Hurry Less, Worry Less by Judy Pace Christie

We live in a culture of hurry.  Our “to do” lists are unending and our days go by in a blur. No wonder this title caught my eye.  Frankly, I didn’t need another book on how to get more organized. I’ve read tons of them and I still manage to be overcommitted and stressed out.

The two most important questions in Hurry Less, Worry Less are, What would you like your life to look like? and What is keeping you from getting there?  

One of Christie’s strategies for bringing balance to overload is to plan an activity sabbatical.  “Consider this a time emergency, and you are simply trying to stop the bleeding by putting a tourniquet on your calendar. This may seem extreme, but it works well for those who are so tired that they feel sick (or wish they were sick so they could stay in bed) or for those who truly have no idea where to start.” (p. 42) She suggests that you stop doing everything that is not absolutely necessary (you’d be surprised at how much is not essential) and to prayerfully re-evaluate your priorities.  “The journey to living abundantly has to be done deliberately.  It is a time for realizing that you cannot, in fact, do everything, but you can do plenty and do it well and happily.” (p. 78)

Dieting fads say “Eat this,” and “Avoid that”, yet many of the newer dieting books teach that temporary food deprivation is not the answer; consistent, healthy life choices are the only way to get slim (and stay slim).  Christie’s book is similar in that she doesn’t provide a tidy list of “dos” and “don’ts.” “As with most important things in life, hurrying less and worrying less requires a commitment to an ongoing way of living.  Again, this is not a time-management course or a guide to becoming more efficient.  It is about transforming your life, tweaking here and there, taking inventory of the good and bad, and moving ahead.”  It’s about deciding how you really want to live and taking the necessary steps to make it happen. She adds, “Over the past few years, I have occasionally felt that my life was once more slipping out of control – usually because I said yes when I should have said no and when I momentarily disregarded how I truly wanted to live.” (p. 115)

Christie’s book has made a huge difference in my crazy life.  When I actually made a list of the things that were sabotaging my peace, I was able to see activities that had to be relinquished.  Several stressful activities could not be eliminated because they are part of the life phase I am in.  But seeing them as part of God’s plan for me at present, stripped them of their anxiety-producing hold.  I highly recommend this book to those who are experiencing a disconnect between how they want to live from how they are actually living. Hurry Less, Worry Less enables them to take steps toward bringing the two lives together.

So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger

I’ve heard bits and pieces about So Brave, Young, and Handsome, but was finally nudged into reading it by Amy’s review.

The book’s editor writes, “So Brave, Young, and Handsome is a lean, potent adventure story – a tale of romance and pursuit, friendship and a vanishing American West.  Set in 1915, it features two of the most appealing, aging cowboy rivals you’ll have come across and the modest, self-effacing writer who accompanies them on their trip across the country.…  Enger’s instinct for clean, entertaining storytelling feels rare in today’s world and transports us to a time when, in Leif’s words, outlaw stories could still lean a body forward in his chair.”

Enger is a gifted writer.  Some of the storyline stretches the imagination, but Enger’s writing voice is believable for that time and place.  It is a romance in the old-fashioned sense of the word, a tale of heroes and extraordinary events.

The themes of redemption and forgiveness run through the novel, but are not overdone.  To maintain the moral integrity of the book, the ending is not happy in the Hollywood sense.  Yet it manages to be satisfying because one of the main characters makes a very good decision after a lifetime of very bad ones.

Don’t let the title fool you into thinking this is “chick lit.”  The book has a lot more depth than that and could be equally enjoyed by male or female readers.  It’s a tribute to the dying west and to men who are trying to discover what it means to live honorably.  I’m glad I read it.

The Sabbath by Heschel

The fourth commandment is often unheeded by today’s Christians because of our understanding that we are free from Jewish laws.  Yet I wonder if we aren’t missing something vital to our well-being by ignoring it.  Why is it listed with the other “essential rules for living” if it has no purpose?  I have read many books through the years that have given me an appreciation for the gift of the Sabbath day, but probably none has been more influential than Abraham Heschel’s The Sabbath.
.  

Heschel does not set out to explain why one should keep the Sabbath as much as he seeks to write a love song to a day that he calls “the queen.”   It is a poetic tribute to her glory:

Time is like a wasteland.  It has grandeur but no beauty.  Its strange, frightful power is always feared but rarely cheered.  Then we arrive at the seventh day, and the Sabbath is endowed with a felicity which enraptures the soul, which glides into our thoughts with a healing sympathy.  It is a day on which hours do not oust one another.  It is a day that can soothe all sadness away. (p. 20)

The Sabbath as a day of rest, as a day of abstaining from toil, is not for the purpose of recovering one’s lost strength and becoming fit for the forthcoming labor.  The Sabbath is a day for the sake of life.  Man is not a beast of burden, and the Sabbath is not for the purpose of enhancing the efficiency of work…. The Sabbath is not for the sake of the weekdays; the weekdays are for the sake of the Sabbath.  It is not an interlude but the climax of living. (p. 14)

In the tempestuous ocean of time and toil there are islands of stillness where man may enter a harbor and reclaim his dignity.  The island is the seventh day, the Sabbath, a day of detachment from things, instruments and practical affairs as well as of attachment to the spirit. (p. 29)

I particularly liked Heschel’s idea that keeping the Sabbath gives one a taste of eternity. If you are even slightly interested in the subject of Sabbath keeping, this seminal book is for you.

Another man who deeply loved the Sabbath was George Herbert (1593-1633).  He wrote:  

Thou art a day of mirth: 

And where the week days trail on the ground, 

thy flight is higher, as thy birth.  

O let me take thee at a bound, 

leaping with thee from sev'n to sev'n, 

Till that we both, being tossed from earth

fly hand in hand to heaven! 

The entire poem can be found here.

Kingfishers Catch Fire by Rumer Godden

In India a woman alone does not go and live alone – not, at any rate, far from her own kind, not unless she is a saint or a great sinner.  Sophie was not a saint, or a sinner, but she was undeniably a woman.

So begins the novel, Kingfishers Catch Fire, by British author Rummer Godden (1907-1998).  Godden grew up in India and used her experiences as a background for this novel. Kingfishers is the story of Sophie Barrington Ward who takes her two children to live in Kashmir.  Her husband, a British officer stationed in India, has passed away and she refuses to return to England to live a conventional life. 

Instead she moves to a remote Indian village and rents a small house, hoping to live simply on her husband’s pension.  But what passes for simplicity to an English woman is luxurious extravagance to the villagers.  From the beginning the people question the strangeness of her ways and her motives for coming.  There are two rival clans in the town, but Sophie is completely oblivious to their quarrels.   She seems strangely unaware of cultural differences between the villagers and herself, assuming that common sense will win out in every disagreement. She wants to help them, but her western ideas of justice and fairness fall on bewildered ears.  Eventually her disregard for the villagers’ beliefs leads to tragedy for herself and her children.  

Two men are put in prison, but although they have caused trouble for Sophie, she knows that they are not guilty of the accusations leveled against them.  She expresses her concern to Dr. Glenister, the missionary doctor who says, “But, dearie, they hurt you terribly.” Sophie asked herself, Have you a duty to those who hurt you?  Surprisingly the answer seemed to be that you had.  If Sophie shrank from that answer, that could not take the duty away… (p. 232) 

In the end, Sophie does what she can to make amends.  Some issues are resolved and others are not. When I finished the book I was left scratching my head over what exactly she had accomplished with her self-imposed exile in Kashmir.  Reading Gerard Manley Hopkin’s poem from which the book takes its title, cleared up the mystery to some degree.  In the poem Hopkins writes that just as kingfishers and dragonflies reflect glorious color as the sun hits their wings, so mortal men reflect God’s glory when they are expressing grace and justice to their fellow men.  When they do that, they are “being Christ in a thousand places”.   

A very interesting book!

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

I have long looked at lovers of the Lord of the Rings trilogy as an exclusive fan club with their inside knowledge of the books and their disdain for the rest of us illiterates.  I was half afraid to read the books just in case I didn’t “get it” and was forever barred from this privileged group. I’m even a little embarrassed about reviewing them now since there are others who have read the books multiple times and who understand them more than I do.

Fellowship is an epic adventure in the truest sense of the word: “an extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a legendary hero.”  Simple, home-loving Frodo becomes involved in a larger-than-life battle between good and evil and he willingly sacrifices his own wishes and comforts to “do the right thing” as far as the powerful Ring is concerned. 

I don’t regret having seen the films first (something I rarely do) because a certain amount of foreknowledge kept me from getting bogged down in the many confusing names.   Not only do several people have more than one name (Aragorn/Strider, Gollum/Smeagol), but the mountains and even the swords have names.  Being familiar with the main characters from the movie was helpful as I worked my way through the book.  “Work” is the key word because The Fellowship of the Ring is no easy read.  This first book in the trilogy is 400 pages long, but by page 200 hundred, Frodo has barely left the Shire to head out for his adventures.  Still, the book is worth the effort.

Tolkien’s tale is compelling in its portrayal of friendship and bravery among Frodo and his companions, but it is made even richer by its use of beautiful language (at times reminiscent of the English in the King James Bible). 

An example from page 244: Sauran was diminished, but not destroyed.  His Ring was lost but not unmade.  The Dark Tower was broken, but its foundations were not removed; for they were made with the power of the Ring, and while it remains they will endure.

I’m very glad I took the plunge and began the LOTR trilogy.  Now I’m hoping I’ll find time to read the sequels.

What Would You Want to Read While Marooned on a Deserted Island?

Abe books ask this age old question this week. (This link will take you to a short youtube video, but if you scroll to the top of the page you'll see the article and various book suggestions.) I'm glad they throw in The Bible and Shakespeare as givens, because you could definitely spend years reading those.  As for my other choice, it would have to be Jane Eyre since it's been my favorite comfort "food" for decades now.

What about you?

Article about Banned Books Week

As I surf the book blogging world, I often come across references to book banning.  I haven't paid much attention except to wonder why anyone would read a book just because it was banned rather than because they really liked it.

Tuesday's edition of USA Today had an article about Banned Books Week that I found enlightening. Jonah Goldberg contends that there is no such thing as a banned book in America.  When a parent or a library removes a book from their shelves because it might be inappropriate for a certain age group, that is called  "banning".  But, says Goldberg, even if the book in question is removed, it is widely available for sale everywhere else.

Goldberg points out that schools recognize the importance of parental involvement in their children's education, but then decry the parents' "interference" when they question the choice of a particular book.  Statistics show that one in every 100,000 parents complains about an age-inappropriate book.  Hardly an epidemic. These parents are not saying the book should be banned for all ages and for all time, but just for the slice of time in their kids' lives when some of life's realities may be too harsh for their sensibilities.

What do you think? Is it good parenting or book banning?