1 Peter 2:11-17

1 Peter 2:11-17 

English Standard Version 

  The call of discipleship never calls us to retreat from the world -- as the church, we're called to be in relationship with the world, to be active in society, in our neighborhoods, in politics.  It's incredibly challenging to figure out how to be in those relationships, but that's the call of Christ.  How do we live in relationship with government, including our opponents?  How do we extend them grace and love?  How do we live as servants of God while engaging in debate?  How do understand complex political decisions while rooted in a faith that reminds us that we are each sinful and yet beloved by God?

  It's a lot to ask, but that's the call of faith.  To be active in heart and mind, and let faith lead us as we take part in every part of society.  Christians are called to represent the church at every level of government, not to shrink back.  We fear God while loving others, always pointing to Christ.

Sermon for January 30, 2022

1 Peter 2:7-10

1 Peter 2:7-10 

English Standard Version 

  Do you feel like a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God's own possession?  I'm guessing you don't most days.  I think it was C.S. Lewis who talked about how we are like children playing in the mud at the beach, unaware there's an entire ocean before us.  

  Peter is writing a letter to encourage people to open their eyes and look at the world around them, to see the amazing things that God is doing.  God is gathering the people together through God's mercy, and this is the core of our identity.  We spend so much time and energy trying on other identities, even though these identities can't fulfill our deepest needs, when in fact the truth that is consistent throughout our entire lives is that we're a holy nation, called out of darkness into light.  

  Over this weekend, I pray that you experience the light, that you rest and drink in the concept that you are a person for God's own possession.

1 Peter 2:4-6

1 Peter 2:4-6 

English Standard Version 

  If you've ever built something, you know how critical it is to have the right pieces.  If you're starting off with pieces that are cut wrong, then you'll never get back to even.  It's like doing a puzzle where half the pieces are from the wrong puzzle.  In this case, what God does is even more impressive, because God is working with living stones, which tend to shift around, but God is able to work this into something marvelous, something magnificent, despite our common habit of shifting out of place.  

 Jesus was rejected because the Pharisees were focused on building a house based on their design, not God's, so they were looking for the wrong pieces.  In the same way, when you face rejection in this life, may you find comfort in the knowledge that God has chosen you, that God favors you, and that God's love will eternally surround you.

1 Peter 2:1-3

1 Peter 2:1-3

English Standard Version 

  It's a long time before a baby is able to eat anything solid, and when they do, they start with things that dissolve in their mouths, or applesauce, or porridge (the stuff our kids tried tastes terrible.  I don't blame them for not liking it).  They don't have the strength to chew and choking is an issue, so they start with the absolute basics.

  The same is true for our spiritual lives.  We have to start with the basics.  Maybe it's out of pride, but we often want to skip to the more advanced parts, thinking we should be beyond the basics, and so sometimes we avoid asking basic questions or studying basic things.  It's so important that we handle the basics first to make sure we are grounded in a solid understanding of faith, and only then do we move on.  Let us start with pure milk, only growing from there as the Holy Spirit leads us forward in faith!

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

   What would you give up for the thing you want most in life?

  In Addie LaRue's life, she was willing to give up her soul to be free.  

  Only in this case, to be free meant that no one could ever remember her.  She went through life as a shadow, passing across people and places but never lingering, leaving little more than a temporary impression of her presence.  She had no ability to build relationships and was unable to carry anything with her.  She was free, yet at great price.

  V.E. Schwab writes an intriguing tale in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and it leaves one thinking about the things in life that you'd give anything for.  Maybe it was freedom, or young love, or money.  As you age, you often look back and realize that such a thing wasn't worth the hours you spent pining for it.  It reminds me of the old Garth Brooks song Unanswered Prayers, where he reflects upon how hard he prayed for a relationship that didn't work out, and how things have turned out just fine, despite thinking at one point that the world might end of such a prayer wasn't answered.

  This book reminds me not to get too hung up on worldly hopes, and to be careful what I wish for.  Sometimes, the things we think might solve all our problems only end up creating more problems!  Sadly, such is the fate of too many lottery winners.  We're occasionally better off not getting what we want.

1 Peter 1:22-25

1 Peter 1:22-25 

English Standard Version 

  There are things in this world that are way too complicated.  I remember when I was younger, the alternator on our car went out.  I went to YouTube and watched a video about how to replace it on your own, and feeling empowered, I went down to the garage and opened the hood.  The alternator was visible, but to reach it required arms that bent in an extra three places, and even if I could get to it, I didn't know how I would turn the wrench to release the bolts holding it on.  Reality was way more complicated than I thought it was going to be.

  I think we sometimes make Christianity more complicated than it needs to be.  At least I often do.  The Bible has so much in it and I can feel guilty if I leave anything out, so I try and pack everything in, when 1 Peter tells us here that the simple message is to love one another earnestly.  That's step 1.  And when we're done with that, repeat.

  In every situation, if we ask ourselves what the most loving thing to do is, that probably won't steer us wrong.  It'll likely lead us closer to Christ, and closer to one another.

1 Peter 1:13-21

1 Peter 1:13-21

English Standard Version 

  What's your worth?

  Something's worth is traditionally determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it.  Here's a visual image for you -- imagine that you're caught and held captive by a hideous villain who wants nothing other than to destroy you.  This villain is unsure of your ransom, for it is undetermined how much you are worth.  In your mind, you wonder if a chest filled with the most expensive and valuable gems would be enough for the villain to release you.

  But in the end, something of far greater value is offered to release you from captivity.  You'd have thought an endless amount of gems would have been enough, but God has a higher opinion of your value.  To God, you are worth the precious blood of Christ, blood that didn't need to be shed, blood that is given freely out of love for you.  Christ has existed since the beginning of time, and deserves nothing but honor, but accepts punishment and death because of God's love for you.  

  To God, you are worth this, and the price is paid freely.

  That should make you feel pretty good about yourself, right?

Sermon for January 23, 2022, on Mark 2

Five Decembers, by James Kestrel

   It snowed on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and I curled up on the couch with a cup of hot tea and a good book.  Life was good.  

  James Kestrel's Five Decembers is a crime novel like no others -- it's the experience of a police detective trapped in Japan during WWII, having been wrongfully arrested in Hong Kong the night before the Japanese invaded.  The detective, Joe McGrady, was in Hong Kong investigating a murder in Honolulu whose trail led through Wake Island as he pursued a mysterious killer with an unknown motive.

  At some point while I was reading this, I realized how easily I get lost in books.  Hours pass without noticing as the rest of the world fades from focus.  Books grant that in a way so few other things do -- the ability to forget everything else and become immersed in a fictional narrative world, where characters drawn from someone's imagination suddenly become the most important thing and their fate hangs in the balance between chapters.  Just one more chapter, I tell myself for the 15th time.  

  I'd love to write like that one day, because it seems like such a wondrous gift to be able to give to people, especially in a world so stressful, so demanding.  If you can give someone liberation for an afternoon, for a day, that seems like a good thing.  

  

1 Peter 1:3-9

1 Peter 1:3-9 

English Standard Version 

  Remember when we had a hope that the initial round of vaccines would lead us all out of this pandemic?  Two weeks to stop the spread seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?  We put our hopes in these things, and while I think they certainly slowed the spread of Coronavirus and saved lives, the path out of the pandemic remains a mystery.  I have some thoughts and hopes, but no one is reading this in hopes of getting medical advice from me!  

  Thankfully, the hope we have in God is a living hope -- it doesn't fail when presented with new facts or circumstances.  When something new happens in the world, like a pandemic, the hope we place in God doesn't suddenly fall short.  It's a living hope, and it continues to lead us forward, even as the facts in the world around us change, because we are being continually kept, guarded through faith for a salvation.  The Spirit is alive and at work, and our hope is alive, and so when we end up in trials, they are not the end -- for hope continues to live, continues to dynamically grow, so that we are never without hope, never without a reason for joy, never in doubt of the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls!

A Rising Man, by Abir Mukherjee

   Apparently, it was all the mysteries on the year-end lists of best books that appealed to me.  I like mysteries -- they're easy to get lost in, and even the bad ones have enough of a plot to drive things forward and keep you turning pages late in the night to discover whodunnit.  Maybe I should make it a goal to write the first really bad whodunnit.  That'd be unique, right?  

  There's enough chaos and concern in the world that it's nice to open a book and get lost in it, forgetting all the stress, which is a really nice thing to do in the midst of a pandemic.  A Rising Man is Abir Mukherjee's first book after working in finance twenty years.  It'd be great if I could produce such a well written book in another 15 years!  

  A Rising Man is the introduction of Captain Sam Wyndham who, having lost everything in WWI, shipped off to Calcutta as a detective and is partnered with Surrender-Not, a local detective, as they try and uncover the murderer of an Englishman in times of heightened tensions between the colonial overlords and those in favor of independence.  There are storms on the horizon that loom throughout the plot, adding tension and pace to the story as Captain Wyndham learns how to navigate society and uncover the murderer in a highly-charged environment.

  It's a great book on many levels, but there are two aspects that stand out to me.

  The first is how well Mr. Mukherjee creates a sense of place.  I've never been to India, but the story is so rich in detail that I almost feel as though I could describe what it's like after finishing this book.  From the way the oppressive heat creeps under your skin early in the morning to the tactics people take to avoid it, the reader is immersed in Calcutta, down to understanding the bells on the shoes of the rickshaw operators.  When the author talks about the fan that doesn't cool or the flooding rains, it feels like you're there, and that's hard to do, given how different central Ohio is from India.  

  The second is the tension between the British and the Indians.  Colonialism is on full display here, and every character has a part to play in it.  Some of them thrive due to it, others suffer repercussions, both personal and political, others question it, and some actively resist and rebel against it.  No one is immune to it, and it's like a snake slithering into the depths of the heart, shaping the way characters interact with one another.  Captain Wyndham, fresh into Calcutta, notices how he treats the Indians, even Surrender Not, who is invaluable to helping Captain Wyndham solve the mystery (and survive the book!).  The Indians are not treated the same, as the English must maintain the upper hand and continue to establish their moral superiority to justify their rule, even when doing deplorable things.  The author thrives in pointing out the vital weaknesses of the British positions, the incongruency of their justifications for ruling over the Indians, the brokenness of a system that at its best brings additional educational resources to some, but only so far, and at its worst is purely exploitative and enriches the British at the expense of the Indians and their natural resources.  Surrender-Not Bannerjee, who is kicked out of his home for not resigning his job that partners him with the British, seems to be the one character willing to speak the truth in the novel -- he notices the incongruencies and is often willing to help Captain Wyndham see the levels at which society is working.  There's an internal struggle in the protagonist, one that invites the reader to ask some big questions about modern life, about what divides us and how we treat one another and wealth disparities.

  It's an excellent book, one with a twisting plot that doesn't end up where one thinks it might, and it's beautifully crafted and written.

Psalm 40:13-17

Psalm 40:13-17 

English Standard Version 

  Psalms is the prayer book of the Bible, and it has so much to teach us, and we have so much to learn.  Here, we're noticing how anticipatory prayer works.  The Psalmist prays the truth that God is his help and deliverer, and yet the prayer ends with a prayer for deliverance -- both things are true for the Psalmist and for us.  God has delivered us, and God will deliver us!  Because of what we learn in our reading of Scripture, we can say with confidence that God will save us, even if our circumstances seem to think otherwise.  The facts around us don't change the truth of God's salvation!  It can be incredibly challenging to cling to God's truth when the world would tell us otherwise, but just as certainly as the sun rises in the morning and this snow around our house will melt, even if it feels like winter will drag on forever, we can trust in the truth of God saving us!

Psalm 40:9-12

Psalm 40:9-12 

English Standard Version

  When the Bengals won their first playoff game in 31 years on Saturday, there was celebration across the city and around the area.  Our household certainly celebrated -- we'd been waiting a long time for this!  I received text messages from a number of people who knew that I was watching and invested in the game.  

  Reading this passage, I wonder how many of us advertise our passion for sports teams with far more enthusiasm than we advertise our passion for Christ.  Do we celebrate steps in faith with the same energy we celebrate a sports victory?  It's a convicting question for me, and I doubt that I'm the only one...

  May we not restrain our lips when we speak of God's faithfulness and the deliverance that is offered through the grace of Christ!  God's steadfast love and faithfulness will preserve us!

Sermon for Sunday, January 16, 2022

The Man Who Died Twice, by Richard Osman

   What is this?  Two book reviews in one month?!  Can you believe it?  The amazing thing isn't that I've read two books, but that I've managed to write reviews on each.  What a start to the year.

  I finished up The Man Who Died Twice, Richard Osman's follow-on to The Thursday Murder Club, which was a poignant delight to read last year, and this one doesn't disappoint by way of a sequel.  This has the feel of something that's going to turn into a 15-book series, and given the charm and complexity Osman adds to the characters, I'd welcome that development and read each as quickly as I could.  Some people believe in savoring books.  I choose to devour them, showing my appreciation by reading it as quickly as possible.  Besides, who wants to put down a good book?  

  The Man Who Died Twice finds Elizabeth, Ron, Joyce, and Ibrahim, elderly residents of Coopers Chase, once again confronted with a murder, one that intertwines with Elizabeth's complicated past, this one having a somber undertone of grief when Ibrahim is mugged and attacked, left with physical wounds and mentals scars that penetrate deeper still.  

  What I love about these books is the way Osman makes friendship the beating heart of the stories.  There is intrigue and mystery enough to move the plot along, but ultimately, the story is about friendship and the importance of it.  There is plenty that is fading away for the protagonists as they find adventure in their twilight years, but the friends hold on to one another, recognizing the importance of that.

  When Rachel and I were finishing up grad school, we had the chance to move to Michigan.  It was tempting, because it involved an opportunity with a company I very much wanted to work with.  But we realized that to leave Columbus and start over would be incredibly challenging.  I'd read an article not long before that decision about how transient our society is and how many people lack long-term relationships that support them through various mountaintops and troughs of life.  If I were a better writer, I'd have started writing a mystery series like Osman did that perfectly captures the importance and treasure of friendship, similar to how Tolkien places friendship at the center of the journey in Lord of the Rings trilogy.  

  Anyway, if you haven't yet read it, go read The Thursday Murder Club.  Then pick up The Man Who Died Twice.  It's well worth your time.

Psalm 40:6-8

Psalm 40:6-8 

English Standard Version 

  There was an ice cream shop we used to go to as a kid -- I think it was the Dairy Delight.  Or maybe the deli delight.  That wouldn't make any sense, though.  It had delight in the name, and it was, truly, delightful.

  As I was reading these verses of Psalm 40, I was trying to think of how often I'd say that I had true delight in my life.  Do I experience delight, true joy, profound contentment and peace and happiness?  More often, it feels like I'm running, chasing something, although I don't know exactly what I would say that I was chasing.  

  The Bible speaks of delight often, and it's found in God.  The Psalmist delights to do the will of God.  Delight is found 106 times in the Bible.

  So if you're like me, and perhaps you don't have a ton of delight in your life, perhaps it's because we're looking in the wrong places.  We don't recognize that true delight comes from God, and from God alone, who longs to give that to us because God delights in us.  So we get busy pursuing delight elsewhere, all the while, God is here, waiting for us.  

  May we delight in God and in God's will, trusting that in serving God, we bring delight into our lives by aligning ourselves with the will of the one who handcrafted us and calls us by name.

Isaiah 46:3-4

Isaiah 46:3-4

English Standard Version 

  I don't have much to add to this.  I heard it on the radio and think it's lovely -- it's a mental image we can all grab on to as we go through our days.  God will carry you, even as you age, and you will be saved.  Picture that, friends, in your hardships and trials, and know that if you don't have the strength for another step, there is a God willing to carry you.

Psalm 40:4-5

Psalm 40:4-5 

English Standard Version 

  If we received from God what we deserved, we'd get nothing.

  It would be gracious enough for God, the God who made us and who we often largely ignore, just decided not to punish us. 

  Any reward is more than we could hope for.

  And yet God, who is so generous, decides to multiply God's wondrous deeds and thoughts towards us.  God not only gives freely, but also thinks graciously towards us.  It is complete grace, undeserved and yet a bounty poured upon our heads! 

  It should drive us to gratitude, to wonder, to love and praise, that we may tell of this wondrous God who gives so freely and multiples the gifts that are given!

The Turnout, by Megan Abbott

   I often forget where I heard about books.  They end up on the list of books I've requested from the library, and when I check them out, I sometimes wonder how such a book came to be of interest to me.  

  Such is the case with Megan Abbott's The Turnout.  It's a drama based in a family-run ballet school, which places is well outside of any topic that I'm typically interested in.  I've never read so many pages about The Nutcracker.  I've actually never given any thought to the Nutcracker, or to ballet.  There was quite a bit of discussion about the symbolism present in the Nutcracker.  I suppose the book was educational in that way.

  The book begins and ends with fire, wrapped around a murder, and is filled with intrigue all the way through.  There are two sisters, each with lives shaped around ballet, their lives marked by trauma and yet graced by the beauty of ballet.  One of the sisters has a husband, Charlie, who is physically handicapped due to the bodily sacrifices necessary to excel in ballet.  It's painful to read, and it touches an ancient theme -- that of an artist sacrificing for the muse, for the beauty of art.

  Mostly, as the book hauntingly ends, I was left with a question about families.  Our families are all we know growing up -- they shape us and mold us in ways we often realize much later (if ever) in life.  Since our family is all we know, we think that it is normal, whatever it may be.  Each family is uniquely singular, and how does one recognize dissonant chords in the family one grows up in?  I suppose each of us, in looking back, can see how things might have been different, but as a child, on what basis would you determine that something should not be so?  

  It's a humbling thought for this parent of small children.  Such responsibility is laid upon parents, and I give thanks for those who surround us and help us through.  

Psalm 40:1-3

Psalm 40:1-3 

English Standard Version 

  This is the Psalm for the Tiktok age.  

  OK, I don't really know anything about Tiktok, but I know how people love to publicize what is going on in their lives, and people make life choices based on what they see on social media.  So here we have a Psalm where God is publicly delivering the Psalmist out of the pit of destruction, and because of what others have seen God do, they put their trust in God.

  So there are two things here for us.  The first is to ensure we tell our stories, and that we attribute all glory to God.  The second is that when we tell our stories, we shouldn't omit the parts where we are in the pit.  Let's not gloss over the bad news to get to the good news, but rather we can share and be vulnerable about the pits we are in, so that others in similar pits may recognize them and know that there is hope in those pits of destruction.

Sermon for January 9, 2022 (Luke 3)

Psalm 34:19-22

Psalm 34:19-22 

English Standard Version 

  What does it mean to protect a child into adulthood?

  That child will get hurt at times, right?  It'll suffer, at various points, physical, mental, and emotional pain.  It's part of being alive.  There is no scenario where a child grows for 18 years and doesn't experience pain at some point.

  What does it mean to protect someone's money for the future?  If you're saving for retirement, that means you need to take some risk in the stock market to protect against inflation, and that will inevitably lead to some losses.  Over time, the gains will likely outweigh the losses by quite a bit, but there will be down days.

  So when we read about the Lord delivering people out of afflictions, and how taking refuge in God means that we'll be safe, we should look at it through the same lens -- that there will be momentary pain, and temporary suffering, but this will not last.  Over the long run, we will be saved by God, and eternity is still our home, even if there are times when you wonder why pain has to be part of the process.  Suffering and loss are still languages we must learn, but they are not our heart's true home.

Psalm 34:11-14

Psalm 34:11-14 

English Standard Version 

  The old saying is that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step (or perhaps the purchase of an airline ticket).  To start any project, you have to start somewhere.  Perhaps the best place to start with turning from evil is by watching your words -- they lead us, and they lead our hearts, in the direction we want to go.  Maybe a good New Year's resolution is to take an extra moment and think before you speak, especially when speaking of another person, that your words may be measured and wise and kind, rather than speak evil, especially without thinking, and lead your heart from good.  May our words lead our hearts to kindness, to peace, to grace.

Psalm 34:4-7

Psalm 34:4-7 

English Standard Version 

  I remember hearing a driving tip that if the car is sliding, you're supposed to look where you want to go, because that's where you'll steer the car, rather than looking at the obstacle you want to avoid.  This sounds like a great idea until the car is actually sliding and you panic and stare and what you're sliding into.  Easier said than done.

  The same is true for each of us.  When we panic, we forget about carefully thought-out strategies.  We stare at the obstacle in front of us and we freeze.  

  What the Psalms teach us is that when we enter into rhythms of life, daily prayer instructs us to look to Jesus constantly, because then the rhythms and habits are ingrained into us.  Then we're already accustomed to looking to Jesus, so when disaster strikes, it's not something new we're trying to do, but rather a continuation of looking to God, who will answer us and deliver us.

Psalm 34:1-3

Psalm 34:1-3 

English Standard Version 

  When you're looking at social media, it's important to remember that most things there happen through a filter -- that's often not that person's real life.  There's a famous temple in Bali called 'The Gates of Heaven' that is very popular on Instagram that has a perfect reflection of a person standing in the middle of a gate reflected perfectly in what looks like a still lake.  Well, it turns out that it's just someone standing there with a mirror charging to take your picture.  It's a constructed image.

  When we read the Psalms, they are meant to teach us how to pray -- the Psalms are the prayerbook of the Bible.  When we come to some Psalms, they may not perfectly reflect our current attitudes and situations, but they can be aspirational.  Maybe you don't feel like blessing the Lord at all times now, but the more you pray this, the closer you draw to the ideal.

  So let us pray for God's praise to be continually in our mouths, even if it isn't currently.  In time, perhaps God's praise will be more often in our mouths, and our soul will more often boast in the Lord!

Top Books of 2021

 This is the blog post you've been waiting all year for... the top books of 2021.  Everyone else has done their list (Here is NPR's list, and WSJ has their list, and Christianity Today has awards), so I figure it's time to contribute.  

  I will make a note about WSJ's list -- I tried to read Harrow, and I'll just say that's it is bizarre.  I believe it fits squarely in the dystopian genre, and by page 100 I was mindlessly paging through it.  I wanted to finish it, but it's a strange, strange book.  I'd say that the plot has twists, but I never had a good handle on what the plot actually was, so that may not be accurate.  I'd put it down as my least favorite book of 2021, but I didn't finish it, so that's not really fair.  It's my least favorite first half of any book I've read last year.  Maybe it has a great ending.  If so, it'd be the exact opposite of 2020's worst book, The Wandering Jew, where I stuck around for all 1,400 pages in the hopes that it would redeem itself.  (spoiler: it doesn't).  

  My least favorite book was probably one of the Robert Galbraith books I read.  These are the detective stories written by J.K. Rowling.  I usually love detective stories, but these involve some pretty creepy villains, some way scarier than Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series because they're too realistic.  I can do without certain images in my imagination.  I read 5 of them this spring and I'd go back and figure out which was the creepiest, but I'd just as soon omit those memories from my past, so just be forewarned that it's pretty heavy reading, albeit suspenseful and filled with action.

  On the whole, I didn't read a lot of great books this year.  I read a lot of good books, and a few very good books, but usually there are two or three that come out of nowhere and amaze me.  Outside of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which I've read several times before, nothing rose to the level of previous delights such as The Overstory or A Gentleman in Moscow.  For the year I ended up at 39 books and 14,978 pages.  That tells you how much I didn't want to finish Harrow.  Another 100 pages to finish that would've pushed me to 40 books and over 15,000 pages, but I just couldn't do it.  

  Without further ado, on to the list:

10)  An Unhurried Life, by Alan Fadling:  One of the books that society needs.  I remember in business school how we were banned at one point in marketing class from using the phrase 'on-the-go', because it was so overused.  We're always on the go, and products are pitched to help us keep on the go and perform better while we're going.  Fadling's book invites us to slow down, to rest, and to follow the example of Jesus.  Fadling follows in the footsteps of Dallas Willard, who described Jesus as 'Relaxed'.  Willard talked about hurry the great enemy of the spiritual life and invited people to 'ruthlessly eliminate hurry' from our lives.  

9)  Red Rising, by Pierce Brown:  I read the first three books of this series (I believe there are now five) after they were recommended by a friend.  This is the violent tale of a young man born into the lowest caste and quite literally fighting his way to the top.  The violence is a bit much at times, but this book made me think.  We've heard a lot about how structures in society can be determinants of outcomes -- tragically, society doesn't give everyone an equal chance.  Neighborhoods can be large influences as to health and education outcomes.  It's so easy to ignore this, depending on what neighborhood you were born into.  There are parts of town you'll likely never go into.  The Gospel calls us to go to the underserved places, where children need additional resources, where people don't get the same chance as others.  Brown's saga paints a picture of what happens when castes rebel, but it should also instruct all of us to think about people who can be unseen.  The pandemic us taught us a lot about what is essential.  Let's continue to think, continue to see in new ways.  

8)  Jade Legacy, by Fonda Lee:  The third in the 'Green Bone' saga, this book follows the ruling family of a fictional island where warriors and leaders are enhanced by wearing jade.  It feels a little like the Godfather to me, with constantly shifting sands between rival clans and outside influences, where the importance of family trumps all else.  A fitting finale to the trilogy, these books were hard to put down for me.  

7)  Joe: Rounding Third and Heading for Home, by Greg Hoard:  I grew up listening to Joe Nuxhall call Cincinnati Reds games.  This defined summer for me, and I fell asleep as a kid with the sounds of baseball on the radio.  Joe Nuxhall was an amazing person who made the game come alive to this baseball fan.  Hard to believe he was pitching in the big leagues as a 15-year-old kid!

6)  The Blue Age, by Gregg Easterbrook:  Easterbook used to write Tuesday Morning Quarterback for ESPN, which talked about football, politics, and everything in between.  I'll always appreciate Easterbrook's position that any politician running for office should have to first resign from the office they currently hold, which makes perfect sense to me -- we'd see who was really committed to the race, and we wouldn't be paying people to campaign for another job.  The Blue Age is about how the US Navy has supported much of the expansion of free trade over the past century, and it asks some big questions about what the future looks like as the US pulls back from a global role.  

5) Billy Summers, by Stephen King:  What's great about this book is that it forces you to ask yourself what, if anything, justifies evil actions.  Billy Summers is a sniper hired to kill people, but he's only willing to kill people that qualify as 'bad people'.  It makes one think about how we classify people as good or bad, and also how we evaluate things that happen.  Is the life of a 'bad person' worth less than the life of a 'good person'?  Is death equally tragic if it happens to both?  

  I'd never read much Stephen King, not being interested in scary books, but Billy Summers and 11/22/63 were both good reads.  

4)  The Empire of Necessity, by Greg Grandin:  I read Grandin's Fordlandia years ago, and it's a great read about Henry Ford's attempt to build rubber plantations in the South American jungle.  The Empire of Necessity is, in my opinion, a really important book.  It's an eye-opening read about the centrality of slavery in the new world, turning around an event early in the 19th century about a slave uprising on a ship and the aftermath of that encounter with another ship.  Grandin pulls the various threads leading up to this event, all of it well-researched and tragic.  This one's hard to read at times, as you wonder about where our humanity was around the issue of slavery and how such an evil persisted for so long, but it's worth your time and I'd highly recommend it.

3)  Breath, by James Nestor:  I read most of my books through the local library, but I went out and bought this one after reading it.  It's incredibly educational.  Basically, how we breathe can shape so much of our health and our bodies, and most likely, you're breathing wrong.  I'd never before thought about how I breathe, and I pay way more attention to it now.  If Nestor is right, it could make me far healthier.  

2)  The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman:  I remember when books on Amazon had a lot of reviews if they had 1,000 reviews.  This one has nearly 70,000 reviews, and 84% of those are 4 or 5 stars!  60,000 people can't be wrong, can they?  This one's a whodunnit set in a retirement village, and what I loved about it was the way the mystery drove the action while human frailty and death danced in the background, sometimes moving jarringly to the foreground, due to the reality of aging taking place in the retirement village.  At times poignant, at times heartbreaking, it's a reminder to all of us that life is precious, and we are wise to remember that we won't live forever.  

1)  The Lord of the Rings trilogy:  One of the few great sagas that is essentially all about friendship.  Tolkien's tale is a timeless battle between good and evil, with surprising heroes and epic battles, where humble characters have greatness thrust upon them and in the end, all the sad things come untrue due to the prevailing forces of goodness and selfless love.  An easy tale to get lost in.  Is it the greatest trilogy ever written (ignoring The Hobbit)?  I can't think of a better one.

  It's always fun to sit back and look at what I read over the previous 12 months.  Who knows what 2022 has in store?  I've got a great list of books on hold at the library right now, and am about to start Charles Mann's The Wizard and the Prophet, so it'll hopefully be a great year!  I'll hopefully do better about posting regular book reviews as I finish up books, but no promises there.  Life is busy.  (Maybe I should re-read An Unhurried Life -- clearly the lessons didn't take!)

Psalm 24:1-6

Psalm 24:1-6 

English Standard Version 

  In our basement, where legos cover most horizontal surfaces, there's a simple rule that everyone observes -- if you made it, you can take it apart, but if you didn't make it, you better not take it apart without asking.  To do so is to risk tantrums.  The thinking is that if you made it, you own it -- so it is yours to decide what happens to it.  This makes basic sense, even to the youngest among us.

  The Psalmist uses the same line of thinking -- the earth belongs to the Lord, since it was the Lord who made it.  Therefore, it is up to God to decide what happens to the creations.  It is God who can determine the fate of the people within, for God made us.

  Thanks be to God that the God we look to for judgment is the same God who crafted us and the same God who went to the cross and died for us.  If we can start the year with this foundational truth anchored in our souls, that gives us a firm foundation to move forward from -- that when we look to God, we need not fear judgment, because the God who comes to judge is the God who came to save in Jesus Christ, and so we can stand in God's holy place because through the atoning sacrifice and free gift of mercy that is freely given by Jesus Christ, we can claim to have clean hands and a pure heart.  This is the blessing we have received from the Lord!