5 comments about My Life With the Saints.

1. Father Martin has given us a personal look at his relationships with the saints included in this collection. For everyone who grew up with the idea that saints were holy-card perfect, this book provides a healthy alternative look at people whom we all might hope to imitate. His approach--to include those holy men and women (some not yet canonized) who play a personal role in his own life--is a helpful way to consider the communion of saints. Highest recommendation.



2. I love this book for two reasons:
   1. It makes the saints acessible.
   2. It makes religious life, like James Martin's, sound exciting and, dare I say, FUN!
   
   1) It makes saints accessible. They are unique - each with their own faults (mostly the dudes). I feel like I can relate to them, just like Martin does in this book. He connects their struggles to his, their strengths to his.
   
   2) James makes religious life sound so fun! It's not second rate to the married life, as Martin believed (and I). One instance he's at a retreat running, literally, with his buddies to the next contemplative service, laughing along the way; another time he talks about really good cheese at St. Merton's monastery in Kentucky. James is the kind of guy who's cool to grab a beer with and watch a movie.
   
   I'm not done with the book yet. But I'm loving it! James, good work.
   
   PS "I'm a Saint in the Making" is a song by Jacob and Matthew



3. This author and book are absolutely fantastic. I have been recommending this book to every person I know. I thank God for James Martin, SJ and and for the Saints.



4. James Martin gives us brief biographies of many saints (some canonized, some not) interspersed with his accounts of how these saints have been present in his own life. It's an excellent introduction to these saints. The bios are short, hitting the highlights of how they became saints, but well-written and still able to convey a full life. His own memoirs are spiritual and entertaining. It's nice to find a book that is light and easy to read that still has something more important to offer. This one is definitely worthwhile.
   
   Amanda Hamm, author of Dear Jane Letters



5. This book was not for myself. I was asked to order it for a relation of mine who is a catholic priest. He was quite pleased with it.Its a nice pleasent read he says. If you are into reading the history of the church or the life of the saints this book is for you.

5 comments about The Seven Storey Mountain.

1. 
   
   Today I delivered a gift copy of this book to a widow, "Grace" whose husband had been my late father's closest childhood friend. A week earlier, Grace had asked: "Have you ever read Thomas Merton's SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN? I read it in 1953; and found it very moving. I'd love to find a copy and read it again."
   
   When I presented her with a new copy of this edition, I asked if I could read aloud my favorite passage (early in the book) concerning Thomas Merton's `little brother' John Paul (five years younger) who, like his older brother was a French-born, American citizen.
   
   Late in the book Thomas Merton tells us how John Paul was compelled early in WWII to join the Royal Canadian Air Force (and trained right here in Manitoba! John Paul Merton had been flying bombing runs over a real sandy desert on the prairie just outside nearby Camp Shilo, where today's Canadian Artillery Officers still train. My late father was flown at Canadian Army expense each year, late in life, to address the graduating officers at that camp: Small world!)
   
   Just before leaving for overseas, John Paul flew to see his older brother Thomas and, not incidentally, be Baptized, and welcomed into the Catholic faith. Then he left for England (and was killed in action the next year, when his RAF bomber went down over the English Channel).
   
   His death provides the moving culmination to this book - bringing the reader `full circle' from the moment (back on page 25) when Thomas Merton introduces us to John Paul. (What follows is the passage that moves me to tears when I read it aloud to a friend.)
   
   ------
   
   "One thing I would say about my brother, John Paul: My most vivid memories of him, in our childhood, all fill me with poignant compunction at the thought of my own hard-heartedness, and his natural humility and love.
   
   "I suppose it's usual for elder brothers, when they are still children, to feel themselves demeaned by the company of a brother, four or five years younger, whom they regard as a baby, and tend to patronize and look down upon.
   
   "So when Russ and Bill and I (older brothers all) made huts in the woods out of boards and tar paper . . . we severely prohibited John Paul, and Russ' younger brother Tommy and their friends from coming anywhere near us. If they did try to come and get into our hut, or even to look at it, we would chase them away with stones.
   
   "When I think now about that part of my childhood, the picture I get of my brother John Paul is this: standing in a field a hundred yards away from our hut, is this little perplexed five-year-old kid in short pants and a kind of leather jacket, standing quite still; his arms hanging down at his sides.
   
   "He is gazing in our direction, afraid to come any nearer on account of the stones, as insulted as he is saddened, and his eyes full of indignation and sorrow. And yet he does not go away. We shout at him to go away, beat it, go home, and wing a couple more rocks in that direction. We tell him to play some other place. He does not move.
   
   "And there he stands, not sobbing, not crying, but angry and unhappy and offended and tremendously sad. And yet he is fascinated by what we are doing, nailing shingles all over our new hut. And his tremendous desire to be with us and to do what we are doing will not permit him to go away.
   
   "The law written in his nature tells him he must be with his elder brother and do what he is doing, and he cannot understand why this law of love is being so wildly and unjustly violated in his case.
   
   "Many times are like that, and in a sense, this terrible situation is the pattern and prototype of all sin: the deliberate and formal will to reject disinterested love for us, for the purely arbitrary reason that we simply do not want it. We `will' to separate ourselves from that love; we reject it entirely and absolutely, and will not acknowledge it, because it does not please us to be loved . . . "
   
   [Thomas Merton immediately recalls an astounding event] "when our `gang' tried to antagonize the extremely tough Polish kids who had formed a gang in nearby Little Neck (approaching their headquarters) and "from a very safe distance we would challenge them to come out and fight" (but) "nobody came out - perhaps (that day) there was nobody home."
   
   But then came the day, Merton recalls, "one cold and rainy afternoon, when we observed that numbers of large and small figures, varying in age from 10 to 16, most of them very brawny" gathered outside the Merton home, "20 or 25 of them. There were four of us."[hiding inside].
   
   "The climax of the situation came when Frieda, our German maid, told us that she was very busy with housecleaning and we must all get out of the house immediately. Without listening to our extremely nervous protests, she chased us out the back way . . . we made our way through back yards to the safety of Bill's house" [a block away, with a clear view across a field, of the Merton home].
   
   "And then an extraordinary thing happened. The front door of our house opened. My little brother John Paul came walking down the steps with a certain amount of dignity and calm. He crossed the street (and) walked toward the Little Neck gang. They all turned towards him. He kept on walking and walked right into the middle of them.
   
   "One or two of them took their hands out of their pockets. John Paul just looked at them, turning his head to one side and then the other. And he walked through the middle of them and no one ever touched him.
   
   "And so he came to the house where we were. We did not chase him away."
   
   -------
   
   The book closes with a poem written by Thomas Merton upon learning of his brother's death in the North Sea: "I learned that John Paul was severely injured in the crash but managed to keep himself afloat, even tried to support the pilot who was already dead.
   
   "He was very badly hurt; maybe his neck was broken. He lay in the bottom of the dinghy in delirium. He was terribly thirsty. He kept asking for water. But they didn't have any. It didn't last too long. He had three hours of it and then he died. His companions had more to suffer, and were finally picked up and taken to safety five days later. On the fourth day they had buried John Paul at sea."
   
   The chapter concludes with Thomas Merton's poetic requiem for his "dear brother" asking their Maker to,
   
   "Take my breath . . .
   and buy yourself a better death . . .
   And buy you back to your own land
   The silence of Whose tears shall fall
   Like bells upon your alien tomb.
   Hear them and come,
   They call you home."
   
   Thomas Merton died 40 years ago (on the 20th anniversary of his book's first publishing) while attending a conference of Eastern and Western monks in Thailand (electrocuted by a faulty table lamp in his Bangkok hotel room).
   
   This "Fiftieth Anniversary Edition" includes a delightful "Note to the Reader" from William H. Shannon, founding president of the International Thomas Merton Society, who recalls that, from the very first day in print (October 4, 1948) the book was "an instant success: Hailed as a modern day version of the `CONFESSIONS' of St. Augustine, it has continued to sell and sell and sell."
   
   As Evelyn Waugh, no easy critic, wrote prophetically: It "might well prove to be of permanent interest in the history of religious experience."
   
   Buy a copy and see for yourself (I highly recommend this edition).
   
   Mark Blackburn
   Winnipeg Canada



2. "The Seven Storey Mountain" is that rarest of gems: an articulate book about a lifelong spiritual quest.
   
   Its author, Thomas Merton, tells the story of his life, how his vague unease about spiritual questions eventually led him not only to Catholicism but to the narrow walls of a Trappist monastery in Kentucky.
   
   The writing is rich and thoughtful. Whatever your opinion of Merton's conclusions, you find yourself admiring his bravery and honesty.
   
   Surprisingly, the book is actually quite the multi-textured rumination on life in America in mid-century as much as it is the story of Merton's life. His gallery of characters and evocative prose never disappoint. Here's a sample:
   
   "It was a bright, icy-cold afternoon when, having passed Nantucket Light, we first saw the long, low, yellow shoreline of Long Island shining palely in the December sun. But when we entered New York harbor the lights were already coming on, glittering like jewels in the hard, clear buildings. The great, debonair city that was both young and old, and wise and innocent, shouted in the winter night as we passed the Battery and started up the North River. And I was glad, very glad to be an immigrant once again." (p. 151)
   
   I would recommend "The Seven Storey Mountain" to anybody who finds himself restless about spiritual matters, even if he has no particular interest in Catholicism or even Christianity. The book's reach is much deeper than that.



3. This excellent book has been on my 'must-buy'list for some time. It is beautifully written - goes straight to the heart. I have read it twice, and always find something new, and interesting. ( I had the advantage of a borrowed copy). I read in the'Note to the reader'at the beginning of
   the book that some would have difficulty in understanding the 'outdated religious atmosphere' that pervades the book. I think that the reader would find it a part of its charm (if that is the word).



4. I just bought a copy of this book. It is so beautiful I finished reading
   it word for word from cover to cover in 2 days. I am hooked on Thomas Merton! Looking forward to more of his works.



5. The Seven Storey Mountain is a true classic written by a humble genius. It is extremely well written and laid out. Thomas Merton being a highly intelligent man wrote it is a highly intelligent manner, and you can not help but sink into his wonderful narrative style and logical manner. It was written over half a century though and I at times had to reread sections because his writing style and use of words was not very familiar to me, and I wanted to insure I was understanding what he was saying.
   
   What really sets the Seven Storey Mountain apart is it gets better after reading it. It is often times in the years after my first read where idea and seeds that were planted when I first read the novel make themselves known. Thomas' search and discovery for religion and purpose will appeal to a wide audience, not just the uber religious. It is a wonderful novel of self discovery and change.

5 comments about The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.

1. Not an easy read but if you stick with it, an overall interesting read. Well worth the time.



2. it came in about 2 days and it was in perfect condition. way to go book company



3. "The Open Road" is indeed about journeys - both physical and spiritual. The book is, of course, centered around the Dalai Lama and his public and private life, but it delves into other areas as well - the West's dreamlike vision of Tibet, life in India, dealings with China, various schools of Buddhism, politics, etc. Very clearly, it comes across that the Dalai Lama is at heart a realist, and much of this book addresses his strong desire to face the world straight-on and find real solutions to end war, pain, and suffering.
   
   My only complaint about this book is that it does not flow well. There is no easy progression of going from point A to point B. It feels a little choppy. At times I was anxious to skip over paragraphs and move forward. I learned quickly, though, that this was a mistake. There is wisdom tucked away on every page. I learned to read the book slowly, stopping every few pages to let it all sink in. The author and his subject, the Dalai Lama, both have wonderful insights to share.
   
   An enlightening read.



4. this book is great. it was easy to read and very enjoyable. it is a good introduction to the d.l. and his place in the world. iyer's writing style is very nice and it flows beautifuly. he has tremendous wit, compassion and insight and is not afraid to look at difficult problems and paradoxes and make sense of them. he can look at both sides of an issue and is a real truth seeker. anyone interested in buddhism or the d.l. will enjoy this great book which was obviously a labor of love for iyer.



5. The Wizard of Oz didn't want Dorothy and her three knights to draw aside the curtain to see the little man who the denizens of Oz thought was as majestic as his booming voice. Pico Iyer has let us look behind the screen of the god king of Shangri-La and get a peek at the contradictions in the midst of which the Dalai Lama sits. Like the Dalai Lama, the Wizard is compassionate. He teaches that point-of-view, so to speak, makes the man (sic). The Wizard shows a machine, a simpleton and a coward, that they, respectively, have a heart and a brain and are heroic. According to Iyer, the Dalai Lama claims human unhappiness, as opposed to suffering, is a matter of attitude which can be changed. So the Chinese threat to Tibet will eventually be overcome with patience, non-violence, compassion, and appealing to the Chinese via the world at large that it is in their ultimate interest to grant Tibetans control over their own religion and landscape.
   
   In pulling aside the curtain a bit Iyer has done a great service. Most of the people I know, who venerate the Dalai Lama, have completely fanciful ideas of the history of both Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. The hint in one of the popular movies about the Dalai Lama that Tibet may have been an oppressive medieval theocracy before 1950 never recorded in their minds. The Dalai Lama is a saint; Tibet was Shangri-La; and Tibetan Buddhism has the power to end unhappiness. Iyer tells us that the Tibetans regard the Dalai Lama as a "god king," even if the Dalai Lama takes offence at Iyer's referring to him as a "living Buddha," and Tibetans don't want a democratic government. So they elect realized lamas despite the Dalai Lama's desire to make the government in exile secular. My friends refer to the Dalai Lama familiarly as HH, His Holiness and swoon when touched by him or receive a white scarf. They give up much of their independent judgment when it comes to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan diaspora. Hopefully Iyer's book will bring the starry eyed a bit more down to earth. Yet his book and, more so, his public presentations pull punches. On the radio with Robert Thurman, Iyer was silent when Thurman made the absurd claim that the Chinese will leave Tibet because they become sick at the high altitude. In his book talks he underplays the opposition among Tibetans to what they take as the Dalai Lama's appeasement of the Chinese although his book teases out these themes more subtly.
   
   The Dalai Lama presides over a medieval religion and the tensions which that created in traditional Tibet. In fact, as shown in Melvin Goldstein's book, The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama on which Iyer draws, it may be that very tradition along with the anger of refugees from Eastern ethnic Tibet (over which China does have a traditional claim) which brought the Chinese repression of 1959 and alter prevented the Dalai Lama from seizing the opportunity for settling with both Mao and the proconsul of Tibet in 1979 both of whom advocated going slow and accommodating religion as opposed to Chinese hardliners. Again, the movie version of the diaspora has Mao as the hardliner. Goldstein sees China and the Dalai Lama both as captives of their ideologies. The former poured resources into Tibet to bring the people around to modernism which would make tradition irrelevant while the latter cannot see around the image he has helped create among movie stars, and followers in the West. Chinese modernization has not broken Tibetan adoration of the Dalai Lama. And the Dalai Lama can not fully accept the reality of the modernization of Tibetan or the impatience and violent of young. Iyer touches on these themes but his literary sensibilities and his personal relationship with the Dalai Lama keeps him circling around the conflicts rather than painting them starkly.
   
   A month ago I walked out of the meditation hall where a well known lama was presenting some Tibetan ideas about meditation. He was laying the foundation of right view for a particular practice which he, himself, admitted he was not a master of. It was the third or fourth time I had heard his presentation. As I walked out of the hall filled with awe struck meditators, the word that popped into my head was again, medieval. I conveyed that sentiment to someone who had seen me in the hall. She paid no attention to my comment and said how lucky I had been that I had been in the hall when the lama had conducted the particular empowerment. I felt like I was talking to a fundamentalist Christian. The Dalai Lama says that it is the essence of the teaching not all the bells and incense that matters and yet he encourages all the ritual and wants to preserve the culture (despite what he knows are its drawback). In the presence of a lama who invokes the mystery and authority of traditional Tibet, my awed meditator friend has no interest in discriminating wisdom.
   
   Reading Iyer's book brings one face to face with insolvable problems in the world. He is right that cosmopolitan Beirut devolved into a hell of communal fighting with no solution in sight (although he leaves out outsiders' meddling). And he may be right that despite the impatience of the young Tibetans and what has been effective appeasement, that there is no other course. Gandhi wanted the Jews to commit mass suicide so the world would see the horror of Hitler's extermination. Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age That would have been their nonviolent action. Did either submitting to being herded or the Warsaw Ghetto uprising make any difference in the end? Who knows? As Iyer hints, by the time Martin Luther King was assassinated history had passed him by. His moral authority, though hallowed, ran no writ in the streets.
   
   The New York Review of Books review of Iyer's book seems to imply the Dalai Lama may be in much the same situation. He can take wonderful moral stances for the world at large, but he no longer influences events in Tibet. It may be, as Iyer states, the exile Tibetan community is the most successful groups of exiles in the world (How about the Chinese on Taiwan, Israel, etc. etc.?). But the reviewer also thinks Iyer does not see that in Tibet there is a growing and vibrant Tibetan culture which presumably has accommodated to Chinese overlordship and is making a new place for itself as part of China. Iyer keeps saying that cultural Tibet is dead. It may be for the best that old Tibet with its fighting monks, arcane theology, worship of the Dalai Lama and oppression of peasantry, is going in Tibet itself and will only survive as sentiment for the past with exile monasteries. As Iyer implies, though he constantly reiterates he is no Buddhist, all is impermanent. Us Westerners will have a Tibetan exile community to look up to. It has lots of movie stars to lionize it and religious mysteries to replace our own.
   
   Iyer's book is a good place for all of the Dalai Lama's admirers to begin to look behind the curtain. The realities do not make him any less a compassionate saint. It does make him more human in complex world.
   
   Charlie Fisher, author of Dismantling Discontent: Buddha's Way Through Darwin's World

5 comments about It's All About Him: Finding the Love of My Life.

1. I cannot recommend this book enough for every woman. It truely changed my life. I read it in half a day, and think about it weekly. It truely taught me forgiveness and for those struggling with hurt and betrayal, who need a way to faithfully overcome the hurt and to forgive, this is an excellent book!



2. I bought this book for my mom last Christmas. She read it in two days. She loved it and it made her respect Alan Jackson all the more.



3. I picked up this book and could not put it down. I got it from the library but had to go buy my own copy. Denise is so open and honest and I learned so much from her story. Thanks so much for opening up yourself and sharing your joys and heartaches. I cried and laughed. I wasn't really an Alan Jackson fan but I am now! Great story!
   Shannon



4. I was shocked when I got this product, as I thoutht I was getting a used copy and it was brand new and had never been opened. I received it in a very short amount of time. I would purchase from them again.



5. Denise Jackson's journey through love, heartache, despair, and ultimately happiness and spiritual awakening is truly a remarkable book. Through lean times she relied on love, through rough times she relied on Him. Now in happier times, she realizes that it always has been all about Him. She places all her trust in God and credits Him for never leaving her "I will never leave you or forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5), and making all things possible. "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13). A poignant, heartfelt read about love and faith.

5 comments about Still Growing: An Autobiography.

1. Kirk Cameron's entertaining and inspirational autobiography is a must read for any young person interested in an acting career or anyone who is curious about what it is like to grow up in front of the camera.
   
   You will find out what it is like to have every kid's dream fulfilled-finding yourself on the cover of dozens of magazines, receiving upwards of 10,000 fan letters per week and the ultimate kid dream-having adults treat you with respect!
   
   Kirk's book exposes the pluses and minuses of fame. From the perks of show business celebrity to finding yourself cooperating with the police to capture a pedophile who uses your fame to hurt others.
   
   You will discover how Kirk's love of God and family has contributed to a happy and fulfilling wonderful life, after child stardom. By the time you finish reading Kirk's autobiography, you will know why he is still growing and still smiling- you'll smile too!



2. Yes, I was a Growing Pains fan growing up, but that is not why I wanted to read Still Growing. I wanted to find out how a devout atheist (who, in his own words, "pitied" the religious people he knew) became arguably one of the most outspoken celebrity Christians in Hollywood. Something radical had to have happened.
   
   Much to my surprise, not only did I get an answer to my question, but I got a candid look at the funny (see the section on a young Kirk's audition for Growing Pains where after reading he asks "Is this a drama or a comedy?"), scary (see the section where Kirk has to be the bait in a sting operation to catch a child predator who had begun stalking him), romantic (see the section where he flew to New York to surprise his future wife) and amazingly providential (see Kirks meeting with Ray Comfort and the start of Way of The Master).
   
   And while it is obvious that Kirk is a better actor than a writer, I stopped caring after the first few pages because of the engaging and conversational tone Kirk employs throughout the book.
   
   If you were a fan of Growing Pains, this is a no brainer. If, like Kirk, you struggled with the bigger questions in life, read this book. It will give you the only satisfying answer that there is.



3. Prior to reading this book, all I really knew about Kirk Cameron was that he starred in Growing Pains and later appeared in the Left Behind movies. Now, I have a newfound respect for Kirk Cameron. The entire book is a testimony of his faith in God. He doesn't need to apologize for having a good moral upbringing. Yet, he realized that he was still missing something--God. I was also surprised at his intelligence and wit and enjoyed the writing style of the book. The book covers everything it needs to without being a lengthy tome.



4. I was not a big "Growing Pains" fan when growing up. I did watch the show on occasion and thought it was good, but did not watch frequently. I have seen Kirk Cameron in a few of his other rolls and he is a good actor. I am not the type to give Hollywood actors much thought, but in his case, I will make an exception. Having met him on the set of his latest movie "Fireproof", I can say that he is the Real Deal. He is a very kind person, will take time to talk to kids, and is unashamedly Christian. He shares all these qualities in this book. This book will appeal to both the Kirk Cameron "Hollywood Actor" fan as well as the rest of us who just like the story of a good life lived on moral grounds.



5. I will admit I was a Kirk cameron groupie in the 80's he was so cool, easy going, and gorgeous. What teen didn't look at him and think he had absolutly everything.. In this book he admits it was an illusion, in reality he was seriously shy(to embarassed to dance), painfully self conscience(horrible acne),and socially akward into adulthood(even while falling in love with his wife)He describes what it was like to be a child star and deal with an overwhelming lifestyle. While the book is mostly light and Kirk is funny,he also describes finding faith in Jesus Christ at 17, and the poor decisions he made as a result(were they really poor choices?? thats up for debate) He also talks about finding himself and the negative effects childstardom continues to have him at 37 years old. I liked the book a lot but my only negative is that the book as a whole explains that he is a very private person- a consequence of the experiences he writes about-we get more of a series of snapshots of his life rather then going in depth and sharing to many feelings and revolations. After reading his story I find that Kirk Cameron has grown from an akward kid into a strong and fearless man who proclaims Jesus Christ in a huge way. I have found I have a huge amount of respect for him and the way he lives his life (maybe a bit unconventional)and loves his family with all his heart. He is a christian figure now so I was relieved that Kirk saved the preaching for a seperate section at the end of the book. To find out more about his childhood family dynamic(a bit chaotic)read his moms book A Full house of Growing Pains. It expalins some of what he left out of his own book.

5 comments about Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith.

1. This gracefully written narrative tells the story of Taylor's journey toward ordained ministry, her years as an Episcopal priest, and her departure from that life into a new vocation as a college professor. She decides that the most important calling is not to be ordained or to be religious, but to be fully human and to live a life of love. This is a touching autobiography, an eloquent memoir of faith.



2. I read a lot of memoirs these days. In fact they are probably my favorite literary genre. Maybe I should have been warned by Taylor's subtitle - not simply "a memoir," but "a memoir of faith." Because this is not a memoir in the usual sense. There is precious little of Taylor's childhood, youth or young adulthood - no real concrete stories and examples from her life. Too much of this book remains caught in the abstraction of ideas and beliefs, with not nearly enough examples. The people who show up in the book remain undeveloped vague outlines. And I have a hard time identifying with Brown's spiritual "quest," if that is what it is. I don't think it's because she's a woman either. What few facts that do emerge about her life outside this "quest" do not really serve to make her a sympathetic character. Daughter of a psychotherapist, sister of a lawyer, wife of an engineer - all these tidbits add up to what appears to have been a life of privilege and ease, and continued to be even after her ordination, as she speaks of her Saab and Audi and how they didn't fit into her rural community, and goes on at some length about everything she "wanted" in her custom-built home outside of town (in lieu of a parsonage near her church). What comes through in Barbara Brown Taylor's book is a story of a driven overachiever, who in fact drives herself into a near nervous breakdown, which finally causes her to leave her church and the active priesthood. While I do not doubt the sincerity of her quest for her true vocation and place in God's world, I do wonder about her motives. She became more likeable - more human - in the final section of the book, after she had left the priesthood, when she talks about her crisis of faith and things like her fears of inadequacy and the death of her father. Having said all of this, I still have to say that I'm glad I read the book, which has left me with much to think about in regard to my own role in the Church (Catholic in my case)and my relationship with God and my place in His world. I also think that Taylor is a person I'd like to know, but these 200-plus pages have not given me that opportunity. A memoir of faith? Perhaps. A "memoir"? No. - Tim Bazzett, author of Reed City Boy



3. This book would have been more accurately described in the subtitle as a "Memoir of Personal Experience".
   
   She dismisses orthodox Christian Theology and doctrine as something that the Apostles and Early Church had to "come up with" to explain this or that.
   
   Ultimately it is a story of how the narrow Christian path and Church "didn't work" for her, and many of her thoughts and experiences confirm the fact that women were never meant to be "priests" in the first place (though this fact enrages those who hold to the political language of "equal rights" versus sound apostolic theology).
   
   I found the book pleasant and very readable, but at the same time it was a sad story of how Christ just "wasn't enough". While most in our culture will find it "affirming" or down right "spiritual", it is a disappointment for the orthodox Christian who may wish to read a story about how Christ and the scriptures contain "all things necessary for salvation".
   
   Barbara's approach in later life is gnostic and universalist. In the words of her Presiding Bishopess, "saying Christ is the only way is to put God in too small of a box". Emotions, feelings, and cravings rule the day in the final analysis of her relationship to Christ, and it seems that "leaving" orthodoxy is freeing to her, though I question she was ever there in the first place. Ultimately, God is the final judge of what she has done and what she now teaches.
   
   Her elevation of Native American theology and her fondness of "other paths" leads the committed Christian looking elsewhere for a story of knowing Christ and Him crucified, and following Him in a culture that values personal choice and heterodoxy over all other things.
   
   In the end it is a volume that will find great company with the writings of Spong, Borg, Ehrman, and others who deny the reality of John 14:6 and the authority of Holy Sripture in the name of being on "an authentic journey".
   
   If I have to "put my eggs in one basket" I am going to have to stick with the Apostles and the Church Fathers and leave "other ways" up to Barbara, fine preacher though she is.



4. Over the course of my life I have learned certain things about salad; it has good, nourishing things in it, like spinach, almonds, feta cheese, and olive oil. Sometimes you can add strawberries. With a splash of balsamic vinegar, it sings. Other times it is dressed with slightly less healthy things like mayonnaise or sour cream, but generally its ingredients have a clear line of succession back to something alive; apples, raisins, eggs, potatoes.
   
   Then I moved to South Dakota, where I was introduced to "salad". Unlike what I have just described, this concoction is made of things like Cool Whip and crushed up Oreos. It tastes good in the moment, but by the end of it I am always left slightly nauseous and wondering where it came from.
   
   There's a lot of spiritual "salad" out there. Thankfully, this offering is not in that group. From the moment you crack open the cover, it sings. Her story of earthy, fragrant devotion to God is refreshing and very alive. It breathes the living life of Christ and speaks from the still beating but wounded heart of the church. Thankfully, Taylor veers only briefly into the sordid realm of political hot button issues, and for good reason.
   
   With fifteen years in the pastoral crucible under her belt, and an evident love for all of us, Taylor comes across as someone you can trust. Her words in this precious memoir are nourishing, full of flavor and, like the vegetables in her Georgia garden, entirely organic.



5. This book just "popped" up as an advertised suggestion for me, and after looking at the details on Amazon, I decided to order it. I am doing a lot of soul searching about my own faith journey, and am having a struggle with the Institutional Church not truly following the teachings of Jesus, having gotten enmired in politics and building empire. I felt this book was speaking to me, and is one I could hardly put down. It is well written, and certainly one I would, and have recommended to others.

5 comments about Church Shift: Revolutionizing Your Faith, Church, and Life for the 21st Century.

1. This was a very enjoyable book - so much so that I ordered five additional copies to give away. I like Sunday Adelaja's philosophy and ideas of how we need to 'do church' differently. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.



2. How important for people, young and old, to know the power and strength that lies within. How to tap into it is clearly the testimony of Pastor Sunday. Where ever the Lord has you to go, know that he has an expected end for you, to prosper and to be established. I got the encouragement and assurances I needed BIG TIME!!!



3. I started trying to find a church when I was 13. I walked to all the churches within distance. Nobody even greeted me, a boy without parents! Traveling around America in the military, I went to every church I could and still did not find a man teaching the same message I found in the Bible.
   
   I visited Ukraine and a business contact there invited me to church (see how it works... a business person invites a foreigner to worship, strengthening her sector of society, winning it over for Christ in Christ's ideals).
   
   Listening to Sunday, I was in shock. For the very first time in my life, I heard a man feeding me the same gospel of the Bible. The service was only three and a half hours. I wanted to stay longer.
   
   Sunday fasts and prays one week each month. Seeking like this produces a great WEALTH of God's word. In this book, Sunday shares, really, the Lord's perspective of our church. Reading this book will instantly change your focus, motivate you, inspire you... It is like I have a friend encouraging me to go out and pursue the fire in my heart. Awesome!



4. Pastor Sunday has a passion and precision that has impacted a previously desperate nation. His vision to equip laypeople for ministry in their vocations is a great model of fulfillment of Eph 4:12. This is a true "how to be salt and light in a dark world" book. The truth of this book is already influencing the churches I've shared (50 copies!) with.



5. Thank you very much for obeying God to write Churchshift. We are ready to
   do what we believed for years ,but religious spirits told us it was too
   "independent" and shut us down completely with church machinery....
   
   This book is a deliverance tool for those who knew there was much more
   than what currently obtains in the body of Christ.
   
   I am truly amazed at the grace of humility on your life and I look
   forward to a change in the nations of the earth as this book speaks by
   the Holy Spirit to thousands who had been buried in caves...I am getting
   copies for my numerous friends.

3 comments about Two Wars: One Hero's Fight on Two Fronts--Abroad and Within.

1. We all know, because we are constantly being told, how great are the military men and women who are fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The greatness thing had become a banality to me until I read this book, which explains the depth of the individual struggle of one very brave man, a struggle on the field of combat and off and between. I know that Nate Self is smart. I've met him and talked with him. But I had no idea of the introspection he bares in this wonderful book. His lucid analyses of where he stood and stands left me in admiration. He is better in touch with his feelings than one would imagine, and I only wonder if this comfort with feelings wasn't the cause of his PTSD or the result of climbing out of PTSD. That truly surprised me. After reading Two Wars, I have a much finer -- and far more concrete -- fix on what makes men like Self great. And he is. Thanks for getting this book done, and so beautifully. Malcolm MacPherson.



2. Great book...just finished it. I really appreciate what the Rangers do and how they train to be an elite fighting force. This book is very candid about Nate and his team not only being fighting men but being human. Nate clearly writes well and puts all things into perspective.
   Thanks to a great patriot we know more about the Ranger's sacrifice - not only in war but the home front too.
   My only critque was capturing the battle field and the lay of the land during their ordeal on top of the mountain.



3. Just got through reading an advance copy of this book. Wow! It's the most vivid account yet of what this generation of soldiers goes through emotionally and spiritually to defend our country. The author bares his soul and his faith in a way seldom seen in a "military" book. And there is still plenty of action from the highest battle fought in U.S. military history -- 11,000-foot mountain.

5 comments about Severe Mercy, A.

1. A Sever Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken is perhaps my favorite book. It is a autobiography of the author's life, focusing especially on his relationship with his wife, Davy, and how it evolved throughout their conversion to Christianity. An English professor and poet, Vanauken is a terrific writer who will have you alternately laughing and crying. The story is beautiful, and the message is timeless. It is definitely worth buying and reading. Note: this is a Christian book, from a Christian point fo view, so don't buy it expecting just a romance story. It is theologically deep, and quite moving. It will give you a new frame of thinking about one's relationship to both Christ and one's spouse.



2. I have to be honest, I'm kind of a book snob. I buy a lot of books, read a lot of books, and dislike a lot of books. Rarely does a book catch my heart and my mind as quickly and as totally as this did. Many times when my husband and I were dating and even in our earliest days and weeks of marriage we talked about protecting our little delicate love and we set up ground rules in order to help our love endure. This book puts into words what we felt as we were trying to set our "no plan B" marriage into motion. This love story is love found on many levels and I plan on picking it up again and again in years to come...
   If you want a honest and beautiful and well-written story of love and marriage, buy this book today.



3. Breathtaking... Read the ideal dream of love, read your deepest fears, wear your most passionate tears.
   
   A true story, an autobiography of a Love, written by the husband after his wife's untimely death. The wife's death was the destiny of a jealosy the husband felt for his wife's love for God that arose from their unity in pursuit of beauty. It was a severe mercy for God to take her, to save their love for eternity.
   
   This book is ripe with poetry fruiting from the Tree of Love. This book is truly the miracle concealed in the years of their marriage, their child. This book is the banner of romance, to war the apathy that complacent love dies from so frequently.
   
   I raised my teacup and said, "If it's half as good as the half we've known..." and she said "Here's 'Hail!' to the rest of the road." We drank to that in Darjeeling.
   
   Many will read this book because of the letters from C.S.Lewis. Some will read it because of the story of their conversion from "pagan lovers" to Christians. But, I pray you read it for the Adventure of Love.



4. It offers a rare and by far in my experience, the best insight into what love between a man and a woman could be in its most glorious state. Be prepared to be moved to the very depths of your being.



5. This is the rarest, greatest, most memorable of ALL love stories. I'm not aware of a movie from this book--but there should be! It shows just how close a man and woman can get to becoming "one"--but can it become too extreme? really healthy? and, could it affect your relationship with God? I'll never forget this!

5 comments about Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life.

1. I love most of what C.S. Lewis writes. I can read the Narnia series over and over, and I adore Till We Have Faces. I find him an incredible philosopher and a brilliant mind and a fantastic writer all 'round.
   
   This book is possibly the dullest thing I have ever forced myself to read.
   
   I wanted to like it; heaven knows it had interesting parts, fascinating things I had never thought of before. I found it valuable for understanding what themes that Lewis meant to convey in all of my favorite books and his conversion was particularly interesting.
   
   Oh, but I could have gone without that long and utterly boring chapter about going to boys' school, being hazed, and interactions with the Bloods; I could barely keep myself in the thing even in the most interesting parts about his childhood. Even his conversion came with little emotional interest. For a second I wanted to say that I was missing something, that I had the problem, but I'm not sure that this is so. It's just... boring. For the person on the brink of accepting Christianity, I'm not sure it's even applicable, for intellectually, Lewis is on another plane entirely. What if the reader has never felt this stab of "joy," or at least, experienced it the way Lewis experienced it? I tried to remember such a feeling and, although I remember it, I do not recall it being such a life-changing event.
   
   In the end, this book is fascinating, but far more valuable for the insight it delivers into Lewis's works of fiction than for the path he took to conversion.



2. I have been looking for this book for a long time and i am glad it was so painless to get hold if it through amazon. I am most impressed with the whole experience. Perfect and Painless..



3. One of the greatest Christian apologists ever, you may know, had been in his youth an atheist. This is the story of his journey from faithful, believing child to (paradoxically) myth-worshipping atheist adolescent, to unabashed Christian. If you have any interest in the man himself, Surprised By Joy is autobiographical and describes a lot of details that really seem secondary to his conversion. Very fun and interesting read.



4. Surprised by Joy is a prerequisite if one is to experience the maximum benefit of C.S. Lewis' apologetic works. That is, while one might not actually, and perhaps should not, read Surprised by Joy before some of his other titles it will certainly provide the reader with a new appreciation of Lewis' perspective. Throughout his life, as it is evident in his writing, Lewis returns time and again to face his own struggles, those questions born of his own thoughts, to explain and defend Christianity. As it might be imagined, some of the toughest questions that he ever presented were first shaped into a fit argument while he was confident that Christianity could not possibly be reality. Within this work, Lewis brings these difficulties to light, as well as his experiences which justified his thoughts at any given time and the thoughts which accompanied these experiences.
   
   The education, thoughts, and experiences of Lewis' early life are valuable enough in themselves with regard to an understanding of his adult conviction. However, it is also seen, after reading this work, that it was not only the Christian conviction which became finely tuned in his adulthood. Those difficulties which, at one time, prevented Lewis from accepting Christianity also matured over time into well developed arguments, positioning themselves contrary to his Christian faith. This, some believe, is what makes Lewis such a valuable asset; not only in terms of his ability to make converts out of secular society, but as an educator of Christians seeking clarification. He did not convert and completely forget his previous beliefs, rather his beliefs from any time grew in their ability to persuade and he continuously applied that which he understood to be greater truth to effectively demonstrate why, even the most persuasive and articulate, counter arguments and philosophical alternatives simply fell short of Truth itself. It is for this reason; the fact that much of Lewis' reoccurring subject material stems from difficulties made aware to him in his youth, that Surprised by Joy will provide the reader with a greater appreciation for C.S. Lewis' life's work.
   
   By the title alone, one might be led to believe that this is an autobiography portraying the time before Lewis embraced Christianity, and his path to conversion. It is true that this work is a revealing look into Lewis' early life and, what appear to be, most private thoughts. It is less about Lewis, however, than it is about the human struggle to achieve or even possess joy. Lewis seems to feel that any detail of his life, regardless of what the reader might want to know about him as a person, is willingly sacrificed if it does not somehow tie into his pursuit of joy. What might surprise the reader even more is that Lewis actually ends this work at a period of his life prior to his conversion to Christianity. Nevertheless, Lewis conveys the most trying obstacles in his journey, leading him to theism, while presenting the reader with enough information to bridge some of the, albeit few, personal gaps found in his presentations elsewhere. For a student of C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy is a must.



5. Note that this review is for the Blackstone audio book narrated by Geoffrey Howard. I really enjoyed listening to this book, which is told in the first person. The narrator sounded just like I imagined CS Lewis to be. Initially his tone sounded to me like a stern professor, but it grew on me and ended up being perfect for this book.
   
   I have always been fascinated with CS Lewis; initially as a child I read the Screwtape Letters and much later read the Chronicles of Narnia and then some of his Christian apologetic work. I love his style and I've always thought he had a brilliant mind. I wanted to learn more about his conversion to Christianity and bought this book to find out.
   
   The story is sort of an autobiography, but focuses on his intellectual development as it relates to his becoming an atheist, then a theist, and finally a Christian. This all took place during his childhood through young adulthood. He lost his mother when he was young and never had a good relationship with his father. He didn't develop any true friends until later in his youth, so it was a difficult childhood. He would be termed a geek today; he hated sports and was a bookworm. His recounting of boarding school sounded horrifying. In fact, he describes fighting in World War I as less stressful.
   
   The one thing that I found most interesting was his describing the affect various authors had on him and he found to his disappointment that the authors that impacted him the most were Christian; and that the atheistic authors didn't seem to have the same depth. The book is full of other remarkable insights and is worth reading. I highly recommend this book in either the audio or written format.