerful resource for people of faith who see God's will being progressively manifested in creation and in the people of God. It has humor, timely news stories, and compelling articles.
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.home
DisciplesWorld
It is critical that we keep ourselves informed about the church beyond our own congregation's walls. I subscribe to the print version of DisciplesWorld and I log into the website regularly, which has a lot of additional content.
Not only is this journal in the long and fine traditions of journals our denomination has had, it is also one of the finest church journals around. I *highly* recommend it.
http://www.disciplesworld.com/
Jet Magazine
It is important to me to grow in my understanding, awareness, and appreciation of the African American Community, and this little magazine is a great and easy way for me to do so! I grab one off of the rack in the checkout line at Dave's Supermarket and read it a little at a time over the next week. It's amazing how the world opens up for me by readin it!
The Advocate
I have been reading The Advocate for over 20 years. It was a lifesaver as I grew into my awareness as a gay man, and as I sought to navigate the ever so tricky politics of New York City LGBT life and politics. It is an award-winning newsmagazine that has kept its integrity and its wonderfully brilliant style throughout the years and over many remakes.