summer reading...

yeah...it's true. i'm already starting my summer reading list. it is most certainly not complete, and it does not include the books i have to read for my study abroad classes. however, this is what i have thus far:

callings: twenty centuries of christian wisdom on vocation edited by william placher

this unprecedented anthology gathers select passages on work and vocation from the greatest writers of christian history. william placher has written insightful introductions to accompany the selections — an introduction to each of the four main historical sections and a brief introduction to each reading. while the vocational questions faced by christians have changed through the centuries, the book demonstrates how the distilled wisdom of these saints, preachers, theologians, and teachers remains relevant to christians today.

tsotsi: a novel by athol fugard

athol fugard is renowned for his relentless explorations of personal and political survival in apartheid south africa — which include his now classic plays master harold and the boys and the blood knot. fugard has written a single novel, tsotsi, which director gavin hood has made into a feature film that is south africa's official entry for the 2006 academy awards. set amid the sprawling johannesburg township of soweto, where survival is the primary objective, tsotsi traces six days in the life of a ruthless young gang leader.

when we meet tsotsi, he is a man without a name (tsotsi is afrikaans for "hoodlum") who has repressed his past and now exists only to stage and execute vicious crimes. when he inadvertently kidnaps a baby, tsotsi is confronted with memories of his own painful childhood, and this angry young man begins to rediscover his own humanity, dignity, and capacity to love.

the omnivore’s dilemma: a natural history of four meals by michael pollan

it's a fascinating journey up and down the food chain, one that might change the way you read the label on a frozen dinner, dig into a steak or decide whether to buy organic eggs. you'll certainly never look at a chicken mcnugget the same way again. pollan approaches his mission not as an activist but as a naturalist: "the way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world." all food, he points out, originates with plants, animals and fungi.

all you needed to know about the music industry by donald passman

an entertainment lawyer whose clients include many from the top of the music charts, passman has written a book that sets out to give musicians, performers, and songwriters the tools to hire advisers, market their careers, protect their creative works, and generally cope with a complex industry in a state of flux. passman explains boilerplate language, the complexities of royalties and advances, and label and distribution deals; a section on record deals begins with an overview of the business and works through all the steps. the "adventures in cyberspace" chapter is a helpful summary of the way cd-roms and the internet are affecting the business.

six characters in search of an author by luigi pirendello

play in three acts by luigi pirandello, produced and published in italian in 1921 as sei personaggi in cerca d'autore. introducing pirandello's device of the "theater within the theater," the play explores various levels of illusion and reality. it had a great impact on later playwrights, particularly such practitioners of the theater of the absurd as samuel beckett, eugene ionesco, and jean genet, as well as jean anouilh and jean-paul sartre.

let your life speak by parker palmer

the old quaker adage, "let your life speak," spoke to author parker j. palmer when he was in his early 30s. it summoned him to a higher purpose, so he decided that henceforth he would live a nobler life. "i lined up the most elevated ideals i could find and set out to achieve them," he writes. "the results were rarely admirable, often laughable, and sometimes grotesque.... i had simply found a 'noble' way of living a life that was not my own, a life spent imitating heroes instead of listening to my heart."

thirty years later, palmer now understands that learning to let his life speak means "living the life that wants to live in me." it involves creating the kind of quiet, trusting conditions that allow a soul to speak its truth. it also means tuning out the noisy preconceived ideas about what a vocation should and shouldn't be so that we can better hear the call of our wild souls. there are no how-to formulas in this extremely unpretentious and well-written book, just fireside wisdom from an elder who is willing to share his mistakes and stories as he learned to live a life worth speaking about.

telling secrets by frederick buechner

a father's suicide and a daughter's anorexia exemplify the sort of secret that radically modifies an individual and, in turn, can be modified by being told. the fiction of noted theologian/novelist buechner ( a long day's dying, lj 1/1/50) has been called "psychological." his nonfiction, too (including whistling in the dark, lj 7/88) explores his comprehension of the soul rather than exhorting. this slim memoir does well what buechner has become noted for doing: showing with subtlety the stark nature of being one thinking being among many. his prescription for the church to look at alcoholics anonymous for a modern model is compelling. this minister is not preaching to the converted but can attract the ears--and hearts--of any reader interested in acknowledging the spiritual aspect of human nature.

so there it is, my list for the summer. like i said, it is subject to grow and change. i’m pretty excited.

all descriptions/summaries/reviews courtesy of amazon.com

Mark 1:29-34

This is a brief (and admittedly unpolished) response to Mark 1:29-34 and the gospel commentaries of Dr. Emerson Powery from True to Our Native Land and the commentary included in the New Interpreter’s Study Bible from Abingdon. I wrote this for my New Testament and Exigetical Methods class , but I liked what I had encountered in the text and decided to post it here.

Mark 1:29-34

It is interesting to note not one but multiple instances of women existing in extraordinary ways in the Markan gospel. Each has significant impact on the ministry of Jesus, but few are named by the author. Again we have to note the context in which the book was written. Even though the author may have been able to see the importance of these women (which is obvious considering their inclusion), they are still mired by the cultural view of women thus leading to the ambiguity of their naming.

The story I focused on is one that has never really had significance to me before now: the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law. The story in Mark 1:29-31 to me is one of the more minor passages within the gospel though it does speak for liberation in scripture. It is interesting to me that the author of Mark follows through with a concept that is consistent throughout this gospel: that of women as ministers.

As Dr. Powery reveals in TONL (also discussed in NISB) to those of us who are not Greek scholars, the author of Mark only uses the term diakoneo in relation to the Son of Man, angels, and women. This was particularly shocking to me coming from a Southern Baptist background. Here in Mark we have the author characterizing women as deacons and ministers! In light of this idea, I wonder if the women Jesus encountered in his journey really became the grassroots followers of his ministry. We obviously have more examples of women serving in this capacity in Mark (i.e. the woman who anointed Jesus and Mary Magdalene). I find it comforting to my own theology of liberation to find instances of women being such important components to Jesus’ ministry in scripture (while still struggling with other passages like Mark 7:24-30).

This passage continues on to the healing of many people and casting out demons in verses 32 through 34. It is interesting that neither the NISB commentary nor TONL discuss this mass-healing passage in much detail. In fact, Dr. Powery skips right over it and moves into the following verses about Jesus praying in the morning. NISB simply describes it as a “summary of many healings performed by Jesus” (p 1807). The significance of this double omission is a bit cloudy to me, though perhaps neither commentator discusses the silencing of the demons here because the passage preceding this one deals with the same concept (Mark 1:25,26).

a new code

i am a star wars fan. not one of those, "i watch star wars once or twice a year" kinds of fans but a, "i have a couple costumes, a lightsaber, and all the books" kind of fan. i am completely unashamed of this. you see star wars has been an essential part of my growing up. the concept of the jedi and what they stand for has always been something i've related to. but in recent time i have begun to look at the jedi in a different light. i've noticed their mistakes and the shortcomings of their philosophy. my best friend and i sat and rewrote their code a little over a year ago, and for some reason it has come to mind today. the original jedi code follows:

there is no emotion, there is peace.

there is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

there is no passion, there is serenity.

there is no death, there is the Force.

our updated code is much more inclusive and helps to reconcile some of the shortcomings the original jedi code perpetrates:

there is no fear, there is peace.

where there is belief, there is reason.

there is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

where there is passion, there is will.

there is no rage, there is serenity.

where there is truth, there is harmony.

there is no death, there is the force.

i rather like the new code. we allow for emotion and passion. these things are essential to the human condition. they are expressions of who we are.

i know this is a bit of a strange post, but it's just where my mind is today.

how exactly does one coordinate worship?

it is a well-known fact back in hoover that i led worship for my church youth group. this is not necessarily a well-known fact at belmont. it is a well-known fact at belmont that i have issues with musical worship. this is not necessarily a well-known fact back in hoover.

where is this leading? for too long these two aspects of myself have been separated. i miss leading in worship. i can't really stand what musical worship has become. where does that leave me? it is quite a conundrum.

an interesting prospect was put before me today. it is a well-known fact that i think the world of my university ministers. i think they are incredible, and they give me spiritual direction in spite of myself (and in spite of the fact that i don't always listen to what they have to say). but today guy put the idea in my mind to apply to be a worship coordinator at belmont.

yeah. he's crazy. really. because who in their right mind would suggest that i be in leadership over times of musical worship???

but then i started to think about it even further. guy and i had talked about my renewed passion for liturgy and sacred practices which got me thinking about how i could have an influence on reshaping the worship experience at belmont. how cool is that? i just have to weigh that against other commitments for next year and other sacrifices that would would allow me to serve in a leadership position with university ministries. there is also the distinct likelihood that i would have to, at some point, deal with people that i just don't agree with on worship (and myriad other things). and sometimes even people who just plain piss me off. it happens. especially when i'm involved in something that has church roots.

anyway...i have a lot to think about on this.

spring break...ish

well spring break has come again to the jolly land of belmont. and, yet again, i am staying in nashville and working in admissions. this is the 3rd year in a row i have done this, each time by personal choice. so, basically, i cannot complain. i'm honestly excited about the opportunity to work in admissions until 430 each day and then spend the rest of the time doing things for myself. i'm going to read for fun a little bit and work on some of my writings. i actually spent some time tonight re-writing the beginning of all my love which was very fulfilling. it is somewhat thrilling to revisit the story of emma ellis that my fifth grade class began ten years ago. it's like spending time with an old friend, only this time i have the opportunity to get to know her better.

that is why i love writing prose. it isn't really about coming up with new ideas or fantastic characters. yes, those things are obviously important, but what i love is finding just the right character and just the right situation and just the right setting. when you combine those things as an author, the story isn't really yours. i get to be a bystander who chronicles the journey. i get to live emma's story again and in greater detail. i get to cry with her. i get to laugh with her. i get to love her and her precious children (jj and lily ann). i get to spend time with one of my all-time favorite literary characters: lucy ellis (emma's sister-in-law) who in my mind is represented by my friend ann (in appearance and disposition).

so spring break is promising. and really it is just a dress rehearsal for the summer when my time will be dominated by working for admissions and writing books. i'm pretty thrilled about it. i'll try to blog a good bit this week in an effort to keep myself accountable with my writing goals. my main focuses are editing what i have so far in all my love and completing writing plans for learning for life and i grew up in alabama...and i turned out alright. check out all my writing projects here.