Essential Reading for Humanity - updated

   A friend of mine once asked me to share the titles of some books that I have read and appreciated. I’ve long held that a small list of books has influenced my life significantly, based on the ways they’ve shaped my thinking, my actions, and by how often I quote them aloud or refer to them in my mind. Here they are, in no particular order, with a note about their publication. I’ve read a few books over the years, but these are the ones I return to most often.

The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck (Arrow Books, 1978)
- I've read the first section over and over again. This book is brilliant. 

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis (originally published in 1945)
- A super story about heaven and hell, salvation, redemption, restoration, the communion of the saints, and how we can live even better on this side of heaven. 

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (originally published in 1942)
- Straight out of hell, this collection of fictitious letters from one demon to his nephew offers a stark look at how we are made and how the forces of evil and wickedness are working against us.

The Will of God by Leslie Weatherhead (originally published in 1944)
- This is so very good. It helps me to put words to both the good and bad of this world and find God's love for us in the midst of both.

The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary D Chapman (Northfield, 2009)
- I ask every couple I marry to read this before the wedding, but believe every person should know their own love language in order to communicate and thrive in life. 

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when Stakes are High by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler (McGraw-Hill, 2002)
- This book helps to reduce tension and anxiety in order to get more done and be kinder doing it.

Beginning to Pray by Anthony Bloom (Paulist Press, 1970)
- This is a gift; written by an orthodox priest, it offers those who would follow a path toward the love of God. I revisited it a month into sheltering in place during the pandemic, and found it to be as enlightening as previous reads.

Brain Rules (Updated and Expanded) by John Medina (Pear Press, 2014)
- Written by a neuroscientist, this is the layperson's guide to the real science of how our brains work. Every page is filled with stories and truths to apply right away. This book is transforming.

Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life by Richard Rohr (Jossey-Bass, 2011)
- A deep look into the truth of the Gospel: we are made to rise and fail, win and lose, conquer and fail. It is an affirmation of our wins and triumphs and being exposed as vulnerable. Shouldn't be read until age 35+.

The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God by Timothy Keller and Kathy Keller (John Murray Press, 2011)
- This has become the second book I give to every couple I sit with to prepare for their wedding and marriage. I love their approach to marriage - a sacramental gift from heaven intended to grow our faith and trust in God.  

The Holy Bible 
- The true story of the God who made us and is saving us. Start with Mark and then try reading it from beginning to end. You have my permission to skip some lists and genealogies in the Old Testament your first time through.

Act Like You Love People and You Will

   I have been thinking about actions and in-actions. Like many Christians, and many people within this church, I have given something up for these 40 days leading up to Easter. My Lenten observance involves not doing something that I normally would do everyday, and the amount of time saved has been a delight.
   The saying goes, "You are what you eat." I think it is also true that we are what we do. "Actions speak louder than words," would be the phrase to capture that. I think our actions, and inactions, have the power to steer our lives. Which is probably why the early church started suggesting that we "do" something or stop doing something as a way of preparing for Easter.

   This power of what we choose to do and not do extends to our relationships with others. C.S. Lewis even suggests acting lovingly has the power to change our feelings towards other people.

The rule for all of us is perfectly simple.  Do not waste time bothering whether you “love” your neighbor; act as if you did.  As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets.  When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.  If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more.  If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.

- C. S. Lewis

   How we act has the power to influence how we feel. So often, we believe that only the opposite is true. He is saying that if we act like we love people, we will.
   No wonder we find a mysterious power in laying aside things, or fasting, during Lent that draws us closer to God. The actions have the power to change us from the outside inward. May you continue to find God's power at work in what you do - and choose not to do - this Season. Grace and peace, Scott
 

Resentment is Not Right

   I pray that you are living this day and all of the days ahead with the deep, uniquely Christian awareness that

• God is good
• the future is filled with hope
• and that our witness to the world matters.

   C.S. Lewis, the popular, British theologian of the last century, was fond of writing about the future in fantastic ways. He also wrote some about politics. He said that the person who focuses too much on politics can be tempted to spend too much time comparing themselves to others. The comparison lie leads to measuring others in unfair ways. He goes on to say person then...

...therefore resents every kind of superiority in others; denigrates it; wishes its annihilation. Presently he suspects every mere difference of being a claim to superiority. No one must be different from himself in voice, clothes, manners, recreations, choice of food: “Here is someone who speaks English rather more clearly and euphoniously than I — it must be a vile, upstage, la-di-da affectation. Here’s a fellow who says he doesn’t like hot dogs — thinks himself too good for them, no doubt. Here’s a man who hasn’t turned on the jukebox — he’s one of those highbrows and is doing it to show off. If they were honest-to-God all-right Joes they’d be like me. They’ve no business to be different. It’s undemocratic.” - from Screwtape Proposes a Toast, 1959

   Did you catch that? If we're not careful, we begin to hate our differences, living as though, "People who are different are bad." You and I know that Jesus is not in such thoughts. But, how often have our thoughts moved down this exact same path?
   My prayer is that we focus on what is kind, honorable, and true. May we not fall into the trap of thinking about ourselves as compared to others, but instead stand firm on the truth that God is good, our future in Christ is amazing, and being led by the Spirit is the greatest witness we can have.
   Grace and peace, Scott

Essential Reading for Humanity

   A friend of mine once asked me to share the titles of some books that I have read and appreciated. I’ve long held that a small list of books has influenced my life significantly, based on the ways they’ve shaped my thinking, my actions, and by how often I quote them aloud or refer to them in my mind. Here they are, in no particular order, with a note about their publication. I’ve read a few books over the years, but these are the ones I return to most often.

The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck (Arrow Books, 1978)

- I've read the first section over and over again. This book is brilliant. 

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis (originally published in 1945)

- A super story about heaven and hell, salvation, redemption, restoration, the communion of the saints, and how we can live even better on this side of heaven. 

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (originally published in 1942)

- Straight out of hell, this collection of fictitious letters from one demon to his nephew offers a stark look at how we are made and how the forces of evil and wickedness are working against us.

The Will of God by Leslie Weatherhead (originally published in 1944)

- This is so very good. It helps me to put words to both the good and bad of this world and find God's love for us in the midst of both.

The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary D Chapman (Northfield, 2009)

- I ask every couple I marry to read this before the wedding, but believe every person should know their own love language in order to communicate and thrive in life. 

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when Stakes are High by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler (McGraw-Hill, 2002)

- This book helps to reduce tension and anxiety in order to get more done and be kinder doing it.

Beginning to Pray by Anthony Bloom (Paulist Press, 1970)

- This is a gift; written by an orthodox priest, it offers those who would follow a path toward the love of God. 

Brain Rules (Updated and Expanded) by John Medina (Pear Press, 2014)

- Written by a neuroscientist, this is the layperson's guide to the real science of how our brains work. Every page is filled with stories and truths to apply right away. This book is transforming.

Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life by Richard Rohr (Jossey-Bass, 2011)
- A deep look into the truth of the Gospel: we are made to rise and fail, win and lose, conquer and fail. It is an affirmation of our wins and triumphs and being exposed as vulnerable. Shouldn't be read until age 35+.

The Holy Bible 
- The true story of the God who made us and is saving us. Start with Mark and then try reading it from beginning to end. You have my permission to skip some lists and genealogies in the Old Testament your first time through.

We Could Be The Champions

   Imagine if championship-caliber teams or athletes aimed for lesser goals. Imagine if John Wooden's UCLA teams had been fine with collecting some wins, but not striving for more. Imagine if Jesse Owens or Jackie Robinson had been content to play only with persons of their color, instead of running through color barriers. Imagine if the next great Olympic female gymnast, in middle school now, gave up on her sport in order to catch up on reruns of the latest reality show on television.
   Could it be that we have settled for something less than the best for us? That comfort, false modesty, or ignorance have won out? I read these words this week during my morning devotional:

If you asked twenty good men and women today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness.  But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, they would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive.... The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself.  We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. (CS Lewis, The Weight of Glory, 1941)

   We could be the champions, too, if we did not settle for gains, goals, and desires far lesser than what God has placed out in front of us. Instead, we're too easily pleased with less. Must we strive for God's best? Must we struggle and compete to win? Yes. Paul says we are to press on toward the prize and disregard every hindrance as we run the race with perseverance (Philippians 3, Hebrews 12). Grace and Peace, Scott