Mar 04 2009

The Shack by William P Young

Category: Uncategorized — podrey @ 8:10 am

In the 4th quarter of 2008, my mom and i agreed to do a mini book club.  I recommended a book, The Host by Stephanie Meyer, and she recommended a book, The Shack.

I have finally gotten around to reading The Shack. Soon after our deal, my mom read it and told me i wouldn’t like it and that i was off the hook for having to read it.  But, a deal is a deal, and after all, it was the best selling book of 2008.

While camping with his children, a father’s youngest daughter is kidnapped by a serial killer.  The book takes us through the horrifying events of the search and finding the place where she was killed: a shack in the middle of the woods.

Three years later, the family is still having a hard time, and especially the father, who is angry at God.  One day he receives a note in his mailbox from God that they should meet, at the shack.  The father decides, what the hell, and goes alone one weekend when the rest of the family is away.  He finds that God is actually there: God the Father (showing himself as a big black woman named Papa), God the Son (Jesus, who is in typical carpenter form) and God the Holy Spirit (presenting as a flower child type young woman).  Our dear dad gets to talk to them, ask questions, walk on water, see his daughter, and basically has a weekend of rediscovering himself and God.

Mom was right, i didn’t really care for the book.  It did however remind me of the attraction of christianity.  Papa just loves all her children, even if they’ve lost their way.  In one of my letters from grandma, she told me that she wasn’t worried about me going to hell, because that isn’t how i works: if people have not accepted christ, then they are judged by the kind of life they have lived.  And those are nice thoughts.  Does anyone know if or where that is written in the bible?

Personally, i already know i will be judged by the kind of life i have lived – by me, while i’m still alive and living it, and by others, who interact with me now and who will remember me when i’m dead.

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Mar 02 2009

Nosy Neighbor

Category: Uncategorized — podrey @ 8:19 am

On a recent weekday morning, i went for a run before heading to work.  Afterwards, i was stretching in the driveway and one of the neighbors walked by with her little dog.  We’ve met several times.  She stopped to talk to me.  In no more than five minutes, she managed to insult me in five different ways:

  1. She commented that we have “a lot of work” to do on the house
  2. She asked if Lance and i were married yet.  When i said no, she gave me a look that said “bless your heart” and asked when we would be getting around to it.
  3. She alluded to the fact that we only have one car.  There used to be two cars and she wondered “what happened!?”  When are you going to get another car?  Doesn’t everyone need two cars?  I said we didn’t really need one as Lance worked from home, but we might get around to it this year.
  4. When she asked what Lance’s job was, i told her professional poker player.  She looked around nervously as if she was going to get in trouble just for talking to me, and asked if that was legal.  I assured her it was (there are no rules against playing online).  She didn’t believe me, though, i could tell.  She said something like “i’ve never done any gambing.”
  5. She then asked me how my job was going.  The teaching gig i have over at Louisburg college.  She was referring to the 3+ years ago ex-girlfriend.

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Mar 01 2009

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Category: Uncategorized — podrey @ 12:19 pm

Our book club’s selection for February was To Kill a Mockingbird.  The first and only time i read this book was in middle school.  I remembered the name Boo Radley.  I remembered asking my dad what the phrase “Jem was four years my senior” meant, as my 11-year old self had never heard such fancy language.  (Dad wouldn’t tell me).  I remembered liking the book.  But that’s about all i remembered.

I liked the book this time, too.  A lot.  Jem and Scout’s adventures in Maycomb as they slowly grew up were fun to read about.  The courtroom scenes when Tom was on trial were as good as any of the modern courtroom thrillers.  And, look at how far we’ve come.  This setting was the 1930s, and a black man was convicted when he was obviously innocent, just because a white girl pointed a finger.  It may be fiction, but it is representative of the times.  80 years later, a black man is President of this country.

There were a lot of great quotes from this book.  But one that moved me was in the final few pages:

A boy trudged down the sidewalk dragging a fishing pole behind him. A man stood waiting with his hands on his hips. Summertime, and his children played in the front yard with their friend, enacting a strange little drama of their own invention. It was fall, and his children fought on the sidewalk in front of Mrs. Dubose’s. . . . Fall, and his children trotted to and fro around the corner, the day’s woes and triumphs on their faces. They stopped at an oak tree, delighted, puzzled, apprehensive. Winter, and his children shivered at the front gate, silhouetted against a blazing house. Winter, and a man walked into the street, dropped his glasses, and shot a dog. Summer, and he watched his children’s heart break. Autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him. Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.

It’s a defining moment for Scout.  Seeing something from aother’s perspective.  Losing some of her innocence.  But still having faith in people.

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