Book Reviews

Takeaway: Mr Rogers really was wise.

Purchase Links: Hardcover, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook

Over the weekend there were a bunch of sales on kindle books.  I picked this up for $0.44.  And at that price is was a steal.  The kindle price is now up to almost $10 so much less attractive.

This is a very short books, in paper it looks like a gift book size.  In audio it is only 75 minutes.

It was edited by Fred Roger’s wife from various speeches and articles that he wrote.  Each page has a few lines, just one thought. There are a couple roughly themed chapters, but really this is intended to be browsed through looking for the nugget that will speak to you where you are right now.

I do not have kids of my own, but nanny my two nieces (2 and 3).  I think I highlighted about a third of the book.  What Mr Rogers seems to be good at is encouraging parents to be good parents.  This seems to be the theme of the book:

Looking back over the years of parenting that my wife and I have done with our two boys, I feel good about who we are and what we’ve done. I don’t mean we were perfect parents. Not at all. Our years with our children were marked by plenty of inappropriate responses. Both Joanne and I can recall many times when we wish now we’d said or done something different. But we didn’t, and we’ve learned not to feel too guilty about that. What gives me my good feelings is that we always cared and always tried to do our best. Our two sons are very different one from the other; yet, at the core of each of them there seems to be a basic kindness, a caring, and a willingness to try. I’ve heard young parents complain about the way they were treated by their own parents, and they say, “œI’ll never make that mistake with my kids!” And probably the most honest response to that is, “œPerhaps you won’t make that mistake, but you’ll surely make your own different ones.” Well, we certainly made our share of mistakes.

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It’s been said that females and males can’t be friends because of the big S word involved…..that friendship without sex equals questionable intentions (blame When Harry met Sally!). I’ve always found that to be a very simplistic and stereotypical view of men and women relationships. I personally, have been able to have two very close platonic male friends (they were “bridesmen” in my wedding). As a woman in the book quotes, we have never nor will we ever engage in any sexual intimacy. Instead, we laugh, we talk, and we share stories. I often find myself getting offended that people, especially church people (not all but some!) have relayed to me that having male friends somehow conflicts with God’s view of marriage and intimacy. Luckily, in this book, it seems Mr. Dan Brennan is on my side!

This author presents a different perspective from existing church culture. “Christ came not to just reduce the old disorder of lust, violence, and possession between men and women ,but to usher us into a new world of embodied communication with each other.” He submits that it is possible to live together in Christ without lust or sexual innuendos interfering with the friendship. In focusing on the fact that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, our focus shifts onto our common bond of Christianity rather than our own temptations and desires.

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For as long as I have been a Christian, I remember being taught, repeatedly, the story of Billy Graham and his attempt to always be above reproach.  I have no idea if the stories of the Reverend Graham are true or not but they went something along the lines of:  Reverend Graham would not get on an elevator if he’d be on board with a woman alone, that he wouldn’t counsel a woman unless a third party was present, etc.

I never questioned these stories or Reverend Graham’s intent until recently.  A dear friend of mine, we’ll call her Molly, came home from college and told me the story of how she couldn’t visit a male friend of hers because his wife wasn’t available to “œtag along”.  Molly understood her friend’s feelings but yet she wound up feeling “œicky”; which was quite vexing to her because she did nothing wrong.

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