days of nuwanda

Quotes from recent reading

From Serious Times by James Emery White, chapter on "Answering the Call":

The idea behind calling is that whatever our occupation may be, it is to be elevated to an expression of worship--that which could be pleasing to God--if performed with excellence and integrity and heartfelt devotion. A real estate agent, then, as a commited servant is to represent his or her clients to the greater glory of God. A software developer's labor is to be infused with a sense of piety.

Our tendency is to compartmentalize, with our spiritual life over here and our jobs over there. Yes, we struggle with how to live for Christ in the marketplace in terms of survival and sometimes ethics, but to see the job itself as a sacred act of worship is often beyond our spiritual vision.

BTW, I recommend all of White's books, but this section on vocation was mind-changing for me. (I would say life-changing, but as of yet, these nuggets of wisdom are resting in my mind and taking shape. I'm still working out their impact on my life.) Really good stuff!

From Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi:

"Well, that is the crux of the great novels...like Madame Bovary or Anna Karenina...the question of doing what is right or what we want to do."

From Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller:

I wondered if when we take Christian theology out of the context of its narrative, when we ignore the poetry in which it is presented, when we turn it into formulas to help us achieve the American dream, we lose its meaning entirely, and the ideas become fodder for the head but have no impact on the way we live our lives or think about God. This is, perhaps, why people are so hostile toward religion.

I began to wonder if becoming a Christian did not work more like falling in love than agreeing with a list of true principles....What if the gospel of Jesus was an invitation to know God...if the gospel of Jesus is relational; that is, if our brokeness will be fixed, not by our understanding of theology, but by God telling us who we are, then this would require a kind of intimacy of which only heaven knows. Imagine, a Being with a mind as great as God's, with feet like trees and a voice like rushing wind, telling you that you are His cherished creation. It's kind of exciting if you think about it. Earthly love is temporal and slight so that is has to be given again and again in order for us to feel any sense of security; but God's love, God's voice and presense, would instill our souls with such affirmation we would need nothing more and would cause us to love other people so much we would be willing to die for them.

Why I read his books

This blog post [see #3 on his list] is why I am reading Donald Miller's books. I get him. I get his books. And I love what he wrote here about how writing about himself is, in effect, writing about all of us. This is why I write, blog, jot down notes on little scraps of paper all over my house, carry a notebook in my purse at all times. Not so I can be cool like Miller and tour the country autographing my books, not b/c I'm obsessed w/ myself or think that my life is really all that interesting to an endearing public, and not just b/c my brain is bursting w/ stuff to put down, but mostly b/c I am like you. When you read about me, you learn about me, but hopefully you also learn a little about yourself, about all people. My experience is the human experience. This is why I love reading memoirs and coming-of-age stories. B/c no matter our culture, our upbringing, our faith, our occupation, at the core of who we are, we are all very much alike.

Ok, I feel like there should be an Enya song playing right about now. Do you hear it too? :)

Stomp, Stomp!

My children are obsessed w/ this book, Stomp, Stomp! by Bob Kolar (from the box you gave us--thank you, Grandma!). It has few words, is full of onomatopoeia, (stomp, boom, pow....and yes, I had to look up how to spell onomatopoeia) and is generally kinda weird, but they LOVE it. They ask to read it every night and several times throughout the day. Who knew a noisy little dinosaur could be so entertaining? 

Eats, Shoots & Leaves

I'm an English major and grammar geek, so I may be the only one who appreciates this book. Eats, Shoots & Leaves provides an ingenious and comical look at the misuse of punctuation everywhere you look...on billboards, movie titles, sale signs, even blogs like this (I'm sure I have a few misplaced commas here and there if you look closely). Hubby got me this book for Christmas, and I'm just now reading it. And thoroughly enjoying it, I might add. I am a geek in my own right, but proud of it. :-)

A fine read

Just finished Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake and I highly recommend it. It's not an intense novel; in fact it's not a mystery (which is all I read this summer). It just follows the life of immigrants from India and their children growing up in America. The main theme is identity, names (hence the title The Namesake) and how we are or are not shaped by those identities. Maybe I enjoyed it b/c I have this fascination with cultures that are older than my own American heritage. But the writing style was effortless and natural. If you like just reading about mankind and how different people face their heritage, you'll enjoy this book. This is definitely a new favorite.

It's Friday morning

...and already I'm exhausted. Not a great way to begin a day. Of course the real truth is that I stayed up until midnight reading. Jonathan got this great little book at the library a while back. He never read it, was about to return it, so I snatched it up last night before bed (b/c I knew I couldn't fall asleep right away) and just kept reading and reading. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket is one of those books that moves fasts b/c the language is easy to read and the characters aren't even close to the depth of a Jane Austen character. I think it's actually a children's series. But it's fun to read. I was nearly finished at page 118, when my eyes just shut on me. So I've got to finish the book this morning. I'll keep you posted.

I was wondering what on earth kind of name is "Lemony Snicket" and was hoping it was a pseudonym. Surely no mother could be that cruel to name her son that, but hey you never know. Maybe his mother was like Count Olaf, the villain in book one.

Apparently there are many books in this series. Has anyone out there read them? Do you find them as entertaining as I have found book one to be? It's written very strangely I will admit. The characters seem to be comic-book-like and very odd, but I guess what else could we expect from someone named after a flavoring.

Boo's Bookcase

Check out the left column for Boo's Bookcase, highlighting some of Boo's favorite books. Here is my review on Boo's behalf.

It's Not Easy Being a Bunny is one of our very favorites. And Curiuos George...well, he is loads of fun and every child enjoys reading about someone else getting into trouble instead of them!

The Under Construction book was a birthday present, and it's been well-loved. The movable trucks have been torn and abused and only 3 of them are still in existence, but it's still a favorite book. And I like it b/c at the end of the construction on the last page, they built a shopping mall. You can never have too many malls! :)

I don't read enough

I was always a sad excuse for an English major in college. I just wasn't into reading the way everybody else was. I mean, I do love books and I can get wrapped up into them like your average person. But I never read like my other friends read. I'm a bad person, I know.

My profs used to quote all the big authors, and I just never got into that. After all, they are just men and women. I never cared who wrote what. All I ever cared about was what they wrote about, what I could learn about humanity in the process, and how it impacted the world. I love ideas, not authors.

Of course my real love in college was English grammar and linguistics and the technical study of language. Fascinating stuff. I read lots of books on this, but that is another topic for another day.

But back to the reading....I really should do more of it. I'm one of these people who doesn't necessarly have ADD, but is easily distracted. And I can't skim a book; I'm not a window shopper, who browses quickly and moves on. I must grasp every single word, so as to not miss anything. So reading with other people around is nearly impossible, especially a toddler. I've been known to lock myself in my bedroom, or to read while sun bathing during Boo's naptime. But now winter has come, and the holidays are upon us, and I am feeling this guilt for not reading enough, but wondering when I can schedule some time for it.

I wish I could window-shop read. (I know those who can, and I'm hopelessly envious.)  I wish I could shut out the world and get pulled into another place and ignore everything else for an hour every day. But how?

This is the same struggle I have with my writing......and I wrote this line that kinda explains it...."There is just not enough time to be a citizen of this world and a dedicated writer." I'm not good at balancing life. For me, whether it's the toothpaste I use or the spiritual beliefs I have,  it's all or nothing. I either love it all the way, or turn my back on it completely. The is no lukewarm middle ground where I kinda like something. The same goes for books. I either throw myself into reading and writing and LIVE it, or I just put it aside and pretend that it's not important. I'm a woman who constantly bounces between extremes...hot and cold....love and hate....elated and depressed. I don't imagine I'm easy to live with. (Poor hubby!)