Read Write Rinse Repeat

Dorothy and Jack: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis by Gina Dalfonzo I found this book very well done. Gina Dalfonzo did an excellent job presenting Dorothy Sayers and C. S. Lewis as individuals and friends. By looking at their friendship, she brings out more of their character, giving a deeper insight into both of them. I listened to the audiobook and hope to return to read the print edition in the future. I recommend this to anyone who wants to know more about Sayers, Lewis, and friendship. View all my reviews

  The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers My rating: 5 of 5 stars Update: 1/3/2 It was even better reading it a second time. Most good books are. I rarely give 5 stars (to authors whose works I review; it's nothing personal), but this one deserves it. Few books I read have to capacity to shape me as I read them. This one does. Previous review: (slightly updated) "So I think I'd better go, said Wimsey. "I rather wish I hadn't come buttin' into this. Some things may be better left alone, don't you think? My sympathies are all in the wrong place and I don't like it. I know all about not doing evil that good may come. It's doin' good that evil may come that is so embarrassin'." "My dear boy," said the Rector, "it does not do for us to take too much thought for the morrow. It is better to follow the truth and leave the results in the hand of God. He can forsee where we cannot, because He knows all the facts." With this ...

Aeschylus I: Oresteia by Aeschylus My rating: 4 of 5 stars I read this with a reading group formed by the Catherine Project the brainchild of Zena Hitz, author of Lost in Thought. I'm probably the oldest in the group and have thoroughly enjoyed reading and discussing these plays with this group. As far as the text, it is a classic for a reason. We discussed various topics including justice, motivations for justice, hatred, revenge, vengeance, etc. View all my reviews

Turning of Days: Lessons from Nature, Season, and Spirit by Hannah Anderson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Thomas Henry Huxley wrote, “To a person uninstructed in natural history, his country or seaside stroll is a walk through a gallery filled with wonderful works of art nine-tenths of which have their faces turned to the wall.” An all too true statement about most of us, excepting children whose innate curiosity beckons them to run around to peer into the artworks’ faces. Fortunately for the rest of us, Hannah Anderson and her husband Nathan, illustrator of her new book, Turning of Days: Lessons from Nature, Season, and Spirit stand in the gap between nature and nature’s God pointing us to both. They offer seasonal lessons of what it looks like to turn our faces to the works of goodness, beauty and truth in nature given to us by our Creator and reveal more about Him and ourselves than we are aware. This collection of essays of her observations of nature and theological connections is ord...

Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep by Tish Harrison Warren “What I most love about this line—’and give hour angels charge over those who sleep’—is that it pulls together supernatural cosmic strangeness and the most quotidian of human activities: sleeping.” With that, and other carefully chosen words, Tish Harrison Warren proves once again in Prayer in the Night that she is a master of revealing glimpses of how our lives in the temporal sphere meet the eternal one. In her opening note she tells us that wisdom is a “slow work”, and it is. Painfully so at various times and in various relationships in our lives. To guide us through this slow work, she walks us through the Prayer at Compline in The Book of Common Prayer: Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joy...

  I saved the best for last. In the last days of 2020, I began reading Jesus the Great Philosopher: Rediscovering the Wisdom Needed for the Good Life by Dr. Jonathan Pennington, Associate Professor of New Testament Interpretation and Director of Research Doctoral Studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. This is a book I have wanted to read since the Fall of 1979 when I took Philosophy 101 at a small Christian college in Nashville, TN. I loved the class and the professor, but never knew how to connect my love of philosophy with living. After all, I had the Bible, right? Never mind trying to meld philosophy and theology. This was an error on my part because my philosophy professor was also a systematic theologian and the one who wrote the systematic theology for our denomination. He was also my advisor and would have gladly helped me to understand. Thankfully, Dr. Pennington filled that role. In Jesus the Great Philosopher: Rediscovering the Wisdom Needed for the Good Life, ...

Handle with Care: How Jesus Redeems the Power of Touch in Life and Ministry by Lore Ferguson Wilbert My rating: 4 of 5 stars In Handle with Care, Lore has written a helpful introduction to what essentially is a theology of touch. She offers us a well-reasoned and well-written book inviting us to re-consider the implications of past ideas and practices regarding touch by closely examining the practices of Jesus as he interacted with those around him. By providing historical background, which includes the “me, too” and purity culture movements, offering categories of touch, which include definitions of healthy and unhealthy platonic, sexual , and profession touch, she sets the context for the remainder of the book. While offering few specifics and rules, she does offer two concepts that undergird her thesis. First, we are to consider the person in front of us and second, we need to see others as subjects of the kingdom, not objects of our worship. Although the latter was specific to...