Faith, Community, and Book Reviews
Do you want to spend time studying God’s word but either don’t know how or have trouble staying focused? I hear two frequent struggles from young Christian women in my peer group.
If you resonate with either of these statements, or just want a fun new resource, let me introduce you to a tool that might help.
Do you borrow and buy more books than you can possibly read? Me to! For that reason, I rarely pre-order books. Why bother when there are five (or thirty!) books on my shelf that haven’t been read yet? I made an exception for Deliver and Exiles. After months of anticipating the final Blades of Acktar book, I wanted Deliver on my kindle as soon as possible!
It didn’t disappoint.
“Tale as old as time,” says the classic song. It might be more true than the songwriter intended.
Continue reading “Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast”
After my November post about Fiction & The Sanctity of Life, we all agreed that we like stories that embrace a message of hope and faith. Today I want to share a few pro-life stories that I’ve enjoyed. These books didn’t necessarily set out to promote a pro-life message, but they show what it looks like to value life and fight for hope.
Several months ago, I was scrolling through Facebook when a movie trailer caught my attention. The actor who played Finnick in Mockingjay sat in a wheelchair and smiled at a pretty girl. Even without turning the volume on, it was clear the man in the wheelchair and the girl were falling in love. I smiled a little and moved on.
When I mentioned the trailer to a friend, she told me the movie was sparking a lot of controversy. The story (which I haven’t read or watched) depicts a newly wheelchair bound man and his female caregiver falling in love, but the ending has a big twist. The man decides to end his own live via doctor assisted suicide.
Continue reading “Fiction & The Sanctity of Life: Thoughts After Reading About “Me Before You””
What would happen if concepts could take near-tangible form and bond with people to lend chosen individuals extra strength and skill? That is exactly what happens in the fantasy world Sanderson weaves for The Stormlight Archives. Spren are the visible representations of concepts like fear, pain, and glory. (In Narnia, Dryads and Naiads are the spirits of trees and water that can take physical form. Spren are similar, but represent intangibles instead of elements of nature.)
Continue reading “Words of Radiance: When Right Makes Might … Literally”
On October 26, 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr. stood before a group of students in Philadelphia and gave a speech that became known as “The Street Sweeper Speech.” He encouraged the young people to tackle their life’s work with gusto.
If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. —What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?
In Lois T. Henderson’s novel Abigail, the young heroine takes MLK’s message a step further. Faced with an inescapable betrothal to drunken Nabal, Abigail resolves to be a good wife but not with the goal of earning respect for herself. Instead she tells herself,
“I will be a good wife that all the earth will know there is a God in Israel.”
Thirteen year old Brandiline Faythe bubbles a zest for life, and–according to her older sister–is the only person capable of making drooling and snoring adorable. She’s a rare type of person in both fiction and real real life–irrepressible, compassionate, and seemingly fearless even when she’s afraid.
Leah E. Good 