meme-alicious

Both Carl and Christianne have tagged me, so it's time for me to get my rear in gear and post this book meme. You've all been playing, so you know how it works.

Here we go ...

*the 1-2-3 meme*

[rules:]
pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages)
open the book to page 123
find the fifth sentence
post the next 3 sentences

From Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning:

“Soon I discovered that, in addition to alcohol, I had developed a second addiction: ministry. The attention and recognition that come from writing and preaching, teaching and counseling, had become my latest drug of choice. Even my relationship with God was predicated on my ministerial identity.”

If you spend any amount of time with me, this is a book I’ll reference frequently (as Christianne can attest). This book is one I keep coming back to as I trust God with the hurting places in my heart, with the mystery of what’s before me, with my confusion and doubt, and in short with my life. I appreciate Manning’s candor and honesty, his ability to give it to you straight without pulling any punches.


*that book meme with 9 questions*

1) One book that changed your life:
The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
This book was the beginning of the reawakening of my creative self. What I remember the most is the Morning Pages: engaging in the practice of writing every morning for 30 minutes without editing yourself (it is harder than it might sound, and really awakens you to the reality of how much we edit ourselves before we even get anything out there).

While my primary mode of creativity has to do with language, this book encouraged me to play with other and less familiar forms of art: so I dabbled in photography, watercolors, acrylics. Like with the morning pages, the important thing is just to do it, not to preempt yourself by saying “I can’t” before you even try.

2) One book you’ve read more than once:
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
So many other books could have been listed here, but I chose this one because I love it when an author takes a well-known tale and examines it from a different angle: by telling the story from an alternate perspective (like Anita Diamant in The Red Tent, or Wicked by Gregory Maguire), or by putting the story in a different context like Steinbeck does in this classic work.

Steinbeck retells the story of being cast out from Eden, but in the context of early 20th century California. There is sin, animosity between brothers, intense evil, and profound, earth-shaking wisdom. One Hebrew word is at the center of this story and it shook me and moved me to my very core.

3) One book you’d want on a desert island:
Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning
I can’t think of any other book that I’ve turned back to more since I finished reading it. Others could be on this list, to be sure (Blue Like Jazz and Waking the Dead come to mind), but this was one of those books that found me and spoke directly to my deepest need at the time.

Instead of trying to do justice by summarizing the book, I’ll offer up one of the many passages that is underlined, starred, and bracketed in my copy: “Often trust begins on the far side of despair. When all human resources are exhausted, when the craving for reassurances is stifled, when we forgo control, when we cease trying to manipulate God and demystify Mystery, then – at our wits’ end – trust happens within us, and the untainted cry, ‘Abba, into your hands I commend my spirit,’ surges from the heart” (p. 117).

4) Two books that made you laugh:
The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float by Farley Mowat
I think I’ve read this book about five or six times at least. Take one author from the far northern reaches of Canada, a lot of rum, the tale of the purchase of a sailing vessel that is something less than seaworthy, an extensive vocabulary (I still need a dictionary with me whenever I read it), and a host of comical but decidedly non-cartoonish characters, and you have a recipe for the first book that made me laugh so hard that I cried and nearly split my gut open. Seriously: go to Amazon.com and order it now. It will be the most hilarious $6 you've ever spent.

Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
This memoir is a hilarious retelling of the author’s quest to find some measure of happiness away from her humdrum temp job in New York by cooking through every single recipe of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. The author kept a blog while making her way through the famous cookbook and scored several fans across the country in the process. From her “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” obsession and quest to find obscure (and less than palatable) ingredients, this one is sure to offer a good, hearty laugh.

5) One book that made you cry:
A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis
I read this very short Lewis book in the fall of 1998 after my teenaged cousins were killed by a high driver in a horrific car accident. In this book, the Oxford don and man of letters becomes decidedly raw, wearing his heart on his sleeve. More sporadic journal entries than well-constructed arguments and steps for handling grief. This book shows him moving from head to heart, and he is frighteningly honest about how dealing with the loss of his wife taught him that faith goes beyond intellectual assent and dabbling in theory: it is flesh and blood, it is life and death, it is deeply and painfully personal.

Reading this book gave me permission to acknowledge my own doubts and insecurities, to know that I was not alone when the death of two someones I loved very much rocked my faith. I'm not so sure that it's book that made me cry as that it gave me permission to cry, to feel deeply, to scream, to tear my hair out ... and to know that God was in the middle of it all.

6) One book you wish you’d written:
In the Name of Jesus by Henri J. M. Nouwen
It is decidedly short, simple, profound, and wise. It is about stepping out of God’s way, it is about embracing humility. It is about letting go of the desire to be significant. It is about downward mobility. It's about ministering to the world like Jesus did. If you haven’t yet, please read it.

7) One book you wish had never been written:
I can’t think of any specific title for this category, primarily because writing this list required me to go back to my bookshelves. Any book that would fit in this category is a book I got rid of. Anything that reduces life or spiritual growth into any number of steps, any book written about getting rich quick, or any book that seeks to discredit or make another person ridiculous is one not worth the paper its written on.

8) Two books you are currently reading:
The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris

I love this book. More than one person recommended it to me, so I took the hint and bought it. I love Norris’ earthy and poetic prose, her experience of living in Benedictine community, and the truth she distills from her own life and the lives she observes the lives of those around her.

Persuasion by Jane Austen
I actually finished this on the way home from Florida to have it fresh again in my mind for my book club, but haven’t started another book to take its place. Jane Austen is a literary goddess, a sharp-witted woman who knew and understood perhaps better than anyone the society in which she lived. She’s just brilliant and I love everything she’s written.

9) One book you’ve been meaning to read:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

But I can only choose just one? Seriously? Have you seen the growing pile in my windowsill? The Kite Runner is near the top of that pile, but since this has already been mentioned several times by meme participants, I’ll offer a different title.

Enough readers I respect have recommended this work by McCarthy that I knew I had to read it. The premise is a captivating one: a nameless father and his son struggle to make their way to the coast (they don’t know why) after a desolating, apocalyptic global catastrophe. I’ve heard this book described as transfixing, searing, a tiny pinpoint of hope and light in the overwhelming darkness.

I just need to mention Anne Lamott and Donald Miller too. They're not on this list as the answer to any question, but as authors I love them: deeply spiritual, hilarious, irreverent, honest, and funny. Those are my kind of writers and I love 'em.

So if you haven't yet, it's most definitely your turn. All the cool kids are meme-ing these days ...

everyone has a story to tell

Have you all heard of StoryCorps?

StoryCorps was founded by Dave Isay, a familiar voice to NPR listeners. StoryCorps began with the simple idea that everyone has an important story to tell. With that in mind, Dave Isay and his StoryCorps teams traveled the country to small towns and large cities with mobile recording booths collecting the stories of everyday Americans from a variety of generations, backgrounds, and walks of life.

The Listening is an Act of Love Deluxe Gift Collection (which includes a hardback book, an audio CD with ten selected stories, and a companion book with few ideas on how to collect stories of your own) caught my eye at Starbucks the other day. I perused the description on the back of the box. Hmm. It made me think of Christianne and her work collecting the stories of hospice patients. I turned it over in my hands, intrigued, but left without purchasing it. This morning that I went back and purchased my own copy.

I listened to the CD when I got to work, barely able to contain my tears. These people are your friends, your grandparents, your neighbors; they are in line with you at the grocery store, they sit in the row behind you at church. And they all have remarkable stories to tell if only someone will ask and listen. There are stories from the Great Depression, from the ER, from military wives, from teenagers, from young couples, and from those who have enjoyed years beyond their golden anniversaries. There are stories of loss and of separation, stories of first loves, the deaths of parents, the loss of children. There are stories from Hurricane Katrina, from 9/11, from the trenches in the Middle East. A common thread of love runs through them all. You don’t need to know the people to be moved by the stories they tell.

It made me think of blogging and how those of us in this sphere are essentially writing our own stories as we move through our lives. It made me think of how our stories connect, and how that connection is a seed from which community grows. We all have stories. And I think we all want our stories to be validated somehow; we want to share them, we want them not to be forgotten. We use them to connect with one another in this virtual blogging space.

Especially at this time of year, I’m mindful of how I can be most generous with those I love. It has nothing to do with how much I spend, how big the box is, or how long I spent in line waiting to purchase it. I think the gift of listening to the stories of the lives around me is a gift. Validating their stories and our stories together. I think of the stories my grandparents have told, and how sad it would be if they were lost. I think of my parents’ stories, of my siblings’ stories. I’m inspired to collect their stories, to really listen, to record them, to write them down. To ask the thoughtful questions. After hearing some of these stories, I cannot think of a better gift.

So this is what I’m going to do to spread the love (thanks to Blue Mountain Mama for this wonderful idea): I’m purchasing an extra copy of this book/CD set. I'm going to send the extra set to one lucky reader. Leave a comment here by Saturday the 15th. I’ll drop all the names into a bowl and pull one out on Sunday. I’ll send it to you (most likely after the holiday mailing rush has passed), and then you can enjoy it too.

Merry Christmas, all! May the gift of Love be yours.


NOTES:
** If interested, you can purchase a copy of the book or the audio CD from Amazon.com.

For a sampling of stories, you can go directly to the StoryCorps website and click on “Listen to Stories” to hear 2-3 minute snippets of StoryCorps’ work. If you're anything like me, you'll get addicted to these moving first-hand narratives!

P.S. Check it out! Click here and scroll down to "On the Blogs". Too cool!

Booklove

Recently, 23 Degrees asked me what I thought was an insightful question, so I am using this post to answer and to invite others to do the same. In a comment responding to a recent post about how much I love my books, how those ordered shelves lined and heavy with books me feel happy and at home, he asked:

So...what are your top ten titles? Top three authors? Which books have you read more than twice?

I know I am in good company when I say that this is not an easy question to answer. Narrowing my collection down to a few vital titles and authors has not been a simple task. So here, my friends, is my best attempt at answering this question. I invite anyone reading to post their own response and leave a comment here when you do!!


Top Ten Titles
In no particular order, these are books that -- for a variety of reasons -- I cannot forget. They are an indelible part of me; I continue find it remarkable that I find myself on these pages and that no matter how many times I open them, I find something new. It is tempting to write about the unique impression each left on me, but this would require an essay for each!

• The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen
• East of Eden, John Steinbeck
• Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller
• Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
• Middlemarch, George Eliot
• Life is a Miracle, Wendell Berry
• Backlash, Susan Faludi
• A Million Little Pieces, James Frey
• A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis

Top Three Authors
This was by far the hardest to narrow down! But when I think of authors who challenge me and teach me the most, these three take the cake.

• Jane Austen
• C. S. Lewis
• William Shakespeare

Books I've Read Twice (Or More)
Sadly, this list is not comprehensive. But as I peruse my shelves, these are ones that I remember so clearly turning toward again and again.

• The Boat Who Wouldn't Float, Farley Mowat
• Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen
• Persuasion, Jane Austen
• The Narnia Series, C. S. Lewis
• Till We Have Faces, C. S. Lewis
• A Million Little Pieces, James Frey
• The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence
• Revelations of Divine Love, Julian of Norwich
• In the Name of Jesus, Henri Nouwen
• Wise Blood, Flannery O'Connor
• The Outlander Series, Diana Gabaldon
• Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller
• The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard
• Wicked, Gregory Maguire
• Ahab's Wife, Sena Jeter Naslund

So, readers ... it is your turn now. Consider yourself tagged. What are the books you love, the books that have shaped you, the books that have become a part of your soul? I am deeply curious ...