Sabbatical Reading List

One of my loudest complaints (to myself) these past few years in ministry is that I haven't had much time to read. And there is SO MUCH good stuff out there! Having the opportunity to dig into a stack of books will be fantastic. Carrying them to the Holy Land... may be rough but I'll deal.

If you want to read along with what I'll be reading during my overseas sabbatical, here are the titles (along with intro snippets from Amazon), Some of them have been on my list for a while.

The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams: Two spiritual giants. Five days. One timeless question. Nobel Peace Prize Laureates His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have survived more than fifty years of exile and the soul-crushing violence of oppression. Despite their hardships—or, as they would say, because of them—they are two of the most joyful people on the planet. The Archbishop has never claimed sainthood, and the Dalai Lama considers himself a simple monk. In this unique collaboration, they offer us the reflection of real lives filled with pain and turmoil in the midst of which they have been able to discover a level of peace, of courage, and of joy to which we can all aspire in our own lives.

Because - Joy. How do we find it after tragedy, oppression, trauma?

From Beirut to Jerusalem, by Thomas L. Friedman:  Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas L. Friedman drew upon his ten years of experience reporting from Lebanon and Israel to write this now-classic work of journalism. In a new afterword, he updates his journey with a fresh discussion of the Arab Awakenings and how they are transforming the area, and a new look at relations between Israelis and Palestinians, and Israelis and Israelis.

Because - The Middle East is a complicated place. Much of what is available in news channels is so black and white. How do they build a path to peace?

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates:  Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.

Because - It's our original sin as a nation, and the disturbing rise of neo-nazi groups have underscored the fact that racism isn't over in the US. How do we heal the brokenness and move forward together? It's a difficult question to answer without listening to the voices of those who are most directly impacted.

Hillbilly Elegy, By J D Vance:  A passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.

Because - We witnessed this phenomenon this summer on a mission trip to Frakes, KY. The American dream is not equally experienced across the country. What are the underlying factors that have disintegrated the dream and how do we move forward?

Simple Church, by Thom Ranier and Eric Geiger: #1 national bestseller Simple Church guides Christians back to the simple gospel-sharing methods of Jesus. No bells or whistles required. With insights based on case studies of 400 American churches, Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger prove the disciple-making process is often too complex. Simple churches thrive by taking four ideas to heart: Clarity. Movement. Alignment. Focus.

Because - I'm on sabbatical from leading a church, and I'd like for us to begin tackle governance when I return. My gut tells me that we over complicate things. What does "simple church" look like? Hopefully this is not a dumbing down, but a streamlining for effectiveness.

Thank You for Being Late, by Thomas L. Friedman: Exposes the tectonic movements that are reshaping the world today and explains how to get the most out of them and cushion their worst impacts. You will never look at the world the same way again after you read this book: how you understand the news, the work you do, the education your kids need, the investments your employer has to make, and the moral and geopolitical choices our country has to navigate will all be refashioned by Friedman’s original analysis.

Because - The World is shifting in new ways and I'd like to know more.

Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood, Lisa Lamour: In this sane, highly engaging, and informed guide for parents of daughters, Dr. Damour draws on decades of experience and the latest research to reveal the seven distinct—and absolutely normal—developmental transitions that turn girls into grown-ups, including Parting with Childhood, Contending with Adult Authority, Entering the Romantic World, and Caring for Herself. Providing realistic scenarios and welcome advice on how to engage daughters in smart, constructive ways, Untangled gives parents a broad framework for understanding their daughters while addressing their most common questions

Because - I feel sometimes like I don't understand the transition to adulthood for girls, and knowing more may help. Also, the last book I was able to read was Masterminds & Wingmen by Rosalind Wiseman, a book about adolescent male development. It greatly helped me in both understanding my son, but also the other young men that come through our youth program at MCC.

I'll write some thoughts from time to time about the readings, my adventures (w/pics) so that you know what I'm up to. Happy reading!

Spring Things

Aren't 400 books enough?

What are your spring rituals? At our house we like to go through all of our stuff, a couple of rooms at a time, and bring carloads of what we don't need/haven't used to the Monroe Congregational Church's most excellent Outreach Tag Sale  for charity (ya'll come - it's this Saturday, March 17 from 9-12 at 34 Church Street, Monroe, CT). 

OK, maybe I am the only one that likes to do that. You see, I like organization, and secretly fear being a hoarder (my family seems to have the tendency). In fact, this year I encouraged my husband to pare down his book collection. If you know Clark, then you know what an emotional feat THAT was. "Think of all the people who would love to buy these! Think of all the space we will have freed up! We can actually see the floor in our bedroom to tear up that yucky carpet! I will let you keep 400 volumes - it's negotiable!" I cajoled. In the end, I got him to part with about 250 science fiction books he hadn't read for 20 years. And all the Redneck Humor books, which are just rubbish anyway. I gave up about 100, but I had far less at home anyway and a growing list on my Kindle, which is far more ecologically (and financially) viable.

Garden, year 3

Another spring ritual for us, at least for the past 4 years, has been the planning of our modest 12' x 12' vegetable garden. We've had growing success (see, I made a pun there!) with it, since our first year of putting a strawberry bed close to the forest line without a fence (an unmitigated disaster). Last year, we had some success with basil, tomatoes, green peppers and sugar snap peas.

We know that it is to early to plant, despite unseasonably warm temps, we still might get a frost some morning (we learned that with disastrous year two). But it's not to early to turn over the compost pile and weed the bed. Zack and I tackled this on Sunday, when Clark and Cady were at church. I am 9.5 weeks into a 12 week sabbatical, so my Sunday mornings are free for the moment.

As Zack and I were were turning over the soil, a thought struck me. A dear colleague in the CT Conference recently told me "parents are the ones that are primarily responsible for the faith formation of their children". Such a simple statement, and so very true. Even with the best intentioned Sunday school and youth program at a local church, parents are the people with the most access to build a child's faith. It's our responsibility as parents to offer them the chance to grow. Sometimes this faith building can be done during meals (grace), at bedtime (bible stories, evening prayers), action (serving at a soup kitchen as a family) or in conversations about how my daughter or son live in this world. 

Anyway, back to the garden. Zack and I talked about what good soil we had built, with layers of healthy compost, worms and other organic materials. He and I dreamed out loud of what we'd plant. We ran the soil through our hands, and talked about the water and sunlight that would make the seeds open their sleepy heads and sprout. "You know," I said, "Jesus told a parable, a teaching story, about a sower..." We took a couple of seeds out of a packet and spilled them on the driveway. "How would these grow?" Then we took some more and spilled them onto a shaded, rocky and shallow place in the garden/ "How about these?" Finally, we took a few and put them into the good soil. "What about these?" Each time, Zack would offer his opinion of what success we could expect. "And how are these different growing places like people?" 

Friends, if you are a parent (or you have a little one in your life that you are responsible for) remember that every day is a opportunity to open the world up to God's love. You may feel like you don't have the right "credentials" to talk about any of this stuff, but believe it or not you do. In fact, sometimes these lessons have come from my child, if I have the ears to hear.