Sunday, November 22, 2015

240-249: How to Be Good (Biblically)

The Dewey category 240-249 encompasses devotionals, "Christian living," Christian family life, Biblical ethical philosophy, and, inexplicably, a whole section devoted to church furnishings. If you are a Muslim or a Hindu, you will have to look much harder to find information about what kind of rugs or altar to buy for your place of worship.... so hard that I cannot provide you with your Dewey number offhand. But then, I can't give you your LCCat number either.

I picked three books from that all-encompassing Christian Living section found in my own church library. Just Courage, by Gary Haugen, is a challenge to take risks in the service of God's heart for the redemption of the world. Haugen is best known as the founder of International Justice Mission, of which I am a huge fan and supporter, but he cut his teeth in the Justice Department, investigating police misconduct in the US. I hope that role continues to be filled by smart, aggressive lawyers with a heart to protect the marginalized!

College Ruined Our Daughter, by Wesley Shrader, probably needs a new name. The subtitle is: "Letters to parents about the baffling world of the college student," the copyright is 1969, and I think the point is that college did not, in fact, ruin the daughters and sons in question. By just dipping into the letters, I sense that the issues students and parents are grappling with may not have changed much: sexuality, politics, drugs, hypocrisy, appear on just about every page. Only the clothes have changed-- love beads and Nehru jackets were mentioned!

Learn to Grow Old, by Paul Tournier, is the book that resonates most greatly with me at this moment as I progress through my 50s and walk with my mother through her 70s. The jacket blurb cheerfully assures me that "Dr. Tournier feels that old age and retirement need not be feared or hidden from."


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