Library Loot ~ November 6-12

Whistling in the Dark: A Doubter's Dictionary ~ by Frederick Buechner, 1993

A wry and thought-provoking jaunt through the spiritual terrain of our everyday language — a lexicon of uncommon insight to jar the mind and nourish the soul.  "I think of faith as a kind of whistling in the dark, because in much the same way," writes Buechner, "it helps to give us courage and to hold the shadows at bay."

After I requested this book, I noticed it was unavailable because nobody could find the copy we were supposed to have.  But I remained number one of one persons requesting it — for weeks.  Several times, I started to delete my name.  But I was curious why they didn't just tell me it was lost.  Then I got the notice that the book was ready for me.  When I picked it up, I noticed it's a brand-new book!  They replaced an old book just for me.  It's a new, uncreased, never opened or read book.

"The subtitle is 'A Doubter's Dictionary' because it is to doubters that this ABC is primarily directed:  doubters both as those who are more or less outside the Church and also as those who are more or less inside but still wonder every once in a while if the whole religious enterprise has anything to do with reality.  I believe that it does.  I believe that no matter how tedious, unimaginative, banal, unconvincing, and seemingly irrelevant the Church's proclamation of the mystery of a loving God often is ... that mystery is as much a part of reality as the air we breathe." — Frederick Buechner in the Introduction (p. xi)

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages us to share titles of books we’ve checked out of the library.  Add your link any time during the week, and see what others got this week.