January 30th, 2008 – Harmonious Circles
After a satisfying wrap-up of Three Cups of Tea the book discussion group began to propose alternatives for the next book to read.
Debi started with an interesting selection; The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. Will first gave a definite no until he found out it wasn’t just a diet book. The subject is the ethics of the food industry and our own in what we choose to eat. Peter Singer recently spoke at Pacific Lutheran University.
Debi also wanted to read the new Jim Wallis book The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post-Religious Right America. Gretchen saw Wallis a night later at a book reading at the Baghdad Theatre and reported being inspired by Wallis’ message.
After a satisfying wrap-up of Three Cups of Tea the book discussion group began to propose alternatives for the next book to read.
Debi started with an interesting selection; The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. Will first gave a definite no until he found out it wasn’t just a diet book. The subject is the ethics of the food industry and our own in what we choose to eat. Peter Singer recently spoke at Pacific Lutheran University.
Debi also wanted to read the new Jim Wallis book The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post-Religious Right America. Gretchen saw Wallis a night later at a book reading at the Baghdad Theatre and reported being inspired by Wallis’ message.
Last of Debi's suggestions was The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream By Barack Obama. The promise of a new kind of politics in this country is infusing hope for many OBama supporters I know in the congregation.
Stephanie recommended Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. We are about to begin RIC discussions at the church and a novel about a transsexual might help us understand the feelings and disenfranchisement of someone with a different sexual identity.
She also suggested The Book Thief by Markus Zusak in which Death is a leading character. Death meets the book thief, a 9-year-old girl named Liesel Meminger, when he comes to take her little brother, and she becomes an enduring force in his life, despite his efforts to resist her. "I traveled the globe . . . handing souls to the conveyor belt of eternity," Death writes. "I warned myself that I should keep a good distance from the burial of Liesel Meminger's brother. I did not heed my advice."
We went through other selections. I suggested a few and was surprised we chose The New Man: An Interpretation of Some Parables and Miracles of Christ by Maurice Nicoll. This is a book that I have reread many times since college and gives me new perspectives on the gospel and parables each time.
We will begin our book discussions again after Lent.
Stephanie recommended Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. We are about to begin RIC discussions at the church and a novel about a transsexual might help us understand the feelings and disenfranchisement of someone with a different sexual identity.
She also suggested The Book Thief by Markus Zusak in which Death is a leading character. Death meets the book thief, a 9-year-old girl named Liesel Meminger, when he comes to take her little brother, and she becomes an enduring force in his life, despite his efforts to resist her. "I traveled the globe . . . handing souls to the conveyor belt of eternity," Death writes. "I warned myself that I should keep a good distance from the burial of Liesel Meminger's brother. I did not heed my advice."
We went through other selections. I suggested a few and was surprised we chose The New Man: An Interpretation of Some Parables and Miracles of Christ by Maurice Nicoll. This is a book that I have reread many times since college and gives me new perspectives on the gospel and parables each time.
We will begin our book discussions again after Lent.
I have included many discussions and descriptions of the choir here. There is a shared experience and history that binds so many of us together. The music tonight moves from the harmonic purity of Jesus Met the Woman at the Well to gorgeous complexity of Be Thou A Smooth Path. Regardless of what we practiced there was an ease of togetherness, a feeling of being in a harmonious circle.
There is also a completeness that is palatable at the end of the evening, as we end in prayer. The strength of the choir is hard to articulate but provides a chord, a cord, one tie that binds our hearts at Creator.
There is also a completeness that is palatable at the end of the evening, as we end in prayer. The strength of the choir is hard to articulate but provides a chord, a cord, one tie that binds our hearts at Creator.
posted by Gary at
6:42 PM
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