Takeaway: Education as virtue development has been on the horizon for a while. I feel inadequate to comment on The Year of Our Lord 1943. I spent about two weeks reading it. I have been thinking about it for a week since I read it. And I think I probably should go back and read … Read more
Summary: A father’s lament after his son’s death. There is no way I can really “˜review’ a book about a father’s lament for his son’s death in a rock climbing accident. This is one of those classic books that people give someone that has just experience a death. Americans in general and I think Evangelicals … Read more
Takeaway: People are complicated. Over the past several years since I have started thinking more about how to spiritual formation works, I have been intentionally reading memoirs or biographies of people with the express purpose of mining spiritual wisdom. Among the most helpful books last year was a quartet of memoirs from Madeleine L’Engle that … Read more
Summary: Young adult fantasy that knows the conventions of the genre, but isn’t reduced to them. Thirteen year old Darcy Pennington doesn’t have any friends. Her real love in life is horses. For the past several years she has gone to a summer camp dedicated to riding horses. But this year, both because of financial … Read more
Summary: A book on physical and spiritual healing, published in 1947 by a Episcopal Priest’s wife. Anges Sanford mentored and impacted many, included Dallas Willard. Way back in March, over three months ago I started reading The Healing Light because both the book and author were mentioned in the very good biography of Dallas Willard. … Read more
Summary: Boy of Dreams is start of an epic fantasy series. I grew up reading fantasy. Lloyd Alexander, Ursula LeGuin, Anne McCaffey, Piers Anthony, Raymond Feist, Tolkien and CS Lewis were part of my continual diet of reading. I re-read a number of books of my childhood about six or seven years ago, but I … Read more
Takeaway: The meaning of the word evangelical is complicated. The groups it refers to are still present, even if reform is necessary. I am ambivalent about the word Evangelical. Theologically I am a bit on the edge of the term, depending on how it is defined. Sociologically, I am a bit further away from the … Read more
Summary: A good short biography of O’Connor, but probably should not be subtitled “A Spiritual Biography.” The more you read, the more you realize where your gaps are. One of my gaps is mid-20th-century literature. This past year, I have read seven books by Madeleine L’Engle, and I will continue to read more this coming … Read more
Summary: History, Law and Political Science together help us understand the origin and “˜meaning’ of the Constitution. I have been very slowly working my way through America’s Constitution: A Biography for months. Part of what has been interesting is reading it along side books like The Half that Has Not Been Told and Reconstruction: America’s … Read more
Summary: How to think is as much art as science, but it needs to become a habit to make a difference Alan Jacobs is one of my favorite essayists. He was a professor at Wheaton when I was there (although I never had him). He is now a professor at Baylor. I have read a … Read more