Friday Five: Church Libraries

From RevGalBlogPals:

Church libraries seem to be diminishing and even disappearing in some churches. Our church is full of scholarly books that no one looks at, and how should it change, be developed, or continue? As the de-facto chairperson of the library, I need ideas and suggestions about church libraries in this day and age. Please help!

Friday Five: Dreaming

How funny - two posts in a row about dreams. Odd.

Anyway, Sophia at RevGals has the Friday Five today, and it's a good'un. I'll let her bring you in:

With the beginning of my college teaching semester I have been having some unusually intense and memorable dreams lately--especially related to my Women and Religion class. With the beginning of a new calendar year many of us are engaging with dreams of another kind: planning, brainstorming, setting intentions or resolutions, etc. And many churches will celebrate the baptism of Jesus this Sunday, reading the Gospel account of his vision of the Holy Spirit as a dove and the "beloved child" words of [God] that set him off on his mission sharing [God]'s dream for the world. So let's take a few minutes on this (where I am at least) lovely snow-blanketed Friday morning and share about the many different dreams and visions in our lives.

1. Do you tend to daydream?
Oddly enough, not as much as I once did. I am as absent-minded as they come, but my lack of attention to the here and now rarely, if ever, happens due to a flight of fancy. I'm usually thinking about something concrete, whether it's the church, faith, football, books, or something else I'm experiencing/pondering at the moment. When I was a kid, however, I often found myself getting scolded because I wouldn't/couldn't stop daydreaming about anything and everything.

2. Do you usually remember your night dreams? Do you find them symbolic and meaningful or just quirky?
I do remember my night dreams, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they are deeply symbolic and meaningful; these dreams come during the stressful times in my life (death of loved ones, during my divorce, moving, trouble with work for myself or Beloved). Sometimes I have nightmares, and for the life of me I can't identify a cause - they just happen and then they're gone. I've shared in the past about dreams (also here) that seem to be the mental equivalent of flushing toxins out of my system. And sometimes my dreams are just plain weird, and no, I can't say anything more than that.

3. Have you ever had a life changing dream which you'll never forget?
Yes. About a month after my Grandpa Johnson died, I dreamed he came and sat on my bed, healthy and much younger than I ever knew him, and we talked about life and how much he loved us. I had similar dreams when my Grandpa Janke and Grandma Johnson died as well, and I've often dreamt entire conversations with Larry Meyer, my campus pastor and mentor. I'm not saying every dream is a message from God, nor am I suggesting everyone dreams their prayers, but I will say this: my faith was strengthened by all of these dreams, because they seemed to be holy moments.

4. Share a long term dream for one or more aspects of your life and work.
I have a few. I'd like to be the campus pastor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln someday (relax, Eric, I'm in no hurry). I'd like to publish a book and sell enough copies to actually make a profit. I'd love to see if I'm up to the challenge of PhD level work on Bonhoeffer. But the dream overriding them all is to be a good husband, father and pastor first, and if that doesn't leave room for the rest, I'll be just fine.

5. Share a dream for 2010....How can we support you in prayer on both the short and long term dreams?
I'd love to see our campus ministry community double in attendance and activity by the end of the calendar year. I'd love to be pushing 100 in worship by December, with small groups meeting nearly ever day of the week in some shape or form. I'd love to have the sense that we're building leaders for the church, not just entertaining students as they pass through their years at Iowa State. I think that ought to be enough to pray on, don't you?

Bonus: a poem, song, artwork, etc. that deals with dreams in general or one of your dreams.
I've posted this many times before, but it's just so beautiful I keep coming back to it. I first discovered this poem in Garrison Keillior's collection Good Poems, and it always makes me think of those I love who've died, and how much I dream of seeing them again.

Four Poems in One

At six o'clock this morning
I saw the rising sun
Resting on the ground like a boulder
In the thicket back of the school,
A single great ember
About the height of a man.

---

Night has gone like a sickness,
The sky is pure and whole.
Our Lady of Poland spire
Is rosy with first light,
Starlings above it shatter their dark flock.
Notes of the Angelus
Leave their great iron cup
And slowly, three by three
Visit the Polish gardens round about,
Dahlias shaggy with frost
Sheds with their leaning tools
Rosebushes wrapped in burlap
Skiffs upside down on trestles
Like dishes after supper.

---

These are the poems I'd show you
But you're no longer alive.
The cables creaked and shook
Lowering the heavy box.
The rented artificial grass
Still left exposed
That gritty gash of earth
Yellow and mixed with stones
Taking your body
That never in this world
Will we see again, or touch.

---

We know little
We can tell less
But one thing I know
One thing I can tell
I will see you again in Jerusalem
Which is of such beauty
No matter what country you come from
You will be more at home there
Than ever with father or mother
Than even with lover or friend
And once we're within her borders
Death will hunt us in vain.

"Four Poems in One," by Anne Porter from An Altogether Different Language: Poems 1934-1994 (Zalond Books).

The Church I Know, The Church You Know

I just finished His Dark Materials for the second time, this time in audio format. While I enjoyed the story again, and I think Philip Pullman is a remarkably talented writer, I found myself also frustrated yet again with his narrow-minded approach to religion and the Christian church. It is unfortunate that so many people base so much of their anger against organized religion on what appears to be such a small portion of the church.

Pullman's characters discover that the Church, in Lyra's world in particular, is firmly dedicated to grasping and holding power, to controlling wills and even to taking life to protect their position and power. I remember thinking as I read, "if the Church I serve were really like this, I'd want to join Lord Azriel and take it out, too!" There is nothing wrong with wanting to do away with a corrupt, power-hungry, politically driven church. The problem comes when one takes one's picture of the whole from a snapshot of the lunatic fringe.

This is not the church I know. The church I know is dedicated to creation, to nourishment, to helping people discover their gifts and use them for the benefit of the world. Have we always wanted to do this? Not at all: in some periods of time, the church was guilty of exactly the type of sins Pullman levies in his fiction. But not presently, not in any way, shape or form that resembles the characterization in this series.

It is disheartening to think that a mind as obviously gifted as Philip Pullman's has been so clouded against this church I love so dearly. The church we see is the church we know, and someone (or, more likely, a whole congregation of someones) gave Philip Pullman a vision of the church that is far different from the church I know. That, unfortunately, leaves us with very different views of the church, even though we agree about corruption, legalism and the danger of mixing power and religion. It takes a great story and makes it merely good, with the caveat that could have been offered magnified into an outright condemnation I'm not sure is deserved. The church Pullman knows deserved rebuke: the church I know would accept it gladly. It's too bad we'll likely never have the chance to see that happen.

Cabin Fever Friday Five

Here in snow country we are settled in to what is a very long stretch of potentially boring days. The holidays are over. It is a very long time till we will get outside on a regular basis. The snow that seemed so beautiful at first is now dirty and the snow banks are piling up. Our vehicles are all the same shade of brownish grey, but if we go to the car wash our doors will freeze shut. People get grumpy. Of course, not everyone lives in a cold climate, but even in warmer places the days till springtime can get long. Help! Please give us five suggestions for combating cabin fever and staying cheerful in our monochromatic world?

Okay, here are my thoughts.
1. The best way to avoid cabin fever? GET OUT OF THE CABIN. I go running outside as often as possible, unless it's really freaking cold or I'm really freaking sick. Last night I got out for a nice five-miler in tights, shorts and two t-shirts; the exercise keeps me warm. So, get out for a walk or a run - you'll be better for it!

2. This year I'll be basking in the glow of a Cornhusker Gator Bowl victory over Clemson, the perfect finishing touch to a 9-4 season and, hopefully, the first of many more successful seasons. Thanks to the wonder of our DVR, I've got several classic Nebraska games to watch as well - which will help me survive the longest season of the year (off-season, not winter!)

3. I bake bread. Lots of bread, especially when it's Friday and I'm stuck on sermon prep. This one, unfortunately, has gone by the wayside this year due to moving/a new campus ministry/dealing with a toddler and an infant. But I still try to find time for baking when I can: it's homey, you can eat what you make, and NOTHING smells better than a mix of freshly-brewed coffee and freshly-baked bread.

4. Speaking of coffee, winter is a time to catch up on reading. Find a good book and a comfy chair at your local coffeehouse, and while away an afternoon. That's just a whole day of awesome right there.

5. Campus Ministry. Seriously, my call is invigorating, so I spend the winter looking at ways to challenge and encourage our student community. Sometimes I can incorporate many of the items listed above. Sunday morning we'll be baking communion bread; we have a book group; tomorrow we might be having a Lutheran Center group run. They don't go in much for the Nebraska football here at Iowa State, though. :-)

Well, there you have it. Oh, and I forgot sledding. LOTS of fun. :-)

2008 Books List

Well, here's the list for the year. You can see that I fell a bit short of the "50 Books" goal, but it's still a pretty hefty list, if you also consider I gave the old school try on Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson in addition to everything on the list. It was a good reading year, that much is certain: there are some really good volumes on this list. My recommendations are in bold. Happy reading!

1. 1776 by David McCullough
2. Desperation by Stephen King
3. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
4. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
5. Duma Key by Stephen King
6. The Sandman Vol. 1, Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg and Malcolm Jones III
7. The Centered Life by Jack Fortin
8. No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
9. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
10. 1916: The War for Independence by Morgan Llywelyn
11. 1921: The Great Novel of the Irish Civil War by Morgan Llywelyn
12: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
13: 1949: A Novel of the Irish Free State by Morgan Llywelyn
14. 1972: A Novel of Ireland's Unfinished Revolution by Morgan Llywelyn
15. 1999: A Novel of Ireland and the Search for Peace by Morgan Llywelyn
16. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
17. World Without End by Ken Follett
18. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal by Aaron Allston (seriously, could we have a few more colons in that title?)
19. Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker
20. Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (in German, Discipleship is Nachfolge (following-after), the source of my blog title)
21. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines by Karen Traviss
22. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
23. Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card
24. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
25. Cell by Stephen King
26. Ethics by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
27. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
28. Beowulf - translated by Seamus Heaney
29. Hero of the Underground by Jason Peter
30. Druids by Morgan Llywelyn
31. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Tempest by Troy Denning
32. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Exile by Aaron Allston
33. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice by Karen Traviss
34. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Inferno by Troy Denning
35. The Irish Civil War by Tim Pat Coogan & George Morrison
36. The Greener Shore by Morgan Llywellyn
37. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Fury by Aaron Allston
38. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Revelation by Karen Traviss
39. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
40. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
41. Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions by Neil Gaiman
42. The Sandman, vol. 2: The Doll House by Neil Gaiman [graphic novel]
43. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
44. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
45. Just After Sunset by Stephen King
46. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Invincible by Troy Denning
47. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
48. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
49. Peace Like A River by Leif Enger

Books That Mess With Your Head

It's been pretty good reading here lately - if I continue plugging away over the next two weeks, I might actually get the 50 Book Challenge completed this year. But the book I just finished and the one I'm currently reading at home aren't light writing in any sense of the word - I might just need to find something in the style of John Grisham or Tom Clancy to finish out the year, as these last two have really been messing with my head.


Middlesex came highly recommended by just about anyone who reads good books. It's the story of Cal Stephanides, who was once Calliope Stephanides, and how that happened. But it's also a story of immigration, assimilation, Detroit and other conflicts which revolve around identity. It was painful reading at times; what can you say about a person who calls his brother "Chapter Eleven?" But there is also great love; Chapter Eleven is the quickest to renew the relationship after Calliope became Cal. It's a funny, endearing, challenging book that I enjoyed quite a lot.


The Omnivore's Dilemma is not a book I like, per se; it is a book that I'm experiencing more than I am reading. I'm only about halfway through, and I'm already finding myself rocked by a punch coming off of nearly every single page. Here's just a sampling of the thoughts I've had since beginning this book:

• Oh, shit! I'm never eating THAT again!
• You know, most municipalities allow a certain number of laying hens per household - I bet we could raise our own chickens and eat their eggs, right?
• Dad should read this book.
• Dad should NEVER read this book.
• I'll never shop at Hy-Vee again (insert Piggly Wiggly, Publix, Albertson's, whatever mega-food-mart your locality might include).
• When am I going to find the time to cook all our meals from scratch, since I don't want to eat all those frigging preservatives?

Like I said, this is a book that definitely raises a LOT of questions, especially for people with farming in their blood (hence the "Dad should/should NEVER read this book." thoughts). But that's what good literature can and should do: when we are challenged by what we read, we learn better what kind of people we are, and perhaps more importantly, what kind of people we yearn to be. We're not going to start raising chickens (I don't think for a second that Kris would go for that), but will The Omnivore's Dilemma change how I look at food? It already has - and maybe that was the point.

Prayer for the End of a Good Long Day

The lights are still burning
here in this study where we have palavered,
You and I.

Schedules, announcements, task lists, meetings, reminders;
these, I had thought, were not the makings of this calling,
but rather the minutiae, the thoughtless means
by which I could excuse myself of responsibility.

"No," You said, "here is where the Holy begins:
caring words of gratitude,
humble invitation,
compassion,
grace.

"'Come and see' are the words through which
My Kingdom is come and
My Will is done.
The hand extended in welcome,
not the shoulder turned in contemplation,
so easily mistaken for rejection."

And here I kneel, in the presence of the Holy,
whispering thanks for these few moments of
abundant joy,
learning yet again
the wisdom so simply displayed
in my father's fields:
without plowing,
without sowing,
without weeding,
without watering,
without sunlight,
there is no harvest to be reaped,
and the world, and I,
shall go unfed.

People of the Book

I just finished this book today, and I have to say I found it utterly enchanting. I started listening to the audio version on my way to and from Chicago two weeks ago, but ran out of road before running out of book. Since my iPod is kaput at the moment, I wasn't able to finish the audio version, so on Monday I checked out the print copy from our local library to finish it.

The advantage of well-done audiobooks is that the characterizations can lend an even more authentic voice to the author's script. The woman performing the audio version of People of the Book did exactly that: she nailed nearly every accent, in my opinion. There are many: an Aussie conservator, a Bosnian librarian, a Scottish imam who works for the U.N. (yes, that's right), an Israeli conservator and many others. I found myself missing the voice as I finished the book.

The story itself is utterly enchanting. Hanna Heath is called to Sarajevo to examine a recently recovered Seder Haggadah, and in the course of her work the author fills in the back story of the Haggadah and the signs and clues to its history. Well written, exquisitely detailed, but not nearly so copious and elaborate as, say, Umberto Eco or Neal Stephenson (who are excellent writers in their own right, mind you). This is good reading for everyone, even if you've no interest in learning how vellum is made or the history of Carnivale in Seville before the Inquisition. To sum up, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Now, off to something new!

Two Great Thanksgiving Week Reads

Hey, everyone - back again.

We were in the Twin Cities last week for Thanksgiving and our niece's baptism - and a lovely time it was. Wish we could have spent more time with my in-laws, but the time we had was lovely, and that's all one can ask for, right?

I'm trying again to get back to some good reading, and I connected on a couple of doozies this week. Here are some very brief reviews.


The Road is the best book I've read this year. Nothing even comes close - not by a long shot. In addition to this being my Ireland year (The Irish Century series by Morgan Llywelyn), it's apparently becoming my Cormac McCarthy year, with No Country For Old Men (in both literary and cinematic form) and, now, The Road. No Country For Old Men was a suspenseful, driving, macho course filled with gunshots, psychotic hit men and Texas pride. Thankfully, the Coen brothers more than did the book justice in their incredible movie - I've rarely seen a movie that better captured the feel and tone of the book on which it is based. The Road, on the other hand, is every bit as suspenseful, but far more claustrophobic and surprising along the way. It's a post-apocalyptic tale, but at the same time it reminded me of Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls in style and tone. You know you've picked a winner when the book you're reading makes you stop breathing; The Road contains several such moments. AND, to make matters even better, the movie version that will be released in early 2009 features Viggo Mortenson in the lead role. Outstanding! Highly recommended reading for anyone who can immerse themselves in a very grim future for the sake of an extremely well-spun story.

Just After Sunset marks Stephen King's return to short story, and this Constant Reader is pretty happy with the result. His recent fascination with Florida continues - several stories are set in Florida, and he admits that his new home in the state plays a part in this. But they're good stories, nonetheless, especially N., Stationary Bike and A Very Tight Place, the last of which features an extremely disgusting yet totally enjoyable encounter with a biffy tipped onto its door with a person trapped inside.

And that's the literary story from Ames for today. Up next is Rob Bell's new book, Jesus Wants To Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile, as well as the final book in the Star Wars: Legacy of the Force series. I might get over the 50 book bar this year, or I might not, but it's been a pretty good reading year nonetheless. Hope you enjoy some of the stuff I've posted here, and look for more book postings in the future.