5 comments about Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling.

1. I bought this book because I wanted to know more about Joseph Smith. I wanted to know why Mormons enthusiastically attest to their faith in him as a prophet of God. I'd done a little internet research but was frustrated by all the "noise" i.e. expressions of feeling, positive or negative, rather than fact.
   
   I learned of two books regarded seriously as historical: Bushman's Rough Stone Rolling and Fawn Brodie's No Man Know My History. Reviews say notwithstanding that both are good factual historical works both are biased: Fawn Brodie is apparently against Joseph Smith and Bushman is for Joseph Smith (Bushman is a Mormon). I haven't read Fawn Brodie's book yet and am still considering whether to or not.
   
   In Rough Stone Rolling Bushman is open about his bias. Page after page Bushman puts a spin of events in Joseph Smith's life that, despite controversy, leaves the reader thinking Joseph Smith could really be a prophet of God anyway. For example Bushman explains how Joseph as an adolescent and young man used his "gift" to try to find buried treasure. Joseph is portrayed as having a desire for wealth (owing to his family's indigent circumstances), but that this irreverent desire had to be overcome before God would allow Joseph Smith to become a prophet.
   
   In the end the reader is left to decide for themselves whether they believe Joseph Smith really did the work of God or not. I liked wondering whether it is true. I am glad I read this book. I believe I have gained a better understanding of the human condition. I recommend this book to anyone for or against Mormonism if they want more than just noise, i.e. if they want the truth.



2. Having previously read Fawn Brodie's No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, I read this one to get the believer's view. Bushman is at his best describing the evolution of Smith's thinking and revelations. Although the book is long, it is well written and authoritative. It gives a deeper understanding of Smith's religious philosophy than does Brodie's book.
   To his credit, Bushman confronts many of the crucial controversies surrounding Smith. From my non-believer's perspective, however, the defenses of Smith are not remotely convincing. Some examples:
   1. DNA analysis shows without question that the American Indians came from east Asia. This fact is in direct contradiction of the traditional LDS view that Native Americans are lost Israelites. Bushman argues that Smith may have been writing about a small tribe somewhere in New York, or about people outside North America altogether. Within a few pages, Bushman has forgotten about this controversy altogether, and happily describes the Book of Mormon as a history of the American Indians.
   2. Smith made the huge mistake of reproducing parts of the hieroglyphics he claims to have interpreted as the "Book of Abraham." These documents have been translated by scholars and have nothing to do with Abraham. Bushman (pp. 291-2) puts forth the argument that Smith's translation may not have been a true translation, but instead may have been a divine revelation simply inspired by the presence of the scrolls. Bushman suggests the same for the Book of Mormon. This is a truly shocking stance for an LDS believer to take: if Smith's "translations" weren't translations, why should anyone believe that his revelations were divinely inspired? Ironically, Bushman's view here sounds much like Brodie's: Not anticipating that scholars would use the Rosetta stone to translate hieroglyphics, Smith imagined that bogus translations would not be found out.
   3. Smith repeatedly lied about whether he and the Saints were practicing polygamy. Bushman's defense of Smith in this context reminds me of Bill Clinton's statements regarding Monica Lewinsky: Smith held a secret definition of the term "polygamy," and thus felt free to mislead (or lie) with impunity. The facts, as reported by both Brodie and Bushman, support the conclusion that Smith coerced women into his bed by arguing that their eternal salvation was at stake. The stain of Smith's lustful "revelation" regarding polygamy continues to haunt the LDS, which claims to recoil from earthly polygamy but argues that men (not women) get to have harems in heaven.
   Despite these complaints, I recommend this book to non-believers who are patient enough to get through it. I feel that I have much greater insight into the LDS mindset than I did before.



3. I also am studying the Mormons. Should I venture to say - studying the way God has provided a candle accross a night football field.
   
   Neuroplaticity - brain change from environment input. Brain grey/white thickness, hippocamus reshape/theta(memory - locations, scenes, color, smells, sounds), two stage memories ("visions"), pattern recognition (visions-imprint/representations)... Being a neural engineer putting probes in the ventral stream (cortex), getting image/time correlation through V1->V4. Lay speak- how does sight/sound get understood/retained?
   
   My thinking is Joeseph was on a very fast track. A lot of large stuff (Palmyra canal/ambitious family, Harmony, Harris etc., etc.) No societal concerns(read rouge?) being in poverty,but with extensivly developed genetic brain (6 generations?). I think God, please excuse the familiarity, replaced the distant candel with a spotlight strapped to his head, and used him until Joeseph burned out. He lost Emma, sad. God appears to have provided 30 vision channels, thick copper wires to Joeseph, with vision dumps.
   
   These concepts are overwhelming, even I hae a very hard time accepting this, and jumping off this cliff, letting God catch me in the responsibility net. 10 million mormons with priesthood responsibile for saving 5 billion Chinese, Hindus etc, I think I am quite comfy in my no responsibility 1 hour a week protesteant world. I can see why God cracked open the door to this lightning rod man... :)



4. Excellent book. Tells the story of a human being, with all the foibles and weaknesses that entails, who was learning to lead people in religion.



5. Bushman is no doubt an historian with enormous credibility.
   However, his book is for "Mormons in denial," or those folks who wanna feel like they're getting a scholarly scoop on this complex man-- who wanna feel like if this book sits on their shelf or even if they crack it and read it, that they've defended their faith.
   
   If you wanna know the REAL story of Joseph Smith Jr, who he was, what he REALLY did especially in those crucial early years, you MUST read An Insider's View of Mormon Origins by Grant H. Palmer, and Michael Quinn's masterwork, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View.

5 comments about To Own a Dragon: Reflections On Growing Up Without A Father.

1. Donald Miller has such a way with words. He's witty, observant, and poignant, and his latest book, TO OWN A DRAGON: REFLECTIONS ON GROWING UP WITHOUT A FATHER doesn't stray from the winning formula that his popular book, BLUE LIKE JAZZ: NONRELIGIOUS THOUGHTS ON CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY, began with.
   
   Since Miller co-wrote the book with his good friend and mentor John MacMurray, it makes sense that many of the stories would involve their relationship and the 4 years Donald lived in the MacMurray household. The book centers on the ideas of manhood and masculinity and explores what growing up without a father does to a young boy. With chapters on Replacement Fathers, the Main Problem, the Mentor Relationship, Belonging, Authority, Making Decisions, Girls, Sex, Integrity, Work Ethic, Education, and Spirituality, Miller looks at the different aspects of manhood with solid storytelling and a spot-on wisdom that has obviously benefitted from his own journey into manhood without a father.
   
   Books like these are needed in today's culture, especially with the eroding concept of masculinity and the dissipating importance our society places on manhood. With the lines between boyhood and manhood being continuously blurred and increasingly undefined, is it any wonder boys are waiting until their late 20s or early 30s to grow up? If ever? Young men need older men in their life who can step into their realities and show them what manhood looks like. Manhood doesn't just happen to males, they must choose to enter it, and TO OWN A DRAGON is a timely conversation about what that journey could look like.
   
   --- Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens



2. I grew up with a father, but never realized I had abandonment issues due to my fathers lack of interaction in my life until I read this book.
   I was sitting there listening to Don's description of his feelings due to not having a dad and I realized I was crying, because I knew exactly what he was talking about.
   Not only did this book bring about a huge self realization in my life it helped me to understand how certain positive or negative influences in our lives as children have such a huge impact on us as adults. We need to recognize these influences first and then work through how they impact us.
   It also helped me see the huge responsibility I will have as a parent and how my love towards my husband is viewed by my children and how it can affect the way my children view God.
   It really helped put things into perspective. This book was not only interesting, funny, heart-felt, but can cause you to see your own story more clearly.
   I can't wait to read it again :-)



3. Interesting book. I read it so I could understand what my son might have experienced (or is still be experiencing) growing up without a dad. The author's description of young adult men & their perspective on life was interesting, but tough to identify with.



4. Miller has a way with words, a gift from God that he uses to communicate messages to readers in a beautiful and moving way.
   Whether you are a father, grew up without one, or just want to get an insight on what God's design of a father figure is, I highly recommend reading this book!
   I am buying a few copies for my friends who would find it helpful



5. To be perfectly blunt--this book is just full of relgious stuff. And, it is coming from some guy who brags about breaking into someone else's house to steal a book he could have purchased on Amazon for a few dollars!
   I feel that more practical advice should have been dispensed. If your father is missing and if your mother is independently wealthy, totally frazzled from supporting the family, totally ineffective, or also missing, the half orphan should realize he/she is now totally responsible for his future. In today's Christian record keeping society, you need only step out of line once to insure you will never obtain a job that will support you or enter a good college. Societal infractions are only possible when you are descended from a "good" and wealthy family. You are on your own and will only succeed if you take positive to insure an adequate future.

5 comments about Saddam's Secrets.

1. Sada's book is filled with a totally different perspective from what we hear and read in the media. He is honest and believable in his story telling; however his American co-author's role as writter is average.
   What is so important to me is a perspective from a former and current resident of Iraq. His eyes give me the information that I desire. Too often we listen from our own cultural experience and ignore the prespective of someone like Sada.
   My only question is why has this book been ignored?



2. I enjoyed the information in the book. Poorly written but never the less informative



3. Finally, the inside scoop! Questions of WMD answered! Why isn't this information made more readily available to the American People? This is a story of one man's faith and honesty in the worst of situations! You want to know the truth? Read this book!!



4. This is an important book that every American should read. Gen Sada is an amazing man, an eye-witness in Saddam's regime who lived to tell about it and claims to have actually seen WMD with his own eyes. Fascinating!



5. It's a shame that the public has to dig for the truth rather than rely on the press to be honest, but that's the situation. If you really want to know what was going on rather than buy into the juvenile theory that this was somehow all about W's oil buddies, this is a great start.

4 comments about Heaven Without Her: A Desperate Daughter's Search for the Heart of Her Mother's Faith.

1. I'm sure that Ms. Foth-Regner wrote this remarkable memoir in the hope of opening the eyes of other bright young sons and daughters from among her own baby-boomer generation - especially for those who may consider themselves far too intelligent and "sophisticated" to buy into the simple, unquestioning, sweet (but clueless) Faith of their Fathers (and mothers).
   
   This she has done brilliantly - for those inclined to listen, of their own accord.
   
   But as the rapidly-aging mother of such young sophisticates, I'd also like to recommend it highly to my own, older generation, especially if you find yourself echoing her mother's plaintive cry - "If I could give you only one thing in this life, my dearest young atheist, it would be the kind of faith in the Lord which has sustained me through all these years!"
   
   Well, here in this book, is a wonderful start. Read it yourself, as I did, to understand the kinds of questions that have, for so long, justified disbelief in those whose goal that is. Discover answers that we may not have needed ourselves (although it couldn't hurt) - but that can create such chasms of misunderstanding between generations. Then give a copy to your own dear young unbeliever, and ask that she read it too (if only for your sake - because you would so like to discuss it with her). Astound her with how well you can now understand her point of view, and speak her language. And maybe - just maybe - she'll also become open to doing the same for you.
   
   I haven't found a better way to open this potentially life-changing conversation - not confrontationally, but in the honest hope of mutual learning.
   
   And I can't think of a more valuable (or challenging) gift to give to your graduate, or your Birthday Girl (or Boy) ... as they say, in advance of need.



2. I believe this memoir mirrors the experience of so many women who are left spiritually empty-handed at the end of the day. And it will resonate especially with anyone who, in grieving, has wondered about the realities of heaven. The author grants us an intimate and poignant view of her own loss and spiritual struggle. Then, with the tenacity of a best-selling crime-solver, she sorts through and compiles evidence for faith in Christ that ultimately cannot be dismissed. This book is a must read for the discriminating seeker.



3. I happened upon this book not quite sure what to expect since I'd never heard of the author. As soon as I started the book I couldn't put it down. Kitty's style of writing has such a flair to it and I was able to put myself right there beside of her during the entire book. And the story itself is tremendous. It is such a testimony the love between a mother and daughter as well as the love of our Lord. Buy this book! It is definitely one that you'll want to read over again.



4. I came very close to tossing this book away. With so many books coming my way these days, I need to move assess them quickly, determining which are worth a closer look and which are not. I cannot read them all. In this case, I saw the cover, I saw the title, I skimmed the back and thought "not likely." But then I noticed that the author had included a little note inside. There she drew my attention to a couple of the endorsements that she felt would be meaningful to me--namely, Nancy Pearcey and Mark Buchanan, both authors whose works I am fond of. As I looked further I saw that it is also endorsed by Ray Comfort. Based on all of this I decided I would read it. And I'm glad I did.
   
   Heaven Without Her is a memoir. It is the life story of Kitty Foth-Regner, who, until the year 2000, was living exactly the life she wanted for herself as an ardent feminist. She owned her own business, and a rather successful one at that, had a live-in boyfriend whom she loved, and owned a house with a beautiful garden. It was all she had ever wanted. But when she learned that her mother had a terminal illness and as she watched her mother succumb to death, her heart was stirred with questions of eternity. Was there something to her mother's Christian faith, or was that faith really nothing more than wistful delusions?
   
   Kitty set out to determine what was true. Her searching took her through most of the world's major religions (and a few more). She saw quickly how each of them failed to offer good answers and true comfort. All but one, that is. As she explored Christianity through the guidance of sound pastors and theologians, she found a faith that offered answers to the toughest questions. She found a God who loved her as He had loved her mother before.
   
   In this book, Foth-Regner documents hear search. In a fun and narrative style, she describes how the Bible answered all of her questions and how her heart was first convicted, then convinced, and finally renewed. The unthinkable happened--she became a Christian, and this despite so many years of feminism and agnosticism. Her old passions and desires fell away and were replaced with new ones; holy ones.
   
   Heaven Without Her is a valuable read and I think an important one. i consider it an important apologetic work. Sure it presents truths that have been written in other books over and over again, but rarely have they been written in so readable a style. The innovation here is not so much the content as the style and its readily accessible format. This is an ideal book to give to a person who may have questions about the Christian faith. For that person who seems to be seeking or searching, this is a book that can provide answers and can show how God has worked in the life of another of His children. Despite my initial apprehension, having read the book I now highly recommend it.

3 comments about The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day.

1. There are few people who have done more to keep Dorothy Day's words before the public than Robert Ellsberg. As both editor of her writings (By Little and By Little, 1983; Dorothy Day: Selected Writings, 1992; A Penny a Copy, 1995) and publisher (Orbis) of books by and about her, Ellsberg continues to remind us of Dorothy's vision of a Christianity that is orthodox in theology and radical (in the deepest sense of the word, as a return to roots) in social activism. His credentials are good: he knew Dorothy for the final five years of her life, and served as managing editor of "The Catholic Worker" for two of them.
   
   Now, in The Duty of Delight, Ellsberg continues to enrich us with an edition of the diaries Dorothy maintained from 1934 to a few days before her death in November 1980. The manuscript of the diaries, housed at Marquette University (my alma mater, by the way) and sealed until 25 years after Dorothy's passing, is over a thousand single-spaced pages. Ellsberg has reduced the material by half by whittling away unessentials. Providentially, Dorothy's diary entries for the final year of her life, missing from the Marquette archives, was discovered after Ellsberg took on the editorship.
   
   Ellsberg's Introduction to the diaries provides a nice overview of their content. Arranged by decades, the entries from the '50s through the '70s make up the bulk of the work. I began reading in the '70s section, since this is the decade in which I first became aware of the Catholic Workers, and gradually worked my way backwards.
   
   Three things especially strike me about Dorothy's diaries.
   
   The first is the sheer richness of the activities she chronicles: serving as the dynamo that kept the Catholic Worker movement energized; raising her daughter Tamar; dealing with Tamar's father Forster and Forster's common law wife Nanette; continuously writing; travels, both domestic and abroad; retreats and daily masses; public demonstrations and peace witnesses; and dancing with officials from both the state and church. In recording her activities, Dorothy not only gives us a good idea of her dedication, but also provides us with cumulative sketches of many of the co-workers (including Ellsberg) and clients with whom she came into daily contact.
   
   The second thing that's impressive about the diaries is the breadth and depth of Dorothy's reading, as well as her love of music. The authors and composers she mentions in her diaries, when compiled, make up an impressive list, and her asides about them (as when, for example, she calls Solzhenitsyn a "holy fool," p. 626, or states that it's actually sloth, not Cassian's avarice, that is "man's abiding sin," p. 364) are frequently insightful.
   
   Finally, the self-examinations, self-recriminations, and resolutions to be more prayerful, patient, compassionate, and nonjudgmental with which Dorothy liberally sprinkles her diaries are fascinating. On one level, they provide a cumulative portrait of a woman who is deeply troubled by what she perceives as her inability to practice what she preaches--a self-doubting that probably both feeds and emerges from her "long loneliness." At another level, though, these passages strongly suggest something that Dorothy perhaps never fully appreciated: that what she took to be spiritual and personal weaknesses in fact were also the very strengths that enabled her ministry.
   
   In August 1952, for example, she writes (p. 177): "When I say, Lord, that I am too sensitive, it is truly that--my senses, exterior and interior are too thin-skinned. I am tormented by people's moods, their unhappiness. I must live more in my own heart, with Thee. Then when I go forth I have at least serenity." But what Dorothy interprets here as a moody over-sensitivity that inhibits contact with God might perhaps more accurately be described as an empathy that connects her with other people's suffering, and consequently with God's as well. Surely it's her "thin-skin" that allows for compassionate entries such as this one from February 1972 (p. 501): "I have been harried and worn out all day by the consciousness that we were inundated by an ocean of unemployed and unemployable, black and white human beings, searching for food, warmth, comfort, momentary surcease from suffering."
   
   The Duty of Delight is yet one more wonderful gift to us from Dorothy, and it will prove to be an invaluable scholarly and spiritual resource. Robert Ellsberg and Marquette University Press are to be commended.
   ____________
   * Entry from Easter Sunday, 1968 (p. 418) that could easily serve as the epigram for Dorothy's diaries.



2. Dorothy Day is the quintessential radical Catholic with a lifetime of arrests and writings to make her stands known. Few can equal her courage, as this book so aptly demonstrates. She chides herself constantly for being critical and speaking up, yet no one has the stamina to do so with her insight gained from experience. A comrade of Mother Teresa, Cesar Chavez and Fr. Dan Berrigan, she is in good company.
   Who can not be impressed with her achievments and ongoing diary entries
   of a litany of prayers? Life had no soft way out for her. Living among the poor, she endured the company of the homeless, drunks, addicts and insane persons. Likewise, coping with ongoing discomforts of noisy interruptions, lice, and ringworm, she proved her commitment to the otherwise forgotten members of society. She is best known for publication of the socialist newspaper,"The Catholic Worker", but
   her personal memoirs and conversion story are not for the feint of heart. Truly she is a saint of our times.



3. This unique tome is worth every penny because it can connect us with Dorothy Day more intimately than I ever imagined possible. She is no longer inaccessible to me. In fact I had been a little afraid of her in the sense I had been afraid like the whiskey priest in one of Dorothy's favorite novels, "The Power and the Glory" by Graham Greene. I had always been afraid to end up like him, despairing over missing the boat. Here is the scene on the night before he was executed by a Mexican Communist firing squad:
   
   "What an impossible fellow I am, he thought, and how useless. I have done nothing for anybody. I might just as well have never lived..It seemed to him at that moment that it would have been quite easy to have been a saint. It would have needed a little self-restraint and a little courage. He felt like someone who has missed happiness by seconds at an appointed place. He knew now that in the end there was only one thing that counted - to be a saint."
   
   Well now after reading 700 pages of "Duty of Delight" I am no longer afraid. Dorothy makes it look possible to be a saint. I believe without a doubt that she is now with God in heaven. What she did to get there, I can do. Reading her diary showed she slogged it out just like the rest of us with doubts, setbacks and sorrows. Through it all she remained faithful to daily prayer and the sacraments, including frequent Confession. She knew that it was in the little things that we find God, something she learned from one of her favorite saints, Therese of Lisieux.
   
   Dorothy didn't always "suffer fools gladly." No matter. She was quick to apologize and always harsher in judging herself than she was other people. She always stayed focused on the pearl of great price, even as she paid her bills and worried just like the rest of us.
   
   This doesn't mean she was an ordinary person. What ordinary person would devote her life to voluntary poverty in order to serve the least among us, literally serve them, with food and shelter? Flannery O'Connor, whose letters she was reading near the end of her life, said one time, "The Truth shall make you odd." Dorothy was never afraid of being thought to be odd if that was the price you had to pay to live the Gospels. And it was and it is the price you have to pay.
   
   During the many days it took me to read this book, she was constantly on my mind. No other book ever did that for me. I wish I had known her like so many did. She affected all of them for the better, whether they were cardinals, famous writers like W. H. Auden, or street people.
   
   Miller's classic biography of Dorothy Day ends wtih her funeral and his final passage tells it all:
   
   "The funeral was on December 2 at the Nativity Catholic Church. An hour before the service people began to assemble in the street. There were American Indians, Mexican workers, blacks and Puerto Ricans. There were people in eccentric dress, apostles of causes who had felt a great power and truth in Dorothy's life...At the appointed time, a procession of these friends and fellow Catholic Workers came down the sidewalk. At the head of it Dorothy's grandchildren carried the pine box that held her body. Tamar (her daughter), Forster (Tamar's father) and Dorothy's brother John Day followed. At the Church door, Cardinal Terence Cooke met the body to bless it. As the procession stopped for this rite, a demented person pushed his way through the crowd and bending low over the coffin peered at it intently. No one interfered, because, as even the funeral directors understood, it was in such as this man that Dorothy had seen the face of God."

5 comments about Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska (Mass market version): Divine Mercy in My Soul.

1. I couldn't put this book down and over the years I have revisited it often. It has enriched my prayer life and strengthen my faith. Everyone should read this book...at least once. I higly recommend it.



2. This book has helped me to grow so much in my spirituality. I highly recommend it!



3. This is my all-time favorite spiritual book. By reading about St. Faustina's growth in holiness, I learn about growing in holiness and above all, God's endless mercy. I've read this book probably a dozen times and I everytime I hear something new and grow more deeply in my relationship with Christ. By this book for yourself and everyone you know! Spread the hope of God's awesome mercy!



4. The print in this book is quite small making reading difficult. I would recommend searching for a copy with normal size print.



5. This is a beautiful & eye-opening book! It changes your way of thinking and your life!! I absolutely love it and can read it over and over. It helps understand God.

5 comments about Bruchko: The Astonishing True Story of a 19-Year-Old American, His Capture by the Motilone Indians and His Adventures in Christianizing the Stone Age Tribe.

1. This story will make you marvel at the way God used Bruce Olson in the jungles of the Amazon. I marveled at his story about his conversion and about the time he told his Lutheran pastor about it. His pastor was stunned, to say the least. His pastor had prayed over Bruce at his confirmation and did not see the need for "Conversion".
   
   I had to marvel as Bruce tells how he learned the language of the Motilone people. He used the old fake trick of pulling his thumb off. He did not initially think much of it, but he noticed that they loved to watch him do this. They would laugh each time he did it. Bruce did this trick so many times that he started figuring out what some of their words were. As they watched, they would say "He is going to pull his thumb off", "Now he is going to put it back on". Over and over again, Bruce slowly picked up some of their language and verb tenses.
   
   The other interesting story is about how he told the gospel to them so that they could understand. The native Indians he lived with had formed their houses into one large circle, with a big opening in the middle. Looking down from above, it resembled the shape of an ant hill. According to Indian legend, they learned how to do this from the ants. It seems one day one of the ants became a man and told them to build their homes in this fashion - like the ants do. When you look at an ant hill that is what you see - a hole with dirt all around it. Bruce used this illustration to tell how another Person wanted to tell us about God. And in order to do this, He became a man, told them the story of salvation, died for their sins, etc. What is so neat about the story is that Bruce realized that in order to relate the Gospel to them, he had to tell it in a way they could understand. This was the perfect illustration, the ant that became a man, so he could tell them about how to build their homes.
   
   This story has many events that are just too incredible. I still cannot imagine the Yuko drink that they made and then drank it!!! This story is incredible from beginning to end.
   
   It is truly one of the best missionary stories I have ever read. I have read this book twice now and used it in Sunday School lessons.



2. Awesome quick sale, product was just as stated. thanks for the sale ~ God bless ; )



3. This book is an outcry for those who want to see a Christian life given to God to serve whatever purpose that He has. The story is of a man, Bruce Olsen, who as a child comes to know God through Jesus and begins to be persecuted by his parents who eventually kick him out as a young teenager. The book is a story of Bruce's life thereafter, in which he constantly is given to seeking and trying to find the will of God and the place where he needs to be. It is an illustration of someone doing the work of the Almighty and being blessed for it and being taken care of out of nowhere when he had nothing and noone else to look to. This book should be read, and it will be read quickly by those who pick it up, by any person who claims to be a Christian. It may shock many to see the way they are living is nothing like the way that it should be, and this book is a good example of that life.



4. Great book. Amazing story. Very inspiring. Easy read, and you won't want to put it down.



5. Even though I haven't gotten a chance to read this book since it arrived a week ago, I'm giving it 5 stars because my husband got a hold of it first and read it before me and absolutely loved it, and now I've ordered the next book for him. My son now has the book, so I'm not sure when I'll actually get to read it myself, but I'm looking forward to reading about how Bruchko - Bruce Olson - trusted God with everything. What an encouragement, and what a challenge!

5 comments about Here If You Need Me: A True Story.

1. 
   
   
   
   by Kate Braestrup
   
   
   This book was not quite what I expected. Knowing that Kate Braestrup was a minister, I still expected the book to be about Kate and her life as a single mother with an extraordinary career as minister to the Game Wardens in Maine. And so it was, more or less.
   
   The book is chock full of bible references and quotations. Too full in my opinion. While the book is written in a charming and easy going way, and Kate and her family and friends are portrayed in what you know is a real and even amusing way, the Bible references become intrusive.
   
   I wanted more of Kate! I kept hoping that th next chapter would have more about her experiences in the Maine woods and as a single mom. Clearly she is an amazing and down to earth woman. Obviously her job leads her into difficult and fascinating situation. She uses a self deprecating approach to describing herself in situations that is often endearing.
   
   All too often, what I found was more of the Bible. What I missed in purchasing this book was what became all to obvious in the end, the title is a double entendre. What I took as She would be there if needed by the wardens, and her family was true, but I believe that it also means that God is there for all of us.
   
   Finally, the ending came to quickly. I felt that I was swooped from the middle of her story, to her current life all too quickly. It felt almost as if she woke one morning feeling as if she had done enough writing and and basically wrote that they all live happily ever after.
   
   I am not anti-religion at all, I am just a reader who is somewhat disappointed in a book that I had looked forward to reading.



2. This was a really great read! Although not outwardly religious, I find it exciting to read about those who live their lives trying to follow God's plan. For Ms. Braestrup, that involves working as the chaplain for a group of Wildlife Search and Rescue Operatives.
   
   This book isn't just about religion -- it's about the author's desire to both follow her heart and honor her deceased husband's dream, and about helping others in the only way she knew how.
   
   Very encouraging and uplifting, this is basically just an all-around good read.



3. Author Kate Braestrup is pastor with the Maine Department of Natural Resources. She is there to minister to friends, family, etc. when a loved one has been involved in some type of misadventure - drowning, accident in the woods, missing child, etc. Her journey is interesting and compelling. Her husband - a policeman -- was killed in a random car accident. Suddenly widowed with four children, she decides to carry forward her husband's dream of attending seminary. She does so in the Universalist Unitarian faith.
   
   Bastrop offers vignettes of how she attempts to give comfort and aid to those in difficult situations. At the same time, she tries to cope with her sense of loss, juggling the demands of single parenthood with her own unusual ministry. Tragedies in the great outdoors confront us often with questions of, "How could a merciful God allow this?"
   
   Braestrup offers no pat answers and struggles with the question as well. Part of the answer she sees in the redemptive communities that coalesce to express support to those who have suffered due to accident and calamity.



4. I found this book to be a lovely affirmation of moving through a devastating loss to contentment and new life. If our lives and our luck depend on an optimistic and grateful attitude, Kate Braestrup guides us to simple and rewarding acceptance of day-to-day ups and downs. All things come to those who wait--what a novel idea in our society that craves instant gratification!



5. This was a wonderful book. I think it represents well some of the basic tenets of the Unitarian Church.

5 comments about The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas.

1. I really liked the way everything is laid out in this book, allowing you to read Gandhi's own words coupled with an explanation of events that was driving him.



2. This is a wonderful book about Gandhi's whole life, his personal growth, relationships and tells how Tolstoy's "What I Believe" influenced the man that he became. A inpiring story that proves that peace is the way.



3. The format of this book is a little unusual, it's basically an abridged version of Gandhi's writings, supplimented with editorial comments which set the scene for when and where his statements are coming from. If you're not entirely familiar with Gandhi's life or some of the basic aspects of Indian culture at the time, these editorial comments are very helpful. For example, just before some statements about Gandhi's use of the Gita (around page 160) the editor gives a brief summary of the what the Gita is.
   
   Moving on from the basic format, I found this book very enlightening, and not in the way that other reviewers seem to have. I doubt very much that I'm in a position to change anyone's opinion on him, but I ask that if you buy this book, look closely at the ways in which Gandhi supports his claims. Oftentimes he makes grand statements and then leaves them in the air, unsupported. This is not in an of itself a bad thing, as sometimes the truth value of a statement is obvious to the casual observer, but then again sometimes it is not.
   
   Gandhi was certainly a great leader, but I think it's stretching to call him a great philosopher. His ideas were not new, even if the grand-scale application of them was. He seeks truth but seems largely unconcerned with methodology, which undermines the grand statements he makes.
   
   If you do read this book critically, it may help to keep in mind persuasive techniques, even beginner things like appealing to authority. Watch for strange analogies, as in page 168's equating atoms to people and Love to hydrogen/ionic/covalent bonds.
   
   It probably seems a little weird to hear someone object to the methodology of someone like Gandhi, but these days we have to be aware of the methods by which the people around us seem convincing, whether we like what they're saying or not.



4. I've read a total of 3 books about Mahatma Gandhi, all of them stemming from his own writings. This is the best out of those three books.
   
   It is well organized and takes the most crucial parts of his writings and puts them in an order that is coherent and easy to read. The notes by the editor also make it easy for someone who does not know the whole history surrounding Gandhi's plight. She sets the setting and environment with each chapter making sure the reader knows what is going on regardless of their previous knowledge of the situation.
   
   This is why I always suggest this book to anyone who wants to start learning about this amazing man. It is very inspirational, and I have highlighted and reflected on quite a few passages. This is one of my most lent books since everyone hears about and references this man, but very few actually know anything about him.
   
   This is the best book to allow people to be introduced to his ideas and beliefs.



5. I have been researching Gandhi for a number of years, so I can claim some expertise in evaluating this book. Simply put, I am not sure why I didn't get to it earlier, as it is a superior collection of Gandhi's writings, blended in skillfully with some of Fischer's own writings about Gandhi. This anthology goes beyond mere collection in that it also is organized with attention to telling the story of Gandhi's life chronologically. If you know the story of Gandhi well, this book will capture some of the rare gems of Gandhi's thought, as well as his controversial ideas. If you don't know Gandhi's life story yet, start with Fischer's Gandhi: His Life and Message to the World, a short, concise summary. The Essential Gandhi succeeds in being just that: a treasury of thought of one of the most important men of the past century.

5 comments about Faith Under Fire: Betrayed by a Thing Called Love.

1. I'm very glad this book exists; it's proof this kind of thing can happen. I read this quickly, not because it's going to win a Pulitzer, but because the reading level is not difficult and the subject is so timely and juicy.
   
   1. THE DL MAN'S FAMILY WAS COMPLICIT IN THE CHARADE!!!! So many women in the Black community think the DL is just another example of lying, no-good men. The author here suggests that her husband's mother and sisters were complicit in promoting marriage and keeping the secret just that. When people receive counterfeit money or foreign coins, they often try to pass it off on other gullible people, rather than throwing it away. This book proves that many families of DL men are more than happy to make a Black woman's life miserable if her presence will be a cover for the family. I always say, "Notice how parents don't want their straight daughters to marry gay men, but they'll tell their gay sons to 'get married and cut all this foolishness!'" This book shows Black women who knew full well their DL relative was having unprotected sex with another Black woman and they did nothing, absolutely nothing, to stop it. So much for womanist unity!
   
   2. THE ACTIONS HERE WERE SPECULATIVE WHEN THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN. Late in the book, the author says, "I still don't have proof that my husband was on the DL." She even suggests that he wouldn't have been honest about it if she had confronted him. HOWEVER, she never did confront him. Some women are very good doing private investigation; "Divorce Court" shows tons of examples of sistuhs doing that. The author herself never sniffed around. She never asked friends if her man was on the DL. She never went to his HIV-positive ex-wife and asked her for questions.
   There are several books and articles saying, "How to see if your man is on the down low." I think many of them are unscientific, salacious, and homophobic. But here, the author kinda admits that she turned a blind eye. This book will not help women ask those difficult questions. If you want to not see the pink elephant in the room, sometimes you will. So this book didn't tell me more info about DL men. It's kinda scant in a way. The explosion in which a DL man has to come clean never happens here and maybe DL men purposely play women because they know they don't really want to see the truth.



2. The writer does an excellent job telling the story, betrayed by a thing called love. It was a difficult book to put down , once starting to read it. La Joyce should be an inspiration of hope and faith to all people especaially women. She really opened up her soul and poured it out in this book. I am amazed that she remembered so much of the hurt, deception and pain that she had gone through. What was so interesting to me was the fact that she continue to love and care for husband right up until the time he died of aids. What she endured was truly faith under fire. It's worth buying and reading.



3. Tjis is a must read for all females young and old to read. AIDS IS A DEVASTING DISEASE!



4. This book was awesome. I read the book in a day in a half. This book was passed to me from my Aunt. I learned a lot from ready this book. Just to wait and listen closely to what Jesus has to say. Don't jump into relationships without seeking Gods face first. From this day forward my life will never be the same. I will continue to be more observant of that gut feeling that we get, they are not always butterflies but Jesus trying to tell us something. LaJoyce Thank You So much for sharing your life with all of your readers. This is definitely what God ordained you to do. I was always taught that God allows us to go through things so that we can help others that may face similar situations and so that we can have a testimony to share with others.
   
   Be Blessed and Highly Favored



5. This is one I borrowed from the library but definately will buy to add to my collection. I read this leisurely in 4 days staying up pretty late on the 4th day trying to finish it. It is amazing what someone can get through when God is carrying them. I am astonished and happily excited by a story like this one. Thank You for sharing Mrs. Brookshire.