The Irresistible Revolution

The Irresistible Revolutioun: Living Life As An Ordinary Radical
By: Shane Claiborne

I am not exactly sure how to describe this book.

Revolutionary? Probably.
Thought provoking? Definitely.
Life-Changing? Hopefully.

This is a book about a man who is trying to live his life as closely as Christ would have him live as possible. That means, to him, that he goes to Calcutta to serve with Mother Theresa. He goes to Iraq to serve the victims of the war. He opens up a "community" house in the ghettos of Philadelphia where the homeless and the lonely are welcome. He dedicates his life to serving the poor- and in this book he teaches us the things he has learned along the way.

I found that he eloquently expresses many of the things that I have always felt. For example, he takes on the Christian Right for not only turning Christianity into politics, but in boiling Christianity to two issues: sex and abortion, while ignoring so many other tenets of the life Christ lived. This is something that has always bothered me, and I am glad somebody finally spoke up against it.

That is not to say that Shane is a democrat. In fact, he despises the democrats just as much.  He calls himself "anti-politics" and on the 2004 ballot he wrote "Jesus" as the write-in candidate.

So this book is not about politics- though it is mentioned.

It is more a book about how we, as a society, have veered from the path that Christ would have us lead.

The book leaves you wondering not what it means to be Christian, but what it  means to be a follower of Christ- and whether or not we, as supposed Christians, are living up to that ideal.

He talked about a survey he took of several hundred Christians. He asked them if Christ walked with and helped the poor. 80% said yes. Later in the survey, he asked if they had actually walked with the poor and physically served the poor. Only 2% said yes.

He says we, as a society, have set up layers so we don't actually have to interact with the poor- we can donate our money to our charity and feel good about ourselves, but we don't actually come in contact with a homeless person to understand their circumstances and understand why they are in this situation. He insists that if we did, poverty would end as we would literally open up our coffers to help those in need- just as Jesus has asked us to do, but so many of us are unwilling to actually do.

He quotes Gandhi who said, "I like your Christ. But I do not like your Christians- they are so unlike your Christ."

Many of his thoughts are things I have thought for years, and it is refreshing to see somebody live his life in exact preciseness to how he felt Christ lived. He doesn't just talk the talk- he walks the walk.

I live in the suburbs with my spare bedrooms and extra mattresses while there are single mothers with children sleeping under bridges.

So now this book has left me wondering: What can I do to truly serve the poor? Not just donate money- but actually serve them face to face. To let them change me- to change my heart- so that I become a better disciple of Christ.

Finding the answer is my next quest.

(I should point out that I do not agree with everything he says- I do not agree with all of his Biblical interpretations, and I certainly do not agree that he is a prophet, as some of his followers do. But, the overall message I do agree with, and that is why I highly recommend this book)

Plants, Plants, Plants!

Ah, I'm such a sucker for spring! It's almost here, in this part of the world anyway. I couldn't get to the backside of January and February fast enough. I'm one of those weirdo's who actually enjoys yard work, and despises house work.

Detests it.
Hates it.
Loathes it with a passion.
What does dish pan hands mean anyway..

When the weather warms so do my reading choices, almost against my will. If I can't physically get my hands dirty, I want to read about others doing so. I want to smell the fresh cut flowers through someone else's nose. If I must.

I've been rewatching this PBS series about two gardening sleuths. It is excellent!! And perfectly named.





And my reading choices for this month are:

Anybody else have any good gardening or outdoorsy sort of books they read this time of year? How does one fill that void of time and space that only a really good seed catalog can fulfill?

Suggestions?

I feel all giddy...

We'll looky here...we have 30 followers!

I'm feeling all sheepish, and guilty.

Maybe we need to actually post something once in awhile...

Thanks everyone!

I'm a Winner! True Compass by Edward Kennedy

Woo-hoo! My unlucky streak must be over...yeah right, but several hundred people entered this contest and I was one of the lucky three to win a brand spanking new copy of this book.

I believe we lost a great man this year and I'm really looking forward to reading more about this political icon, this "lion" of the Senate. Unlike some who've recently published memoirs..., ahem, Ted Kennedy had a captivating and full life. I'm sure I won't be disappointed. Has anyone else read this yet? I'm curious what people think about it.

Special thanks to Bookin' with Bingo for hosting this giveaway.

"It was a dark and stormy night..."

An international literary parody contest, the competition honors the memory (if not the reputation) of Victorian novelist Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873). The goal of the contest is childishly simple: entrants are challenged to submit bad opening sentences to imaginary novels. Although best known for "The Last Days of Pompeii" (1834), which has been made into a movie three times, originating the expression "the pen is mightier than the sword," and phrases like "the great unwashed" and "the almighty dollar," Bulwer-Lytton opened his novel Paul Clifford (1830) with the immortal words that the "Peanuts" beagle Snoopy plagiarized for years, "It was a dark and stormy night."

See all the hysterical winners of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest 2009 Results here.

My favorite -

Winner: Science Fiction

The golden, starry wonders of the dark universe unfurled before the brave interstellar vessel "Argus" like a black flag of victory with a whole bunch of holes in it as the mysterious mission buoyantly commenced that would one day resolve critical questions about space, time, and the appropriate ratio of nuts to chips in a perfect chocolate chip cookie.

Robert Friedman Skillman, NJ

Never judge a book by its cover!

You've probably seen this already but I just can't help myself, I keep watching it over and over. Wonderful stuff.


EMBED-Susan Boyle Stuns Crowd with Epic Singing - Watch more free videos


I Dreamed a Dream (from Les Miserables)

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used
And wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung
No wine untasted.

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame.

And still
I dream he’ll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms
We cannot weather…

I had a dream my life would be
So different form this hell I’m living
so different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed.

A discussion - King vs. Meyer

The writer/blogosphere is all a buzz about a recent USA Weekend interview with the very opinionated Stephen King. In the article he discusses his thoughts on popular authors vs. the academic elite, and if he believes his success paved the way for what constitutes a successful career.

"The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good."

After some further thoughts on Erle Stanley Gardner (King: "terrible"), Jodi Picoult (good), Dean Koontz (good and bad) and James Patterson (bad), King said further:

"People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because they’re not overtly sexual. A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet."

Nathan Bransford, a popular literary agent, asks some interesting questions about King's response.

Who decides what's good anyway?

Is it the readers? After all, if Meyer is so successful she has to be doing something right. And in this world of American Idol, everyone fancies themselves an expert. But surely there is some difference between commercial success and artistic merit, right? Are we ready to crown the most successful books the "best" books?

Is it the critics? Should we leave "good" to the people who devote themselves to sifting through the books and movies and decide what's good and bad? Surely there's something to be said for expertise, right?

Is it the writers? Who knows better than the people who are actually writing the books, right? Or do they?

Is it the scholars? Yesterday's potboilers are today's classics. Yesterday's drivel is today's unappreciated genius.

Has the world of blogging made everyone a critic? Has well-informed criticism been replaced by popular opinion? Is Stephen King just jealous of Meyer and her overnight success?

What's your first pick for 2009?

Been to the bookstore or library lately?

What did you get to read for the new year?

-

Personally, I'm a library, bookstore junkie. Especially ones contained in older, well-educated buildings. I love a place that smells ancient and feels capable of housing the pages of something unknown and historical, like the catacombs Gandalf visits to gain knowledge in the Lord of the Rings.

-

These feelings carry over from when I was a child and often visited our city library. It was built in 1880 and was one of the town's oldest buildings. I can still remember the dank, musty smell of the place.

-

Although I like Barnes and Noble and Borders, I have yet to feel the closeness and friendly feeling I come across in a smaller neighborhood bookstore. I have a favorite used books place in downtown Boise that is practically wall-papered with books from the floors to the ceiling.

That is my kind of place. I hope you have one too.

-

I recently visited our city library and brought home The Book Thief and The Confederacy of Dunces for the month of January.

-

What are you reading this month?

A Worthy Goal for the New Year....

Bored?

Read a book, and learn and escape.

Did you know only 1 in 6 people read more than twelve books a year?

Fewer than 50 percent of today's adults are literary readers.
- 55 percent of women read for leisure compared to 37 percent of men.
-43 percent of all literary readers perform volunteer and charity work compared to 17 percent of nonliterary readers.

Of course women read more! It makes perfect sense to me. Women need to escape. We need breaks from the moaning and groaning of the cogs of our lives. A moment of relief from the constant churning of motion, of movement, of tension.

Reading is the exercise of our minds. The four-wheel drive vehicle that explores the deep recesses of our brains best saved for creativity and imagination.
Take a moment ladies, for yourselves, with a book.
Try one you've never read before. Join a book club. Or, I know join this blog! Email lula.ogden@gmail.com if you're interested and we'll make you an author on the site. Read our mission statement here.

I just posted my reading list for 2009. I had a grand old time doing it, searching the web for ideas.

You can do the same.
I look forward to a year of inspiration and simple treasures hidden in just paper and ink.
Just paper and ink. Separately they are insignificant. But together, power.
Feel it. Do it.

-

Now, after you finish your first book, head for the tv guide because for those of you interested in watching great literature brought to life, Masterpiece Theatre on PBS is starting its classics run again this Sunday.
This year they are including:

Tess of the d'Ubervilles - Thomas Hardy (This is one of my favorite books.)
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (This IS my favorite book!!)
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
Little Dorrit - Charles Dickens
The Old Curiosity Shop - Charles Dickens
-

For a copy of the schedule, check here.
I'm looking forward to another fantastic year of their productions. Last year was excellent.

Happy Reading!