Conquered Words: October/November

I have yet again neglected to tell you what I've read over the month of October because, well, I guess I just didn't want to. I was too busy, maybe. READING (maybe). Anyways, I don't want to miss the books that I read so I'll throw a little combo up for you, just for you.

October and November are great months in politics and I think between my job, school, and spending my free time thinking/reading about the gubernatorial race, I just didn't write much on the ol' bloggy (I am aware of how gross "ol' bloggy" sounds and I just decided to write it down there twice).

The last couple of months have been quite philosophical as I've read some pretty lengthy and heady texts. Seems to have treated me well; I enjoyed these past two months of reading.

I spent a good amount of October tackling God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics by C.S. Lewis (Eerdmans Publishing Company), which is close to 350 pages of philosophy. It certainly was delicious and I read an essay entitled, "Christian Apologetics," that I feel like I've been waiting to read for years. Lewis is an apologist in many respects, but he rarely wrote or spoke about the subject. In many ways, releasing his faith to the world was his entire ministry. It was nearly impossible for him to set it aside as a discipline of his. My approach to Christian Apologetics is very Lewisian: "We are defending Christianity; not 'my religion.' When we mention our personal opinions we must always make quite clear the difference between them and the Faith itself…the great difficulty is to get odern audiences to realize that you are preaching Christianity solely and simply because you happen to think true; they always suppose you are preaching it because you like it or think it good for society or something of that sort." The collection contains many unknown and small pieces of writing like letters to editors and small journal pieces. Also, we're allowed into small gatherings where Lewis taught, seeing sometimes his lack of eloquence or digressing that he is certainly not known for.

During that time I was editing essays of high school students in West Linn. Many of the Juniors were going through Arthur Miller's The Crucible, which is of course heavily critical of the Puritans. I picked up Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates (Riverhead Trade, 272 pages) to go along with my reading and re-reading of The Crucible and found Vowell's work a little weak. I often times find her writing style too cutesie for me and a tad under-researched. She nailed some aspects of Puritan rhetoric and its connection to modern conservatism, but she failed to recognize some of their achievements as citizens.

As if I didn't get philosophical enough in October, I spent all of November trying to figure out Michael J. Sandel's brilliant Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 368 pages). I tweeted that this could have been the best book I read all year and I might stand by that now that I've slept two nights. Sandel is a genius and one of those good Harvard professors. After teaching for twenty-plus years, he's able to put some pretty profound philosophical concepts into understandable terms. Even so, this is a tough read and is not for the simple minded. He claims that this is "not a history of ideas" type of book, although he manages to cram years of groundbreaking thought through his pages as a way to build up to his suggestions for modern society. Nevertheless, Sandel needs every word he writes and doesn't waste any of your time. He ends up raising the bar on citizenship and calls for better public discourse, asking for morals to be placed in the center of politics. It is one of the most convincing arguments and I was absolutely inspired. He is certainly a philosopher to be remembered.

Outside of that, I read an entire New York Review of Books, which is becoming a favorite publication of mine along with Ali and I's subscription to National Geographic. I'm very excited for December as my school schedule winds down and the work here at the church begins to change. Years ago I head my mentor, Joel Dombrow say, "There's nothing like being a pastor around Christmas." I think there are some things like it, but it's certainly pretty dang fun. Lots going on, tons of busy conversations and meetings, along with tons of time together as a staff. Beyond that, are people just a tad kinder around Christmas? Perhaps not.

We'll see.

Keep reading, my friends.