At University UMC, the rhythm of the year cannot help but
imitate the rhythm of the university (University of Texas) year. (Isn’t there a
parable about when the elephant moves, the mice scamper?) So, yes, while we
strive to be liturgical and follow the Christian year, when the university
shuts down, we all kind of shut down as well.
For me, it means fewer meetings and emails (yay!) and
more time to enjoy family (mostly by skype these days) to take in great music
in Austin, to enjoy food with friends and to get in some great summer reads.
Here’s six from my summer list; I’ve read the first four
and have just begun the final two.
Free Will, by Sam
Harris
Harris is one of a trinity of writers that I and others call
the “evangelical atheists.” The other two are the late Christopher Hitchens (“God
is Not Great”) and the biologist Richard Dawkins (“The God Delusion”). Harris’s
book explores the idea that what we normally
think of as free will is a fiction. His claim is that to speak of human
beings having free will makes no sense. How, then, does one develop any kind of
morality or hold people accountable for their actions, if they’re not
free? Good question. Harris takes it up
with energy and style and it’s a short read.
The Age of
Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker
What would happen if the earth began to revolve at a
slower pace and the days and nights lengthened? This is Walker’s first novel, a well-written ,
surprisingly hopeful sci-fi tale. The book inevitably shadows questions in
light of global warming and the changes being wrought in the earth of reality.
The Power of
Parable, by John Dominic Crossan
Crossan is perhaps the premier New Testament scholar in
our time, one of the best at taking a complex biblical topic and breaking it
down. The subtitle is “How Fiction by Jesus Became Fiction about Jesus.”
Crossan is interested not just in re-describing the parables of Jesus, but
finding their pre-cursors in several books of the Old Testament. And then
taking whole gospels as parables, that have an implied challenge or even attack.
So, for example, Matthew’s gospel becomes an attack parable on a brand of
Pharisaic Judaism that is in important ways in tension with the tenets of Jesus
in Matthew’s gospel. All in all, a fascinating, if at times far-fetched,
journey with a great scholar.
Take This Bread,
by Sara Miles.
Miles was the keynote speaker at the Washington Island
Forum that Linda and I attended last month, an annual event sponsored by the
Wisconsin Council of Churches. Miles was
a late convert to Christianity, wooed into St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church
by communion. A former chef and war correspondent, Miles sensed a calling to
start up a food bank for all-comers. And so the adventure with Jesus follows, filled
with some incredible characters and stories. And prayers: “O God of abundance, you feed us
every day. Rise in us now, make us into your bread, That we may share your
gifts with a hungry world, And join in love with all people, through Jesus
Christ our Lord.”
James Cook: Master
of the Seas, by Frank McLynn
Magisterial biography of Captain James Cook and his three
voyages circumnavigating the globe in the late 18th century. McLynn
gives just enough background to make it fascinating without getting bogged
down. Cook is an amazing study of indefatigability and leadership.
2052: A Global Forecast
for the Next Forty Years, by Jorgen Randers
Forty years ago, Randers and his colleagues at MIT
produced The Limits to Growth, which
was essentially a scenario analysis designed to answer the question, “What will
happen over the next 130 years if
humanity decides to follow certain policies?”
It was not, however, predictive. 2052
is a broad forecast of what Randers and others believe is the probably global
evolution in areas like population, climate, food and economics. Despite the
fact that Randers believes that humanity will not change its ways, he remains
hopeful about the future. Hmmm …
What’s on your summer reading list?
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