The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip

By: Sara Brunsvold

Dakota County Library paperback 354 pages plus extras (author's notes, etc.)

Published: 2022

Genre: Christian fiction, historical fiction

Oh! This was so good! I read it all yesterday and am contemplating buying a copy . . . but I won't, since I'm trying to decrease my possessions. I will highly recommend it, though!

Mrs. Kip is a childless widow who goes into hospice after recently being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Aidyn Kelley is a talented writer who feels stuck in her assistant role at a newspaper.

The story switches between "present day" (2016) and Clara's (Mrs. Kip's) past going from the 1960s to the 1980s. 

Page 27 (May 10, 1969): "She didn't like Scotch either, not like John did. And she hated that ugly chair, which barely fit in her tiny dwelling. And she had long stopped considering their song a pleasant experience. But they were all the material things she had left of her husband. Those three things. All of them empty promises from a happier time when they were both too inexperienced to know what life was capable of."

This was so sad! We learn more about Clara and John and what happened later in the story. But here, she is a young grieving widow. And stuff is just stuff. The theme of grief runs strong in this story. I wonder if my brother would read it.

Page 47/48 (2016): "For the next twenty minutes, she sat in the armchair next to his bed and listened to his stories of work, of his wife, of the other things that brought him joy. She helped him forget he was widowed and dying.

The tender worship of companionship. A hard art to learn."

Oh my! For Clara to be in hospice and extend grace and compassion to her crotchety room neighbor Charles was so sweet! I love that she barged into his life and insisted on becoming his friend. I love that she wasn't put off by his rudeness but knew that he needed some friendship. She saw through his exterior to the sadness and loneliness within. 

Page 114 (2016): "Clara smiled, feeling the lightness in her heart - that sensation of the Lord's hand at work, orchestrating his people to be part of a generous answer to prayer."

Clara and Rosario are talking about "hidden warriors" and specifically Aidyn's editor Bella Woods. I love the way we can be receptive to seeing God at work. He's at work whether we're cognizant of it or not! This is reminiscent of the Godwinks books a little . . . watch for the ways God is at work in our lives!

Page 159 (July 1, 1975): "These were the very same men who bravely risked everything to help the US fight in exchange for the promise of protection and reward. A gentlemen's agreement had brought Mahasajun and Mai to specialized training in the first place. But with President Ford's sudden order to withdraw from Laos, the US effectively reneged and abandoned the people to face the consequences of their allegiance. Alone and unarmed. The news reports had not been pretty."

Actions have consequences. People act as though politics and international relations should just be done a certain way and everything would turn out fine. But there are typically so many angles and aspects . . . and human lives that are dramatically affected by the decisions made by others. I was a little kid in 1975. I just wanted to play, read, watch cartoons, and eat yummy food. But what is happening now in 2023 that I'm not paying attention to?

Page 164 (2016): "You are precious. Do you hear me? You are seen. You are known. You are longed for. Do you believe that? . . . So long as we have breath, the Lord calls to our hearts."

Clara is talking to Charles, who is unresponsive and near death. Her desire to share salvation with him is impressive. I love her as a character! She is an inspiration. This may be my favorite scene in the book.

Page 193 (2016): "'When things like that happen, you need friends, Miss Kelley. You need the Lord more than anything, but in his benevolence, he often shows up in the form of friends. Like Jonathan for David in the Bible.'"

I love all of Clara's life advice to Aidyn, but this passage led to her sharing about her friend Martha getting her to go to counseling after nine years of grieving John's sudden death (when they were only 23 and had been married only 8 months!). Friendship matters. God blesses us with friends!

Page 243 (2016): "The heart is designed to give far more love than the brain can calculate and to endure far more loss than the body anticipates."

Clara is deeply moved by Charles' death. And she loves being outdoors by the trees and in the sunlight. The mix of sad and sweet (and funny) in this story kept me reading.

Page 250 (2016): "Lord, you are so good, and your love holds everything together. Give me joy in every minute I have remaining here in this place you have called me to. If I have any work remaining, please give me wisdom and grace to complete it. Amen."

Clara has "broken out" of the home and is soaking in the natural beauty outdoors. Her prayer is one of willingness (even wanting) to serve, rather than anything for herself. What a woman!

Page 293: She trusted the muted words overflowing from her lips floated across the room, slipped between the grains of the windowpane, and flew upward on the streams of the wind, where they morphed into a great shout and sailed straight to the ears of heaven. Loud, soft, or silent, all praise was heard by the Lord. 

'My lips will glorify you because your faithful love is better than life.' Psalm 63:3"

I love that Clara had a theme verse! I love that she lived out the glorifying the Lord on a regular basis! Before I forget, Jimmy, the teenager who worked at the nursing home, was a fantastic character. What an incredible young man!

Page 306 (2016): "Would Aidyn remain teachable? Would she grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and people? Would she stay on the narrow path to heaven? And the biggest question of all: Had Clara loved her enough?"

Again, I love that Clara was thinking of others as she was preparing to go into Eternity. God first, others second. I want to live like that!

Page 308 (2016): Psalm 16:8 "I always let the Lord guide me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." 

Clara "gives" Aidyn a life verse just as Martha had given her Psalm 63:3. I love that she has her repeat it over and over and asks her how she will deal with future situations. My NIV has "I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken." I think I like Clara's Bible version better. I love that Aidyn admits that she hasn't been reading her Bible much lately and Clara helps her see why she should get back into Scripture as a habit. (It's a good reminder for me, too!)

Page 324 (2016): "How odd it must have been to walk through those sliding glass doors knowing she would never come back out. How hard it must have been to leave behind her old life - her home, her lifestyle, her relationships - and come to this strange place with only some personal items and two white storage boxes, as if she herself was a kind of refugee. 

How difficult it must have been to know that the people she came to live among were not long for the world, and neither was she."

Aidyn is starting to realize the truth of Clara's life, both in the past and now in the present. I was crying off and on from Charles' death to the end of the book. The VR headset scene, the reconciliation of Aidyn's friendship with Rahmiya, the contacts in Thailand, . . . Oh my. This book is good. I don't know that I've read any of Brunsvold's other books, but I may need to request some!

A Night Divided

by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Scott County Library paperback 317 pages, plus extras (author interview, notes, timeline, etc.)

Published: 2015

Genre: YA historical fiction (Berlin wall, Cold War)

I read bits and pieces of this when I was subbing in sixth grade a few weeks ago and decided I wanted to read the whole book. It was well written and I am interested in reading other Nielsen titles. 

Gerta and her brother Fritz are in East Berlin with their mother when the wall goes up overnight on August 13, 1961. Her father and brother Dominic are in the West.

I loved the quotations at the start of each chapter. I liked the characters and the story development.

Page 42: "It was wise advice, though I never could stop my thoughts from coming. They just did, all the time. Maybe I wasn't trying hard enough to stop them. I knew I wasn't."

When her friend Anna tells her not to ask or even think questions about wanting to go to the West, Gerta knows that her mind is not going to stop. Our minds are so powerful! It makes me wonder at how people can convince themselves to be brainwashed. The questions of those who wanted to get out of East Berlin make so much sense! If the East is superior, why are we fenced in and not allowed to leave?

Page 67: "I felt like a disease. Just as my father had infected me, I could now infect others. But with what? Courage to speak out? To act? To think and question and believe what I wanted to believe? Somehow I lived in a world where these were bad things."

When Anna tells Gerta she can no longer be her friend, I know it's because of the intimidation of the secret police. How sad it would be to live in a time and a place which makes you question every word, thought, and action. 

Page 105: ". . . it was far too dangerous for me to dig. Because every centimeter I clawed in there put me one step farther inside the Death Strip. If I went too far, I'd - . . . If I went too far, I'd end up in the west. The truth crashed into me like I'd just tumbled through waves of the ocean."

I love when she had the realization of what her dad had tried to communicate about digging! 

Page 188: "'What about the people who want to hold those guns?' I asked.

'I don't pray for them,' he said. 'I can't.'

And I decided in that very same moment that I would. Somebody had to."

I love when Fritz and Gerta were able to have conversations about life and their plans. What a great brother and sister team they were! There was plenty of conflict between them, but also teamwork.

Page 190: "Some people use capitalism to help themselves and let the rest suffer for it."

It's interesting in talking about communism, socialism, capitalism, etc. . . . the reasons people have for doing what they do matters. Some capitalists are greedy and uncaring. Others are more interested in the greater good. Fritz is holding Gerta accountable for her motivations and actions. To be fair, she is young, hungry, and wishing for a better life!

Rubyfruit Jungle

by: Rita Mae Brown

Libby audiobook 6 hours

Read by: Anna Paquin

Published: 1973 (this version in 2022)

Genre: realistic fiction

I did not like this book, but I listened to the entire thing. (I drove from home to Green Bay, WI, and from there to the lake.) The intro alone made me question the content. I had originally checked it out based upon a recommendation from a friend (though she was telling me to read the Sneaky Pie Brown series . . . by this same author).

 

Molly was born in 1944(?) so the story starts with her childhood in the early 50s.

Some quick car notes:

• Part One:
• edgy . . . language (swearing and crudity)
• Molly and Brockle . . . Detweiler - showing his uncircumcized penis for 5 cents per view (as elementary school children
• "mom" Carrie is nasty
• cousin Leroy, tattler Earl, Molly is MEAN but Carrie is worse!
• trivializing marriage, Christian faith, . . 
  
• sixth grade, 11 y.o. Molly and Liota exploring one another sensually 
• Part Two:
• move to Florida
• "queer"
• "Keep doing it if it feels good."
• Connie, Caroline - negative peer pressure
• F-bombs galore . . . 
• devaluing sex, relationships
• college roommate Faye / psych ward, scholarships removed
  
• Part Three:
• 1960s, home, hitchhiking, NYC
• Ronny - throwing grapefruits
• $62.50/month for rent in a NY apartment!!!?? 1962 seems unreal in this regard . . . 
• convo with Holly re: money, morals, race, etc. I found this part to be ho-hum
• Holly leaves
• Part Four:
• Silver Publishing, Stella, Mr. Cohen
• Paulina and Paul . . . yuk
• "incest doesn't seem like such a trauma to me" 
• and Alice! This was too much for me. Molly is having sex with the mom, the dad, and the daughter. Just no.
• film school and sexism, equipment, professor 

 

This isn't actually a review, is it? There were places in the book that had beautiful language. I loved Molly's final film school project. I think Carrie was suffering from some serious mental illness. I'm glad we got to revisit Leroy and where life took him. I did not enjoy this book.

Oh! And the title refers to a woman's genitals.

Wishtree

by Katherine Applegate

Libby audiobook 3 hours

Read by: Nancy Linari

Published: 2017

Genre: YA . . . mostly realistic

 

The narrator is a tree (hence the "mostly" realistic) who has been around for 216 rings. Red offers up science lessons and life lessons. 

 

I mostly enjoyed this book because of the humor but also because of the theme of kindness and friendship. The humor (to me) was in the animals' naming system. The skunks all had names of things that smelled wonderful like Fresh Baked Bread, Rose Petals, etc.  The opossums were named after things that frightened them like Hairy Spiders, Flashlight, etc. The owls and crows had different naming systems. And the raccoons were all You. You, You, You, and You didn't always get along with the other animals.

The Muslim family who has moved into the little blue house have received some hateful messages from others in this community. Samar, the little girl, loves to sit by the Wishtree and have the animal babies come to her and sit with her. Her wish is to have a friend. Her neighbor Steven is kind, but it takes the Wishtree and Bongo the crow to get them to become friends.

I jotted a few notes somewhere, but I'm too lazy to go look for them. I enjoyed this story, but it wasn't a "must read" for me. (Wonder by Palacio is a "must read.")

Miss Marple in A Murder Is Announced

by Agatha Christie

Libby audiobook 2 hours

read by: full cast

Published: 1950 (this version 2010)

Genre: murder mystery

 

I had to wait quite a long time for this one! It's classic Christie - lots of characters, lots of clues. I really enjoy Miss Marple. The cast was good.

 

Dora - old classmate, seems spacey but is actually pretty aware

Leticia / Letty and Charlotte / Lottie - sisters with an interesting history . . . 

Bunch and her husband, a member of the clergy (hosting Miss Marple, of course)

Mitzi - the foreign housekeeper with a penchant for histrionics

Lots and lots and lots of other characters. Three or four murders. Switched identities (Pip and Emma?!) and so much more. 

 

Classic Christie. I'm surprised I haven't seen this in print before.

The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery

by Amanda Cox

Scott County Library paperback 313 pages

Published: 2021

Genre: Christian historical fiction

Back cover blurb: "Present Day. After tragedy plunges her into grief and unresolved anger, Sarah Ashby returns to her childhood home determined to finally follow her long-denied dream of running Old Depot Grocery alongside her mother and grandmother. But when she arrives, her mother, Rosemary, announces to her that the store is closing. Sarah and her grandmother, Glory Ann, make a pact to save the store, but Rosemary has worked her entire life to make sure her daughter never follows in her footsteps. She has her reasons--but she'll certainly never reveal the real one.

1965. Glory Ann confesses to her family that she's pregnant with her deceased fiancé's baby. Pressured into a marriage of convenience with a shopkeeper to preserve the family reputation, Glory Ann vows never to love again. But some promises are not as easily kept as she imagined.

This dual-timeline story from Amanda Cox deftly explores the complexity of a mother-daughter dynamic, the way the secrets we keep shape our lives and the lives of others, and the healing power of telling the truth."

 

I liked this book, but didn't love it. It kept me engaged as a reader to find out how the characters resolve their stories. Glory Ann, Sarah, and Clay were my favorite characters. We'll discuss this at book club tomorrow night (5/22/2023).

 

Page 51: "Most wouldn't consider him classically handsome, but she had witnessed firsthand the selfless way he loved, and he'd become so incredibly beautiful to her."

 

This is referring to Clarence and Glory Ann. Some people don't like referring to males as "beautiful," but I think it fits so well. Clarence was a beautiful human being - gentle, honest, loving, loyal. He was such a good man! (So what that he wasn't really good looking.)

 

Page 51: "'Then what do we have to fear? Tell me what troubles you. It's the things we don't say that have the power to rule our lives without our permission.'"

 

Clarence, again, being wise and compassionate as he talks to Glory Ann.  Expressing our fears and concerns can be a powerful first step toward resolving them.

Page 109: "Glory Ann offered up a quick prayer for Mable as she straightened the newspaper stack. She didn't mind the idea of growing older one bit. It was a privilege to see this much life. But the thought of losing her memories? That was a beast she couldn't fathom facing."

I value being able to remember and think. My mom's dementia really took a toll on her, especially as she knew she was losing the ability to think clearly and remember. I agree with Glory Ann here!

Page 121: 'Maybe you and Aaron both made mistakes you can't undo, but you still have breath in your lungs and life to live. You have the chance for that fresh start you're craving. And you don't have to feel guilty about that. I've learned the hard way that punishing yourself doesn't help anyone.'"

Here Clay is giving life advice to Sarah. It was the idea of "punishing yourself" that caught my attention. I think we can be incredibly hard on ourselves sometimes. Grace is grace, and we all need it.

Page 125: "'The Good Book has a lot to say about giving. And about avoiding the bread of a selfish man. Old Depot Grocery isn't the selfish man of Proverbs. We don't give and lord it over people, forcing them to vomit it out for all to see what we gave them. We don't give store credit with the perspective of a lender. We give. And if it so happens they repay, we count it a blessing. I give carefully, Rosemary, as I can afford to do so. It might mean less lining my pockets, but my heart is fuller for it.'"

Clarence (in the past) taught Glory Ann so much by his words and actions about what it meant to follow Jesus!

Page 156: "Her grandparents were old and bent. Their expressions perpetually a bit resigned. Not at all how she'd pictured them based on Mom's sparse descriptions. Of how rigid and unyielding they were. Maybe that was true at one point, but now it appeared the years had not been kind. Or perhaps it was they who had not been kind to the years."

I disliked Glory Ann's mom and dad from the get-go. And the more I learned about them, the more I disliked them. They had some valid concerns, but did NOT deal with hard issues in a loving, Christ-like manner. They were awful! (The passage is from adult Rosemary going to visit them.)

Page 162:     Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

                    Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

                    Where there is injury, pardon;

                    Where there is doubt, faith;

                    Where there is despair, hope; 

                    Where there is darkness, light;

                    Where there is sadness, joy.

                    O Divine Master,

                    Grant that I may not so much seek

                    To be consoled as to console;

                    To be understood as to understand;

                    To be loved as to love.

                    For it is in giving that we receive;

                    It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; 

                    And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

I have heard this prayer before, but it truly is a beautiful one. Reading it made me want to linger over the words, pray it, and savor it. Glory Ann is praying this as she ponders the future after Clarence has been murdered by a robber at the store.

Page 179: Rosemary finds a letter addressed to her mother and opens it! It's from a man named Jimmy and she is horrified by what she assumes the letter means. So she hides it from her mother. Ugh! I hate this! Secrets and misunderstandings are the basis of this book, but the cost of heartbreak is too high!

Page 189: "Call me anytime you are tempted to freak out about bringing a new life into this crazy ol' world. I've got your back."

 

Libby is such a delightful character. She is just the kind of person Sarah needed to reconnect with as her life changes dramatically. I like that Rosemary had Connie (?) the travel agent friend and Glory Ann had her friends (the poker and prayer group).

 

Page  210: "'Because you are drawn to the way the stories of the past help you make sense of the present.'"

 

Clay is observant and sees Sarah's love of memoirs, reality shows, etc. She is a very story-driven person.

 

Page 261: "I had been a good person who just wanted to make the world a better place, but I'd become so tainted by darkness I couldn't feel the warmth of the sun anymore. And while I was praying, it was like this calm came over me. Even though it was dead silent during that dark night, it was like I heard the words, 'It's not too late.'"

Jimmy sharing his life and what Vietnam did to him . . . powerful.

Page 295: "Thought I'd get a spanking for sure when I told them I did it on purpose, but they prayed with me instead and told me about the importance of confessing and repenting for the wrong I'd done."

(Adult Jessamine telling adult Rosemary that she had found BOTH their parents gluing together the little ceramic dog that had been given to Rosemary as a child.)

How could Clarence and Glory Ann have been so thoughtful and thorough with teaching Jessie life's important lessons (helping her to become a happy, healthy adult) and have missed the mark so much with Rosemary? I honestly didn't like Rosemary very much as a character. She spends her entire adult life playing the role of miserable martyr, which doesn't help anyone!

 

Page 296: "Live, Rosemary. Do the things you want to do. That can mean staying here in Brighton and never leaving. Or it can mean seeing the whole world. Living is about seeing past the challenges and not letting fear or false guilt be the decider for your life. Listen to the passions in your heart that your Creator put there. Maybe it's to stay. Maybe it's to go. Just listen for once instead of coming up wiht a list of reasons why you can't."

 

You tell her, Jessie!

 

Page 312: The wedding. The misleading info. Duh. Why?

 

Faves: Most of the men, but especially Clay. Jimmy. Sarah's resolve to do things differently. Glory Ann's attitude.

 

Least Fave: Rosemary. Glory Ann's parents. The lame ending.

 

Where Is God When It Hurts

by Philip Yancey

Hennepin County Library hardcover 183 pages

Published: 1977

Genre: Christian theology

 

Ugh! This was due a week ago and I've had too many books to read. I have vacillated between hurrying to finish it, buy a copy, or . . . return it and request it again. I've decided on the last one. I'm trying to NOT buy things that I don't NEED. But this book is worth a read!

 

When I was a teen struggling with the idea of faith, I had questions about how a good God allowed so much suffering and evil. Someone recommended a book that I bought and read . . . and had even more questions after! (If you're curious, it was Rabbi Kushner's When Bad Things Happen to Good People.)

 

This book is what I needed four decades ago!

 

I've marked a few spots, but need to finish this entry later after I've finished the book.

Page 44: "The more you coddle children, he says, the more you set them up for an insulated, sensation-starved life." 

Yancey is referring to Dr. Brand, the man who spent his life working with lepers (rather, people with Hansen's Disease). Some parents seek to shield their children from any and every unpleasantness in life. But life is full of pain - physical, emotional, social - and it's helpful to learn how to deal with it while young.

Page 52: "And these are the people who raise the question 'Where is God when it hurts?' most shrilly. If our faith cannot answer them, then we have nothing to say to a broken world."

I like the way Yancey confronts his fellow Christians head on. As believers, we *should* be able to talk with people about God's role in their lives. That said, it was hard to read some of the "Christian" responses to people's suffering. Some of the insensitive platitudes do little to show the love and compassion of Christ. Ouch!

Page 57: "Pain, God's megaphone, can drive me away from Him. I can hate God for allowing such misery. Or, on the other hand, it can drive me to Him. I can believe Him when He says this world is not all there is, and take the chance that He is making a perfect place for those who follow Him on pain-wracked earth."

I forget sometimes that this (earth) is NOT my home! It's very liberating to remember that there's an eternity (pain-free, anger-free) waiting for me after this life.

Page 73: "We make faith not an attitude of trust in something unseen but a route to get something seen - something magical and stupendous, like a miracle or supernatural gift. Faith includes the supernatural, but it also includes daily, dependent trust in spite of results. True faith implies a belief without solid proof - the evidence of things not seen, the substance of things hoped for. God is not mere magic."

Yancey is referring to healing. While it is exciting to celebrate God's healing power, it can certainly leave those who believe and are NOT physically healed feeling discouraged.

I didn't finish chapter 6 because my to-do list exceed my allowed time. I am on page 75 (almost to part 2). 10.6.22

<Above started on 10.6.22. Below added on 5.16.23.>

It's overdue again, but at least I've finished it! Actually, I re-read from the beginning and I have a LOT more post-its in there. (Yes, I should probably just buy my own copy, but I didn't.) I may not add commentary, but these passages really spoke to me.

Page 14: "Why was Claudia moaning in a hospital bed while I stood beside her, healthy? What new words of Christian advice could I add? Something inside me recoiled as I heard the cliched comments to sufferers floating through the hospital corridors. Is Christianity supposed to confuse the sufferer or, rather, help him?"

This situation led to Yancey researching and writing this book. His conversational style makes me feel as though we're chatting about these issues.

Page 16: "'You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.'"

This quote from C.S. Lewis reflects the pain he went through seeing his beloved wife suffer from bone cancer.

Page 38: "Examples of 'painless hell' are numerous and tragic. They should make all of us discard the common notion that pain is an unpleasantness to be avoided at all costs. Generally, pain does not dampen life. More than anything, it frees us to enjoy normalcy on this planet. Without it, we would lead unbalanced, paranoid lives, encountering unknown dangers, never confident that we weren't destroying ourselves."

Page 44 - I marked the line about coddling children again. Being protective and being overprotective result in very different kinds of people. Getting the balance right is important and not always easy! But parents should NOT try to shield children from every unpleasantness. Life needs to be dealt with!

Page 52: "Later in this book you will meet people with broken spinal cords and Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. These are the people we must face head-on. No amount of mushy rationalizing can resolve their piercing question 'Where is God when it hurts?' most shrilly. If our faith cannot answer them, then we have nothing to say to a broken world."

Wow. He doesn't pull punches. And I love the title of this book . . . 

Page 57: "I had often called myself an optimist, to avoid the too evident blasphemy of pessimism. But all the optimism of the age had been false and disheartening for this reason, that it had always been trying to prove that we fit in to the world. The Christian optimism is based on the fact that we do not fit in to the world."

This quotation from G.K. Chesterton is a great reminder that believers are NOT at home on Earth. Our home is waiting for us in Heaven. Eternity is a long time!

Page 63: "If you believe in a world of chance, what difference does it make whether Yuba City's bus or Salina's bus crashes? But if you believe in a world ruled by a powerful God who loves you tenderly - then it makes an awful difference. . . . Posing the questions may sound sacrilegious. But they've haunted me and other Christians I know. And they've been tossed at me like spears by scoffing friends."

His reference to the Yuba City bus is based on a 1976 accident that killed 29 choir students. Grief, sorrow, loss, pain . . . people wonder if it's God's punishment, or conversely why he allowed it to happen. This is the crux of this book - why?

 

Page 65: "The New Testament, however, seems to pull away from the Old Testament pattern of reward / punishment, possibly because of a shift in God's manner of acting in the world."

 

Yancey is referring to the difference that Jesus Christ makes. 

 

Page 67: "Maybe God isn't trying to tell us anything specific each time we hurt. Pain and suffering are part and parcel of our planet, and Christians are not exempt. Half the time we know why we get sick: too little exercise, a poor diet, contact with a germ. Do we really expect God to go around protecting us whenever we encounter something dangerous?"

 

Page 69: "God wants us to freely choose to love Him, even when that choice involves pain - because we are committed to Him, not to our own good feelings and rewards. He wants us to cleave to Him, as Job did, even when we have every reason to hotly deny Him."

 

Page 73: "A sick person is not unspiritual. The Bible does not pretend that a Christian should expect life to be easier, more antiseptic, or safer than for a non-Christian."

 

Page 86: "'Pain turned you to God' - in my view, this is probably the most accurate, succinct summary of the role of suffering.It blends with the Bible's tone of emphasizing the Christian's response, not the cause of the suffering."

Yancey quotes from 2 Corinthians 7:8-11. (Read it. Good stuff!)

Page 90: "God does not need our good responses for Himself, to satisfy some parental hunger. He focuses attention on our response, I believe, for our sakes, not His. Would it help our condition to know exactly why God is permitting our suffering? Such knowledge may engender even more bitterness. But it does help our condition when God asks us to turn to Him. It can break down our self-sufficiency and create in us a profound new sense of faith in God. And, it can produce changes of lasting value inside us."

Yes! We need God, even when we think we're self-sufficient! The more we think we're in control, the harder life gets.

Page 97: "'God did not rescue me and make my suffering easier. He simply proved to me that He was still alive, and He still knew I was here. We Christians drew together . . . . I can only speak for myself. Others turned from God because of Dachau. Who am I to judge them? I simply know that God met me. For me, He was enough, even at Dachau.'"

I have no idea how my faith might sustain me if I were ever in such a horrible situation. I want to build up my faith and memorize God's Word so that I am ready if ever tested! This quotation is from Christian Reger, a pastor who was rounded up by the Nazis. His physical and spiritual health were at stake.

Page 104: "Yet he also know that his faith in God couldn't be a bargain: 'You heal me, God, and I'll believe.' He had to believe because God was worthy of his faith. He took that risk and committed his life to Jesus Christ."

This chapter is about Brian Sternberg, an athlete who broke his spinal cord in a 1963 training accident. He and his parents were confident that God could heal him completely (and that's what they prayed and hoped for). I had to Google him to find out what happened . . .  I like this example of knowing that we don't "bargain" with God. Our prayers are part of our relationship with Him.

Page 137: "Medical scientists are discovering that our attitude about a particular pain is one of the chief factors in intensifying its effects."

Yes! Attitude matters a lot! This chapter dealt with things that can make pain seem much worse, including fear and helplessness.

Page 142: "Strong feelings of fear or helplessness not only worsen a sick patient's condition, they actually may make healthy people more susceptible to illness."

Page 143: "A warning, then, to any person facing prolonged illness, is to look for ways to avoid feelings of helplessness."

Page 146: "A majority of people turned to God with a dramatic prayer. Church attendance swelled to record numbers, but within a year it had dropped back to normal."

Here he's referring to a 1964 earthquake in Alaska. It's a really interesting chapter. But this one line reminded me of people turning to churches after 9/11 . . . then fading away. We go to God in crisis, but don't want to commit to a long-term relationship with him. Complacency and selfishness . . . .

Page 149: "Sufferings can become a trap for self-pity, wounded pride, martyr feelings, and a negative self-image. Other people can represent the only way to help a person climb out of his helpless despair."

He goes on to talk about how happy success stories can be overemphasized. (Think Chicken Soup for the Soul resolutions . . . ) This made me think of the phrase "toxic positivity." I don't want to be guilty of lacking compassion for others' suffering. (But I definitely thought about people I know when I read the excerpt above. Some people definitely seem to thrive on sharing their sufferings and misery.)

Page 155: "'I think God has planned the strength and beauty of youth to be physical. But the strength and beauty of age is spiritual. We gradually lose the strength and beauty that is temporary so we'll be sure to concentrate on the strength and beauty which is forever. And so we'll be eager to leave the temporary, deteriorating part of us and be truly homesick for our eternal home. If we stayed young and strong and beautiful, we might never want to leave!'"

I love this! Yes, we age and weaken and have more physical problems. God designed us to go home to Him with new bodies!

Page 160: "The scene, with the sharp spikes and bleeding death and wrenching thud as the cross was dropped in the ground, has been told so often, that we, who shrink from a news story on the death of a race horse or of baby seals, flinch not at all at its retelling. It was a bloody death, an execution quite unlike the quick, sterile ones we know today - gas chambers, electric chairs, hangings. This one stretched on for hours in front of a jeering crowd."

Reading this made me think of the teen who watched The Passion of the Christ when it came out and said it was no big deal. We have become desensitized to violence in our culture.

 

Page 170: ". . . Do we listen to them, hear them, respond? Or do we, through numbness, allow them to self-destruct, sacrificing a limb of the body of Christ? The screams of pain are not always so far away: there are some in every church and office. The unemployed, divorced, widowed, bedridden, aged . . . are we listening to them? The Christian church, by all accounts, has done a mediocre job of acting as Christ's body through the ages. Sometimes it has seemed to devour itself (the Inquisition, religious wars). Yet Christ, committed to human freedom, still relies upon us to flesh out His will in the world, empowered by the Holy Spirit."

 

Again, I love that Yancey is straightforward. The body of Christ needs to wake up! We have a job to do.

Page 171: "Bear one another's burdens, the Bible says. It is a lesson about pain that we all can agree to. Some of us will not see pain as a gift; some will always accuse God of being unfair for allowing it. But, the fact is, pain and suffering are here among us, and we need to respond. The response Jesus showed was to bear the burdens of those He touched."

I want to live out my life in faith as a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ.

Page 173: "Christ brought us the possibility of an afterlife without pain and suffering. All our hurts, then, are temporary. Our future will be painless. Today, we are almost embarrassed to talk about belief in an afterlife . . . "

Thank you, Jesus. Help me to not be embarrassed to talk about my hope and your promises.

Page 181: "As I visited those whose pain far exceeded my own, though, I was surprised by its effects. Suffering was as likely to produce strengthened faith as to sow agnosticism. . . . In one sense, there will be no solution to pain until Jesus returns and recreates the earth. I am sustained by faith in that great hope."

I'm glad I read this. I need to return it to the library so others can read it! And perhaps I'll end up buying myself a copy anyhow . . .

The Magician's Nephew

 by C.S. Lewis

Libby audiobook 4 hours

read by: Kenneth Branagh

Published: 1955 (this version in 2005)

Genre: children's fantasy fiction

I have read this book before in print, but hadn't read it for quite a while. I like having audiobooks on my phone, especially for drive time. I didn't realize until just now (getting ready to blog it), that Kenneth Branagh was the narrator! I almost want to get it again and re-listen . . . 

I knew this was the Narnia "origin" story, but I didn't remember the details. (It's possible that more than twenty years have passed since I last read the book.) Uncle Andrew is a completely selfish jerk. Polly and Diggory are curious children. I liked the description of the "between" world. I really liked when they saw the guinea pig there!

 

The magic rings that transport them from world to world is an interesting device. (Lewis and Tolkien were contemporaries . . . )

The children going through the empty attic crawlspaces - such a kid thing to do!

The witch. Aslan. The animals. I had forgotten about Strawberry's master and his wife coming to be in Narnia. 

I very much enjoyed listening to this story.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon

by Kelly Barnhill

Libby eBook 500 or so pages

Published: 2016

Genre: YA fantasy

This book surprised me. I didn't care for it at first, but the characters drew me in.

Xan, the elderly witch who rescues the babies abandoned by The Protectorate each year.

Glerk, the ancient bog monster poet

Fyrian, the tiny dragon who thinks he's Simply Enormous

Antain, the kind-hearted young man who wants to be a carpenter

The madwoman . . . 

And of course, Luna, the title character (though she's the one it took me a while to like!)

Chapter 5 (Glerk) - "She is being adorable as some sort of hideous ruse, to spite me. What a mean baby!"

I love how he falls in love with Luna against his better judgment. He is so sweet!

Chapter 5 (narrator) - "Even when Luna was content, she still was not quiet. She hummed; she gurgled; she babbled; she screeched; she guffawed; she snorted; she yelled. She was a waterfall of sound, pouring, pouring, pouring."

That is so true of babies!

Chapter 7 (Xan) - "Memory was a slippery thing - slick moss on an unstable slope - and it was ever so easy to lose one's footing and fall."

The whole theme of memories and forgetting . . . that wasn't my favorite aspect of the book. But I love the language the author uses.

Chapter 8 (storyteller) - "But he didn't kill the Witch. The Witch killed him instead. This is why it doesn't pay to be brave."

I wasn't entirely sure who was telling the story in each storytelling part, but the stories definitely helped fill in some of the legend aspects. The idea that the moral of the story is that "it doesn't pay to be brave" made me laugh.

Chapter 9 (Xan's perspective) - "When Zosimos rescued her and bound her to his allegiance and care, she was so grateful that she was ready to follow any rule in the world. Not so with Luna. She was only five. And remarkably bullheaded."

Oh my! To love and try to teach a small child, especially one who is overflowing with magic and exuberance . . . a distinct challenge!

Chapter 13 (Sister Ignatia) - "Sister Ignacia laughed. 'Oh, sweet Antain! There is no cure for sorrow.' Her lips unfurled into a wide smile, as though this was most excellent news."

She was so clearly evil! It was interesting how the author let us know more about the characters with each successive chapter. The concept of sorrow and how it impacts people was another interesting theme in this story.

Chapter 17 (Luna) - "She loved the moon so much, she wanted to wrap her arms around it and sing to it. She wanted to gather every morsel of moonlight into a great bowl and drink it dry. She had a hungry mind, an itchy curiosity, and a knack for drawing, building, and fashioning."

I do love that Luna was eager and curious. The idea of drinking moonlight is interesting.

Chapter 39 (Luna, about Xan) - "Was love a compass? Luna's mind was pulled to her grandmother's mind. Was knowledge a magnet?"

The idea of love being a compass appeals to me. Love is a powerful force!

Chapter 41 (Xan) - "Everything you see is in the process of making or unmaking or dying or living. Everything is in a state of change."

This is so true, but not a truth that we think about often. I'm often uncomfortable with change, yet it is a constant in life.

Chapter 46 (Luna) - "'Like you, I was brought to a family who loved me and whom I love. I cannot stop loving that family, and I don't want to. I can only allow my love to increase.' She smiled. 'I love the grandmother who raised me. I love the mother I lost. My love is boundless. My heart is infinite. And my joy expands and expands. You'll see."

The ending of the story was very satisfying. I see why this book has won so many awards!