My Life as a Book

I just returned from a very fun, emotional, enlightening and relaxing staff retreat for church. I have to say that we are very, very blessed to have such a diverse group of people who feel comfortable making their thoughts clear while having an open mind to pursue God’s will for our church.

During breakfast on the last day Rob laid down the bombshell on me. He simply said, “Since we’ve been on the retreat you haven’t read my blog yet, have you?” Of course this brings up the suspicious thoughts that only friends can bring about. Turns out Rob tagged me for a meme (something I generally don’t enjoy doing).

The topic is all about books. Mentioning some of the questions we actually had a very good discussion around the table about the questions.

This is exactly why I like getting together as a group to casually talk about whatever is on our minds. I learned more about the people in that 30 minutes then 2 hours of discussion can ever bring.

So, without further ado, here are my answers.

1. One book that changed your life: 1979 Book of Common Prayer. When we discussed this over breakfast we decided The Bible was a cop-out answer (so I saved it for a later one) and I had to really think. Going through books by Orson Scott Card, Terry Pratchett, Dean Koontz, Vernor Vinge, Dan Simmons and even some non sci-fi books (amazing, I know) I think the Prayer Book is the one. If it hasn’t changed my life, it’s at least been there during all of the big changes. It was part of my marriage, part of Rachel’s baptism (I was baptized Catholic), part of my confirmation and continues to be part of every Sunday of my life. It’s got some interesting stuff and great prayers. Not to mention it makes every Episcopal Church I visit feel familiar (St. Matthew’s is actually probably the least familiar, but still the best).

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. I’ve actually gone through the entire series twice and Ender’s Game a few times. This whole series brought me to recognize the connections we share with those around us, and where faith can fit in. As Kate recently mentioned regarding quantum physics, Orson shows a future where we can really harness the human potential.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: The Bible. Yeah, it sounds hokey, but if I weren’t alone on a desert island I’d probably keep putting off reading it all the way through. I’ve gone through once in bits and spurts, but a solid reading would be nice… If only there weren’t so many other books out there to read.

4. One book that made you laugh: Another Fine Myth by Robert Aspirin. This book (and the whole series) is flat-out humor. If there’s anything to take away it’d be the magical threads which again hint at something more to this world that we can’t see but is ready for us to tap into.

5. One book that made you cry: Hyperion by Dan Simmons. The depth of the characters moved me so much that I’d have to put the book down at times. The story about Rachel brought me to sobs.

6. One book you wish had been written: The Secret Thing We All Share. Every time I think we humans are all pretty much the same deep down (wanting to be loved, having our own unique and perceived hurts and wanting to be treated as “normal”) other things pop up making me unsure of that. I want a definitive answer to make sure I’m not nuts, or to tell me where the core is in each of us that we do share (I know it’s there). This would probably have to be written by God I guess.

7. One book you wish had never been written: Sourcery by Terry Pratchett. This was the first book I read of the Discworld series and I can’t ever stop. I’ve read everything by Pratchett (and went quite broke buying his books in England when I was there for a semester) and can’t get enough. I’d have had a much more social life if it weren’t for the sheer number of books this one has gotten me to read.

8. One book you’re currently reading: Chazown by Craig Groeschel. It’s been over two months of picking up and putting this back down. It’s been a very thought-provoking look at God’s vision for my life. Not the job I should have, but my own gifts, mission statement and vision. I’ve given it to most of the graduating seniors at church.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: The Crystal City by Orson Scott Card. You’d think I loved Orson, and in some ways I do. But after meeting him it’s gotten a little harder to be quite so addicted. In any case I’ve had this on my shelf for two years, and at this point need to re-read the rest of the series.

10. Tag 5 others: Here you go! Jessica, Kate, Alex, Mason/Miriam (who I’ve recently found shares my love of the same types of books) and Cindy (Who has a new and adorable baby boy, check out the pictures!).

posted by Tom at 2:13 PM