Saturday, January 22, 2011

Her Mother's Hope by Francine Rivers

I just closed the pages on this novel about Marta and Hildemara - a mother and daughter living in the first half of the 1900's. My friend Glenna recommended it as a book that taught her alot about how to be and how NOT to be. I can see why. Sometimes our best intentions are misunderstood - especially by our daughters and grandaughters! Marta had a very harsh way of showing her love, by pushing her daughter to anger in hopes of making her strong and dependent. She was so devastated by the suicidal death of her own sister who had been weak in Marta's eyes, and so hurt by her father's physical and emotional abuse that she had a warped way of 'helping' her own daughter. Her wounded past formed the way she viewed God, her husband and others, especially Hildemara. It had a very satisfying ending. It has left me feeling hopeful that communication and forgiveness will stand victorious. Unfortunately, some things on this earth will remain damaged and even though redeemed, it takes time for restoration and renewal. It will be interesting to read the sequel and see how Hildemara recovers (if she does) and how she will turn out as a mother herself. I have already seen how she is as a wife. It took Trip a long time to woo her out of her shell of protection. She has had to be very strong as he went off to fight in WW2 and is now coping with a husband who has PTSD. She is battling TB for the second time and has two small children - a son and a daughter. Hmmmmmm.....Hope the sequel is on the ANCF library shelf tomorrow....

Monday, September 14, 2009

Emotional Arithmetic

This is not a book, but a movie that I saw last week that boasted of a very prominent cast of actors. It was introduced at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival. (click here for trailer). It was one of those movies that I didn't expect to appear on my screen one cozy night. It was a surprise brought to me thanks to modern programming.

The character Jakob recites a poem that he had written after surviving the Holocaust. I can't quote the whole thing but it made an impact on me. Here's a paraphrase.

"I was asked, 'Do you believe in God?' and I answered, 'No, not yet.'
I have seen the birth of precious babies and counted all their fingers and their little toes.
I have seen the love between a man and a woman.
But I have also seen these same creations thrown into the gas chambers and go without food.
Now when I am asked, 'Do you believe in God?' I answer, 'Does God believe in me?"

I am happy to say that by the end of the movie, you see Jakob walking hand in hand with a little boy heading toward the landscape of the lake.

Hard questions. Hard answers.

We try hard to forget pain and suffering but unless it is healed it remains in the form of troubled memories or exposes itself in compulsive behaviors, etc. etc. This is a good movie about remembering.

Early today I was thinking that we often want quick fixes and easy answers. It's hard to sit with our doubts and questions for very long. We settle for the pat answer. We accept Leah for Rachel, so to speak.

As hard as it is, it is much better to be honest before God and with ourselves so that God can truly reveal His Love and speak true wisdom and healing into our emotionally battered hearts.

Does God believe in you? Just ask Him - again and again, until you receive that assurance and hope.


Saturday, September 12, 2009

Sweeter Than Chocolate

I started my new fall Bible study today. It officially starts on Monday but I got my book and just couldn't wait. The six week on-line study will take us through Psalm 119. This very, very long Psalm has as its theme the Word of God. If you read it you will see it is filled with that key word and many synonyms such as law, commandments, precepts, statutes, ordinances and one of my favorites - the Torah of Hashem. I have a lovely copy of the Tanach which is the Hebrew Old Testament. 

It felt good to surround myself with different translations of the Bible this afternoon as I began to look at the Scriptures.

The New International Version
I bought this one recently for the large print and to help keep the local Christian bookstore in business!
The Tanach
This book reads from right to left and has the original Hebrew text. (Click on the picture to see it close up.) It's really cool and makes me feel studious. ha  Of course it only contains the Old Covenant.
It gets a bit confusing when I switch Bibles because I have to remember which way to turn the page.
The cover
I bought this lovely edition when I was in San Diego visiting my friend Angela. She attends a Jews for Jesus synagogue and having this Torah brings back very happy memories of my time with her. 
Oh, how I love thy Word!!!

The internet is also a great place to print out passages in different translations. I printed out the Amplified Bible Version of the longest Psalm. I'm not sure how many pages THAT took but there were quite a few. My computer went wonky and printed out more than one set, so my Tuesday night girls will each get a personal copy to use. It's great to do this because you can use them as observation worksheets and mark them up to your heart's content! I'm trying to keep my new Bible free from marks but in 39 years that has never happened, so we'll see!
I'll paraphrase and share one of the verses that I walked away with today:
"The introduction, entrance and unfolding of God's Word gives light." (vs 130)
I liked this three part process as it helps us to break it down in our minds but somehow I think it happens simultaneously and oh, so beautifully!
God's word is introduced to us. It enters into us and then begins to unfold itself in our heart and mind. We are to occupy ourselves with the Word of God. When something is unfolded secrets are revealed, the hidden things come to light. There is always more than meets the eye but we have to give ourselves to knowing God. He has so much in store for each and every one of us.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

(If you are interested in doing this study or peeking in on it through the next seven weeks you will find more information here.)

Friday, September 11, 2009

A Season of Allegories

Whew!

I just finished reading C.S. Lewis' book, The Pilgrim's Regress.















This on the coat tails of another allegory, Hinds Feet On High Places by Hannah Hurnard.

One must rely more upon imagination than intellect when approaching these Christian classics.

'Regress' captured my imagination from page one. In fact, I asked to read aloud to several friends and a willing husband the first bits. I decided not to try and dissect the meanings so I didn't mark or comment on any of the lines that grabbed my attention as I went along. Often times, I think it best to just read a book. In the back of my mind I'm thinking that I will go back and re-read the book and use a finer toothed comb the second time.

Now I wish I would have highlighted the 'highlights' that struck me. They were worthy of a deeper look and hopefully I will find the time and inclination to go back to them. I'm just not feeling as keen at the moment because as I neared the last third of the book, it was losing me and the ending left me feeling a tad dry and confused.  On the other hand, Hinds Feet left me feeling exhilarated and ready for action.

Allegory is one thing, but poetry is another. For some reason, I can't cross that divide between me and some poetry and 'Regress' had huge doses of poems in the closing chapters. I know my sister Melanie loves to sit and read her poetry. My friend Cathie described a very positive experience she had in high school because of a dedicated teacher who helped her embrace the beauty of poetry. I guess I need a poetry appreciation class to help me on my way. I find it strange that I feel this way because I feel like I am a poetic soul by nature. I guess I only enjoy certain flavors.

I believe books have a way of finding you and usually there is a story attached to how and why I end up reading a book.

This particular story comes because I bought a course from Regent College called the Spiritual Pilgrimage that Maxine Hancock taught several years back. Maxine is a professor and is a family friend of Gina's in-laws who actually attended Matt and Gina's wedding eight years ago. (*eight years ago! can this be???) The main thrust of the course was Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. I have been making my way through this for the past year. The Pilgrim's Regress was a required reading for the course. There are several other books that I've also purchased to go along with this so I will continue to make my way through them.

This desire for 'schooling' obviously comes to me because of the blank spots in my high school education due to lack of interest at the time (the 60's were upon us!) and the fact that I never pursued a college or university path. It's never too late for these things.

C.S. Lewis definitely experienced all the higher education of his days at Oxford and the book is riddled with obscure references to the philosophies of this world especially in the spirit of the age during his day.  In fact, in the afterwards of his book he said he wishes he hadn't been so obscure in his allusions.

So, part of the bottom line is that the wisdom of this world is definitely not what it is cracked up to be, for we must all become simple (humble) and accept the wisdom of God for our Salvation. In that way, C.S. Lewis and I are on the same playing field. I can only admire how he used his God given gifts and used his baptized imagination to write these awesome books.

The Pilgrim's Regress will now be a part of me in whatever level it finds to settle. I'm sure it will leak out of me in future posts and conversations. The first part of the book definitely made an impression.

Happy reading!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Where Did It Begin?


There is a saying.
If you teach a boy to read you have given an education.
If you teach a girl to read you have influenced and changed a community.

Reading.

What a privilege.

When did I become a book worm?

Bear with me while I take a trip down memory lane.

The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore is a book that comes to mind as an early read. Barbie goes to New York is another one as I got a little older. Grama Laura gave it to me. How out of character that seemed, even at the time. She even gave me a bottle of nail polish to go with it. But as I recall, I remember Grama's wooden bookshelf. It wasn't bursting with books as my own shelves tend to do but I can see The Last Mohican, The Secret Garden, Little Women, a medical book with pictures of the disease Elaphantitis, some National Geographics. But I do remember reading in her living room. And I now have in my possession the Secret Garden.















In high school I spaced out. What a shame. I honestly did not complete homework assignments or do the required reading. It is a blank spot.

I do remember reading a couple of tomes on my own. Hawaii by James Michener and Christy by Catherine Marshall. Beloved Invader was written about a place in Georgia where my Aunt Gerry settled so that series was passed from her to Grama For. I actually got to visit the place and see the Spanish Moss that grew on the big oak trees that was so vivid in the novels.

I was introduced to the Bible in 1971. Before that, my experience with the Bible was looking at the Family Bible that was kept in the hall closet. It had a few family dates like births and baptisms written into it and it had colorful pictures of stories that were not familiar to me. As a Catholic, I knew catechism rote question and answers and had heard the Gospels read in snippets on Sundays. Mostly, I knew about the sacraments and what constituted a sin. But I never read the Bible.

Unfortunately/Fortunately, my first pastor told us that we had 66 books to read and didn't need to read anything else. So without any training on how to read this inspired Book of Books, I began to read my Bible. They also put me in charge of a two-three year old Sunday School class. At least we were all on the same level of introductory reading of these age old stories. My focus in reading stayed pretty much on the Bible after that and as Christian authors began their self help litany and Bible study guides and teachings our book shelves began to fill.

It wasn't until I came to Canada 21 years ago (O Canada!) that somehow I started to read just for pleasure. I remember getting Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and a c.d. named Phantasies by Danny Wright. We drove down the Oregon Coast and stayed at Seaside and I just couldn't get my nose out of the book. The music and story will always be intertwined in my soul.

It's always such a high to finish a story and it takes a while to come down and find another book to fill its place. My sister Melanie introduced me to Rosamunde Pilcher's Coming Home. It was such a cozy story.

By now I was hooked.

Chapters Book Store just happened to open in my community about this time and Laura got a job there. I got discounts on books. This is where the addiction began, along with the Starbucks coffee that Sara got me hooked on by working at Starbucks. Here was a place that had books AND coffee at a discount. Oh, happy days.

Chapters began a book club and I joined. This was a whole new world. Our first read was Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross. Everyone loved the book, which is unusual when there is a wide readership. I remained in the club until I moved to Maple Ridge.















Within the next year or so a group of us from the yoga studio started a local book club. We eventually named ourselves the Chicklits - chicks who are into lit....erature. It continues on after over six years.

I also started the Baobabes along with my buddy Kristi in the last two years. Kristi moved away in the meantime and it has floundered ever since.  But the beauty of this book club is that young women came on board. Kristi was the bridge between the older and the younger and it was a fabulous season. We began to introduce our favorites as well as exploring new titles together. (Note to self: call the Baobabes together!)












The Baobabes
From Center Clockwise:
Meredyth, Kristi, Kiyoka, Nadia, Chantel



Reading has become an integral part of my life. I usually have several books on the go from several genres. If I'm reading a novel I stick to one story but I always have my Bible and other inspirational books on the go at the same time. I thought it would be beneficial to have a place for me to express some of my thoughts about these books - hence, the new blogspot The Open Book.

Years of reading the Bible has definitely influenced how I read other books. That is probably why I am drawn toward historical fiction and pragmatic stories. I have a thirst for knowledge. I enjoy seeing what makes other people tick. It helps me understand people's actions when I have the inside scoop into a character's inner workings and thoughts and experiences. There is always more than meets the eye. Reading has helped me to become a 'more accepting of other people' person.

So there you have it for today. If I make these posts too long no one will want to read them. Thanks for listening and I'll see you soon.

I look forward to future musings.