3 comments about What the Land Already Knows: Winter's Sacred Days (Stories from the Farm in Lucy).

1. Wonderful essays about Advent and Christmas.
   Mrs. Tickle writes beautifully. In other hands these stories could be overly sentimental, but she puts just the right touch to make them touching without being maudlin.
   I re-read it every year to put myself into the real Christmas spirit.



2. In 1976, Publishers Weekly religion editor Phyllis Tickle and her husband Sam decided to abandon city life and move their family back to their rural roots in western Tennessee. What the Land Already Knows is Tickle's account of winters spent on their farm in the small community of Lucy - "about four thousand citizens if, as we used to say in town meetings, one counted the tractors as well as the cows and people."

   This small book is beautifully written, often funny, always touching, and nearly impossible to put down. I devoured it in one sitting, then went back to reread each chapter separately, slowly, savoring the sweetness, the sadness, and Tickle's remarkable insights on family, winter, isolation, and faith.

   Following an unhurried path from Advent through the children's return to school in January, Tickle introduces her family - human and animal. Husband Sam is a doctor and passionate grape vine tender. Their seven children, the oldest married before the family moves to the farm, thrive in a world defined by chores, farm animals, and family traditions. Her mother, whose yearly frenzy of pecan cooking the author first tries to escape, then comes to cherish. Silly Sally, Mary, Saint, and Oscar, the cows whose lives, calvings, and deaths bring humor, blessing, and meat to the family's life.

   By the time you turn the last of the 114 pages, you feel you might recognize Tickle's family on the streets of Lucy, Tennessee, or any other small farm town.

   From her agonizing ambivalence over finding the right gifts for her children to her unabashed pleasure in returning the house to order after the holiday frenzy, Tickle's honesty, always spoken gently, is disarming, beguiling, and sometimes startling.

   Perhaps the finest chapter is a reflection on names. Musing on her children's delight in the naming of farm animals, of which there were scores, she notes that the named and the namer create together the identity of each, ending with this beautiful reflection: "What is New Year's Day for the world at large is also the Feast of the Holy name for the church. . . . [B]efore the day is done, I still walk out by myself to Mary's Hill for a little while and think about what it means to know the name of God and to be yourself called by it."

   Small enough to fit into a stocking, this is a nearly perfect book for reading and rereading during the long, dark nights of winter.




3. By the fact of being close to my own age, I am totally impressed by Phyllis Tickle's creativity in picturing Epiphany moments out of her large family in Lucy, Tenn. My one regret is growing-up in East Tenn. I was not privileged to live nearby to Lucy, close to Memphis. While I identify being a member of the little country village of Hall's Cross Roads in East Tenn, it was very nearly the same sort of community that gave all small farmers a closely-knit, feeling of belonging! My sense from Phyllis' neat chapters on "Noel, Holy Mother, The Joseph Candle, Christmas Eve Gift, Silly Sally's Gift, and Name This Child" all create their closely-knit Family in activity reflecting the Christmas Story!

   Once I got into the chapter on the "Days of Thomas the Doubter" I noted her carefully portrayed choice of gifts for Laura, "one of the older, newly-wed children...just starting a home." By St Thomas Day, "as my mother used to call it, the Day of the Old Doubter Himself"... She struck a familiar chord in my own sense of describing one of our favorite pastoral characters! In fact, my own point in reading and writing about this unique collection of essays is that it becomes a great model for blending family antidotes into Reflections upon Holy-days and Epi-phanies that people our fondest memories of Christmas.

   If I only picture a couple of more impressive spots, they would lie in the chapter, Christmas Eve Gift: "Appalachians conserve everything in order to survive a geography that has no intention of allowing them...or anything else to survive." No pecans are indigenous to Appalachian mountains...just like East Tenn! I was smitten with Ms Tickle's creative pictures of her environment. In particular the family cracking and shelling nuts for nursing stations at Sam's hospital; also the informal relaxed manner of attire when the family sat around the kitchen on the Feast of St Stephen! "We ate and drank and looked for all the world like a Norman Rockwell come to life." Where else could I find a clear reality pictured in beautifully homespun words of real-life?

   I am now a Fan of anything written by Phyllis Tickle, regardless if it is "The Graces We Remember or Wisdom In the Waiting!" Let me just soak it up for my writer's hunger and thirst for reality. Retired Chap. Fred W. Hood

5 comments about Out Of the Silence.

1. _Out of the Silence_ shows us the downward spiral of three years without being able to speak, not knowing what God was doing. It must have been as difficult and discouraging as Joseph's years before he was exalted as a leader in Egypt and later saved his family. Duane teaches us much about learning from God in difficult times.



2. I could not believe my ears when I heard Mr. Miller's testimony. I believe that miracles are for today and that God is still doing a mighty work for people if we will just turn our hearts to Him.
   
   I could not help but believe the man. He had 200 witnesses, not to mention doctor after doctor examine his condition. He saw specialists that examined famous singers and other voice talent. They determined his voice was degrading with time.
   
   No medical explanation could accurately describe what happened to this man, except for the fact that God touched his life and healed his voice.
   
   There is no sensationalism prior to Mr. Miller's healing. There is no one hopping pews or handling snakes. This is just a faithful servant of God who was saved by a God who loves him and each and every one of us.
   
   There is no coincidence in this. 3 years to the day of his last sermon, while talking about how God rescues and heals those He loves, this man is healed. God should receive all glory for what He has done. Amazing!



3. I can't promise this story will touch you the way it touched me, but it will impact your life. It is beautifully written, surprisingly honest, remarkably poignant, and for me, very, very personal. In fact, I am weeping as I write this.
   
   You see, I am currently experiencing the things he writes about. I had a terrific broadcasting career and an extremely rare voice that I lost to a paralyzed vocal chord. That, combined with the loss of the only woman I've ever loved, was devastating. I experienced the same loss of identity, feelings of worthlessness, financial devastation, hopelessness, and the desire to put a gun in my mouth to escape the pain, that Duane did.
   
   In fact, I'm still in the storm, but this book gave me hope and built my faith! I know there's a purpose for all of this and that God hasn't abandoned me. If you, like me, sometimes struggle to trust or believe in a God who seems to have left you all alone, please get this book. It makes no difference if you have working vocal chords or not - anyone who has known great pain will relate to this story.
   
   And whatever you do, be sure to get the companion tape so you can hear Duane's miracle for yourself. Although only six minutes long, it is very, very powerful!



4. The book came VERY fast and was exactly as described. Very Happy and will do business again.



5. "God never does anything without having a purpose" the author tells us in the preface. This book is the story of how he, as one who makes his living communicating, lost his voice, and how he was healed by the Lord Jesus Christ. During his time of testing, his faith was being stretched. He describes various situations such as financial difficulties facing his college-age daughters. His wife told them, "Girls, I don't understand what God is doing right now, but this one thing I do know; He did not bring us into the desert to kill us. He will make a way for us. Stay in school" (p. 53).
   On faith during such times, the author writes "At times, it may take more faith for us to maintain the right attitude through an anonymous trial than to preach to fifty thousand people in a superdome" (p. 61).
   On receiving God's guidance:
   "Quit looking for the grandiose and look for the routine...trust Him to lead you into His will for your life" (p. 64).
   On Christian cliches:
   "When I minister to people today, I am very slow to offer empty platitudes...Instead of platitudes, I've learned the power of silence and touch" (p. 95).
   We're reminded that tests don't last forever. He describes the miracle he received from God and adds "The miracle didn't just bless me. It blessed thousands of people" (p. 140).
   This is a faith-building book which I highly recommend.

3 comments about Bernadette Speaks: A Life of St. Bernadette Soubirous in Her Own Words.

1. Very interesting. Many details about Bernadette and the miracles of Lourdes included. Perfect reading for anyone who has been to the Lourdes Shrine or is thinking of making the trip to Lourdes, France. I highly recommend it.



2. As a biography, this is quite nice -- very detailed, highly readable, lots of photos. A good account of the life of St. Bernadette. From that standpoint I can certainly recommend it. But from the title and the description, I expected it to be comprised entirely of verbatim excerpts from the writings of, and interviews with, St. Bernadette herself, strung together to create a flowing narrative. I was looking for the most complete volume of the visionary's own description of the Lourdes apparitions, and of her subsequent life, in her OWN WORDS. This is anything but that. So apply caution when choosing this book.



3. This is book is written in the format of a novel, but with Bernadette's actual words. This was a very satisfying hagiography, because it gave, I feel, a realistic portrait of Bernadette. Often, saints' biographies tend to make the saint out as more angelic than human.The author, for the most part, avoids this annoying habit.There are also many interesting photos, which add to the feeling of the "authenitic" Bernadette.
   In sum, I would definitely reccommend this book for anyone truly interested in the life, words, and spirit of the peasant girl from Lourdes who was graced with the presence of the "the Immaculate Conception".

1 comments about The Complete Book of Christian Heroes.

1. This wonderfully fascinating book contains over 200 stories of people who lived for Jesus, suffered for Jesus, and in some cases even died for Jesus. Christian heroes from many different times and places and sects are covered here, everyone from Stephen (the first recorded martyr for the Faith), through Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa, including such lesser known lights as the 26 martyrs of 16th century Japan, the Moravian Indians of Ohio, and Johann and Susanna Kroeker.
   
   Overall, I found this to be a fascinating and informative book, and a very uplifting one as well. If you want to read about Heroes of the Church - believers from all times and places, then this is the book for you. I give it my highest recommendations!

4 comments about Jesus the Man: Decoding the Real Story of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

1. What an important book. Barbara Thiering is an interesting scholar / writer. Her work is world changing, yet, there is no change. Apart from the occasional poor souls who venture into criticism of her based on faith at best, personal invective at worst, the most powerful responses to Thiering's hypothesis / hypotheses that there is a truly historical Jesus who lived a "normal" life packed with "normal" historical events is the deafening roar of deliberate silence. That Jesus was perhaps born into an "upper" class despite the traditional Christian teaching that such was otherwise must be truly shocking. That Thiering might actually be right, and I don't know if she is without further research on my own part, must send a shudder through the edifice of modern Christian religion.
   
   If Thiering's work turns out to be fiction, it is the most savagely powerful I have ever encountered; if it turns out to be only partly true, or worse, wholly true: heaven and earth will work wonders to prevent the reverberations bringing the Chritian edifice down. I suspect most will wait well after Thieiring has departed our company when others can distort what she actually said without fear that she can correct them.
   
   I found myself flicking backwards and forwards too often: looking at photographs, chronologies and storylines. Perhaps Thiering can think of a slightly better structure to tell her story with. Perhaps there is none. I think she could usefully do with some more informative maps, genealogies, sub-chronologies and who's-who-relationship diagrams.
   
   Well worth a read. Thoughful and erudite. Certainly makes you think: "where to from here".



2. Let's assume you are not a literal Christian that cannot accept anything that would threaten the Jesus as God preaching. Otherwise, don't buy or even touch this book because it is blasphemy.
   
   Ok, for those of you who can think for yourselves, give it a try. It is complex and takes a careful reading to follow what was a complex society in Qumran. Those scholars (with credentials) that have examined this book (and the others) have not found fault with her compilation of the data. As a scientist I'm impressed with her method which is careful and consistent. Her story makes more logical sense than any other Jesus story I have read (including the Bible). She may be right or wrong but she is definitely not a crackpot or whacko.
   
   As for the duplication; the original "Jesus the Man" was not available in the US for many years because of pressure from Christian groups(according to the publisher). Since there is money to make riding on the Da Vinci Code phenomenon (which Thiering detests) another publisher has jumped in for the bucks.
   
   Her other two books are easier to follow but this one is the core information.



3. It should be noted, as other reviewers have also pointed out, that `Jesus the Man: Decoding the Real Story of Jesus and Mary Magdalene' is the same book as `Jesus the man', which is the same book as `Jesus & the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls'; all different ISBN's and publishers but essentially the same book; repackaging in trying to dodge the negative reviews of the past and trying to cash in on the Da Vinci $.
   
   Thiering uses the pesher technique to try to prop up her works. A look at most other reviewers from those that have read her books, will tell you how flawed this technique is.
   
   I think very little of the present author along with another writer, Laurence Gardner. They both contend that Jesus descended from the cross of which he was nailed and crucified to. Gardner goes that bit further and say's that Jesus Christ was drugged while on the cross until reviving post crucifixion. Both authors use this argument to then continue to say that Jesus lived the happy family life in begetting children. This then is Gardiner's cash cow, the power of the crucifixion to give the appearance of power via an imaginary blood line. Let's put the word 'Logic' on the cross instead. Even if you don't believe in Jesus Christ having been crucified, try to at least understand this. Crucifixion is a death sentence. You have a crowd of people watching and Roman soldiers doing the crucifying. You then have a body that is nailed to timber at the hands and feet. Added to all of this is the scourging that the Romans inflicted inclusive of the spear that pierced the side of Jesus, causing water and blood to gush out. According to scripture, Christ did return to walk this planet, but in a glorified state i.e. "Touch me not for I have not yet ascended". From an esoteric perspective, the mission of Jesus was an evolutionary pathway. According to esoteric wisdom, the need for a human partner would have been a necessity prior to Jesus' sacrificial mission. To insinuate Christs return to father children is preposterous.
   
   So which is it, there is no proof of Christ ever existing, as most armchair internet theologians would try to tell you, or Christ died and came back and fathered children; all equally trying to devalue the mission of Christ in the spirit of Antichrist; the continued voice of the masses, which still cries to this day "Crucify him and give us the murderer Barabbas instead". Hardly the middle ground of Christ came as a sacrifice to die for the sins of humanity. Christ gives us the example towards spirit and spiritual ascension, while the ego with its desires, passions and lusts, stands in direct opposition to this.
   
   This book deserves a 0 star rating. This is the worst book that I have ever read, a book full of unverified fabrications and outright lies. If you're into the Da Vinci code stuff, do yourself a favour and look for a book and author with more credibility, so as to not waste your time and money and to save filling your mind with useless dribble.



4. Read this in 1992, and bought it again recently. It's still whacko. That is except for one brilliant point that stuck in my mind all this time. The problem is she mentions it only in passing..and doesn't follow it to the obvious conclusion. Jesus, she suggests, was the Wicked Priest that is so vilified in the Dead Sea Scrolls. I think she's right.
   
   Mark Gibbs
   Author, The Virgin and The Priest

5 comments about Stumbling toward Faith (Emergent YS).

1. This book is not for the faint of heart. It is a real look and raw look at a very painful life story. But, it may touch home with some who have shared experiencing pain in their families or even at the hands of "the Church." And, amazingly, God continues to draw this young woman to Himself and gives her faith and hope. SHe is creful to separate church and religion from faith in Christ. I recommend it for anyone who has experienced deep pain in life, yet still wants to believe. I also recommend it for anyone who desires to be shaken out of their a sterile, stagnant Christian faith.



2. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about the depths of abuse that some children suffer, and the courage and strength of those who survive.
   
   I intended to read this book slowly, because of the intense material. I kept thinking, "Okay, it's time to stop," and getting pulled in one more page and three more pages. I really like the poetry - it's surprising and concrete and deeply true all at once. I like the lines that stand out in larger type. I like that it starts out with a clear statement of abuse - no veiled hints, no way to pretend it wasn't happening.
   
   I felt very engaged, the whole time I was reading. I didn't really expect that, since I'm not Christian and never have been. I've had that same struggle, though, believing I'm bad and worthless and wondering why "God" didn't save me. I had a solid sense of the narrator in the book, and felt like I was in conversation, and kept wanting to say, "What about...?" and "Here's how I..." and "Yeah! Me too!"



3. Renee Altson's book is marvelous! Pastors, youth workers, lay leaders, and counselors NEED to read this book to understand the trauma of sexual abuse, the pitfalls of fundamentalism, and how God can use all things for His glory. The book has an artistic format, which also features Renee's wonderful poems, as well as glimpses of her life. It is poignant, painful, and well worth your time, thoughts, and contemplation.



4. Renee Alston has poured out her soul to the world in this provocative life story. She takes the reader on a journey through hidden closets and heavy breathing. All the while searching for justice and shalom, she has learned to wrestle with God in the midnight hour. Although the light of day has come, she is left walking with a limp.
   I recommend this book to anyone who dares to read it! I pray it will help to unleash a new sensitivity within the church, and promote honest confessions of doubt and faith.



5. i have avoided writing this review because i would hate to say anything that would keep someone from reading this important book.
   
   the level of abuse and trauma that renee endured at the hands of her father and the church is sickening, and yet she writes with beauty and depth. there are times you wish she'd stop, you can't fathom anyone enduring the horror she did, but you feel a bit braver for having heard her story, shared her journey.
   
   never have i read anyone with the courage and stamina to endure what she has endured. yet her pain is laced with glimpses of hope, beautiful prose and inspiring tender moments of care. it's unlike anything you have ever read.
   
   if you work with children/teens, or in a church or know someone who has been abused this is a MUST READ. never again should this be allowed to happen. renee's abuse had the church's stamp of approval, it must stop, we must hear the child, we must punish the abuser and allow the hurt to grieve at their own pace.
   
   amazingly this is a story of hope, a story of grace and a story of courage. you won't be the same after you read it.

2 comments about Rebecca's Revival: Creating Black Christianity in the Atlantic World.

1. This was a great book overall. It was factual history that has been obscured and hidden for 400 years. We have been fed the stories of the "great white hope" who came to "save" the slaves from their heathenish African ways. This book clearly counters that claim by asserting that it was through the African slaves themselves that Christianity spread in the caribbean. It is well documented and purely factual. Anytime the author made a statement of opinion that wasn't quite factual he said "maybe", or "perhaps". Overall, it was an excellent book. It was somewhat of a difficult read, but it never hurts to expand your vocabulary!



2. This is a much needed study on the history of black evangelical Christianity in the black diaspora. As a black African evangelical Christian woman with ancestral ties to both Europe and the Caribbean, I have been informed, intrigued, amused, puzzled, saddened, challenged and overall inspired by the story of Rebecca Protten's life. The author has done a remarkably thorough job. Thank you!

No comments about Footprints in the Snow: The Autobiography of a Chinese Buddhist Monk.

5 comments about Homestead: Modern Pioneers Pursuing the Edge of Possibility.

1. Jane Kirkpatrick does not abandon her characteristic figures of speech and writing that touches the soul for this nonfiction book. She tells the story of homesteading on Starvation Point, a remote area along the John Day River in Oregon, where life acquires new significance and she realizes her dream of becoming a writer. This book gives evidence that a person's writing comes from his or her life, the experiences and people encountered on the journey of life. Throughout this book one can find the origin of many events and characters in Jane's novels. Her memoir is a well-written story that gives insight into the pursuit of dreams.



2. This was an excellent book! very good reading and would be appropriate for anyone. Good story and I loving knowing it is all something that happened!



3. This was the first book By Jane that I read. I was so impressed with her story and her writing that I immediately went out and bought her next trilogy. Upon reading the first of those books which I found as interesting, entertaining and historically accurate that I immediately went and bought every book she has ever written and am waiting for the next one.
   
   This from a reader that doesn't read frilly stuff. It has to have substance and thought and be presented in a way that can keep you awake after a hard day of overtime.
   
   Judy Burnett
   Salt Lake City



4. Jane Kirkpatrick's writing carries with it the spirit of the pioneers. "Homestead" chronicles the Kirkpatricks' effort as a married couple to carve out a living from the dry, hard soil of eastern Oregon. They rough it as they go along, working toward a suitable well, a home with an actual foundation, and a road that doesn't rattle their teeth from their jaws.
   
   A fitting testimony to the stubborn stamina and ingenuity of modern pioneers--and a bracing reminder of what our forbears went through--this book is also a heartwarming look into the meaning of family, faith, and friendship. Jane's love of life shines through every chapter, and yet there is no glossing over the troubles, large or small. This is an honest account of the price one pays to pave his or her own way.
   
   While straightforward and economical, "Homestead" is a book that breathes with the fires of imagination and good humor. Jane's writing qualifies this story as a modern masterpiece. My wife and I read some of the chapters aloud to one another, and at a few points we were laughing to the point of tears; at others, we were moved to prayers of thankfulness for our creature comforts and to quiet hugs of love. This is a book for all to enjoy, and one that'll be read for years to come.



5. Not many people would have the courage to take on what Jane and Jerry do, as chronicled in Homestead by Jane Kirkpatrick. Whether it's shooting rattlesnakes or handling dog seizures, surviving a plane crash or navigating a treacherous road, chasing down run away calves or protecting watermelons from the onslaught of deer, the Kirkpatrick's seem to have faced and conquered it all. Such stories usually make for great fiction. The most startling realization, however, is that this story is real.
   
   Jane recalls everything from the beginning, in this memoir of personal struggle and ultimate triumph. To move to an unbroken land and settle into its rhythms, to find a home among the wilds was a dream that she and her husband shared. More often than not, however, it seemed that this dream was as unmanageable as the road they had to travel just to get there. Everything kept going wrong. From broken machinery to tragedies of a larger scale, the Kirkpatricks found that these events kept drawing them closer to one another. For Jane, the call was to "go to the land and write." And write she did; not only this memoir, but nine novels as well. Settling the land was an adventure and a risk neither of them now regret making.
   
   The book was well written with enough action and personal perspective to keep a reader interested. One can not help but feel Jane's concerns as she watches her husband's vehicle slip desperately close to a cliff edge, as she tries to reach out in the best way she knows how while feeling so inadequate. It isn't within herself or her husband that Mrs. Kirkpatrick finds the strength to carry on. That's the kind of strength she only finds in Christ.
   
   Broken into four parts, the book reads quickly and leaves the reader feeling rejuvenated and wondering, "How on earth did these two manage to do this?" Homestead is a book that challenges while it encourages. It challenges the reader to grasp every day and turn it into something memorable; it encourages to keep eyes focused on the dream, whatever it may be, even when getting to it is tough. This is a good and memorable book for all ages. - Lauren Steigerwald, Christian Book Previews.com

2 comments about Ignatius of Loyola: Spiritual Exercises and Selected Works (Classics of Western Spirituality).

1. An enlightening book about St. Ignatius of Loyola... It has an informative introduction and autobiography about his life. The second half of the book is a listing and description of his spiritual exercises.
   
   I have heard so much about St. Ignatius from my spiritual director so I was curious about him, his life and spiritual exercises. This book gives a good summary.
   
   It is written in an academic and fairly difficult fashion. It is not easy reading, although it is inspirational.



2. "The Classics of Western Spirituality" from Paulist Press has been dedicated, over the last twenty years, to producing excellent translations, and this is no exception. The compliation includes a detailed Introduction, the Autobiography, the Spiritual Excerices, and fragments of the Constitutions and the Spiritual Diary. Though it would have benefited from the inclusion of the Formula - an essential document in its own right - this volume provides intelligent translations and crtical explorations into the sometimes-confusing meaning of Ignatius' prose. The selections from the Diary are especially recommended, as they comprise - to my knowledge - the only fragments translated into English, and are thoughtfully printed so as to give the reader a feel for the outlay of the work, scribbled in Ignatius' journal. Highly recommended.