Sunday Salon ~ books, blogging, and family

BOOKS

Three books arrived this week, one by UPS and two from the library.

The Future of Faith: The Rise and Fall of Belief and the Coming Age of the Spirit ~ by Harvey Cox, 2009

Cox explains why Christian beliefs and dogma are giving way to new grassroots movements rooted in social justice and spiritual experience.

So Far Away ~ by Meg Mitchell Moore, 2012, fiction

Thirteen-year-old Natalie Gallagher is trying to escape: from her parents' ugly divorce, and from the vicious cyber-bullying of her former best friend. Adrift, confused, she is a girl trying to find her way in a world that seems to either neglect or despise her. Her salvation arrives in an unlikely form: Bridget O'Connell, an Irish maid working for a wealthy Boston family. The catch? Bridget lives only in the pages of a dusty old 1920s diary Natalie unearthed in her mother's basement.

Ten Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (But Can't, Because He Needs the Job) ~ by Oliver "Buzz" Thomas, 2007, religion, 9/10

Thomas cuts through all the agendas the Bible is used for today and finally says what many ministers are afraid to say.  How did it all begin?  Why are we here?  What is the Bible?  Is there really such a thing as a miracle?  How do I please God?  What about women?  What about homosexuality?  What about other faiths?  What happens after we die?  How will it all end?

BLOGGING

This blog has been different this week, as you may have noticed.  Rather than random books, I have focused my own personal study on a single book and have posted questions as I read:

Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening ~ by Diana Butler Bass, 2012

Believing:  What do I think?
Behaving:  How should I act?
Behaving:  What do I do?
Belonging:  Who am I?

I've also been reading a couple of other books:

Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World by John Shelby Spong, 2011 ~ for the Seekers Sunday school class at St. Luke United Methodist Church.

Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in Twelve Simple Words ~ by Brian D. McLaren, 2011 ~ for the book study led by my friend Donna at Ashland Terrace Christian Church.

FAMILY

We celebrated my granddaughter Cali's 25th birthday at Chili's.  One of her best friends, who knows her well, gave her James Dean twice ~ on a birthday card and as a large portrait to hang on her wall.  Uh, can you tell she likes James Dean?

Meanwhile, at the other end of the long table, my great-granddaughter Raegan had the attention of her grandpa Pat (my son-in-law), showing him her princess dolls.

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