Savvy Thinker » Spirituality and God http://savvythinker.com thinking about life, playing with makeup Tue, 22 May 2012 15:37:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 The work of an unknown good man (or woman) http://savvythinker.com/the-work-of-an-unknown-good-man-or-woman/ http://savvythinker.com/the-work-of-an-unknown-good-man-or-woman/#comments Mon, 21 May 2012 15:13:26 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/2007/03/17/the-work-of-an-unknown-good-man-or-woman/
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    The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green. -- Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish Writer

    Sometimes I think we feel we need to be doing something really huge to justify taking up space, but this quote puts it into perspective for me. I just love this one.

    It's enough just to be. And we water the ground around us. Maybe we even make a wilderness bloom. And it is not that we do it consciously, we just do it because we are.

    Even the simple things of life that we take doing for granted, such as washing dishes, are seen to be important if they are not done.

    It's enough just to be who we are. Going through our day with as much enjoyment and as much courage as we can muster, hitting some hard or low spots, or even high spots, but carrying on carrying on is really doing a good work.

    And yes, sometimes it is work...

    Without a word our lives can be a counterbalance to the difficult places or people in life, and that's saying a lot.

    Karin

    He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Jesus in John 7: 38

    Originally posted 2007-03-17 07:48:31.

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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/the-work-of-an-unknown-good-man-or-woman/feed/ 0     A little story http://savvythinker.com/a-little-story/ http://savvythinker.com/a-little-story/#comments Fri, 18 May 2012 13:46:07 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/2008/06/02/a-little-story/
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    I do not know the source for this story. But I like the moral.

    Karin

    Just up the road from my home is a field, with two horses in it.

    From a distance, each looks like every other horse.

    But if one stops the car, or is walking by, one will notice something quite amazing. Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind.

    His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him. This alone is amazing. Listening, one will hear the sound of a bell. Looking around for the source of the sound, one will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field. Attached to her bridle is a small bell. It lets her blind friend know where she is, so he can follow her.

    As one stands and watches these two friends, one sees how she is always checking on him, and that he will listen for her bell and then slowly walk to where she is, trusting that she will not lead him astray.

    Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges. He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need.

    Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by God and those whom he places in our lives.

    Other times we are the guide horse, helping others see God. Author unknown.

    Originally posted 2008-06-02 11:29:37.

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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/a-little-story/feed/ 0     Disabled man finds help and walks again http://savvythinker.com/disabled-man-finds-help-and-walks-again/ http://savvythinker.com/disabled-man-finds-help-and-walks-again/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 12:42:19 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=8450
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    This is an inspirational video, for sure!

    Karin
    www.savvythinker.com

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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/disabled-man-finds-help-and-walks-again/feed/ 0     Dr. Seuss-like on fear by Scott Kalechstein Grace http://savvythinker.com/dr-seuss-like-on-fear-by-scott-kalechstein-grace/ http://savvythinker.com/dr-seuss-like-on-fear-by-scott-kalechstein-grace/#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 10:58:31 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=8448
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    There are a lot of truths in here! Enjoy!

    Karin
    www.savvythinker.com

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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/dr-seuss-like-on-fear-by-scott-kalechstein-grace/feed/ 0     Review Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren F Winner http://savvythinker.com/review-mudhouse-sabbath-by-lauren-f-winner/ http://savvythinker.com/review-mudhouse-sabbath-by-lauren-f-winner/#comments Thu, 03 May 2012 14:01:07 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=8416

    The subtitle of the book is: an invitation to a life of spiritual discipline.

    I got this book from the library, because I read a review of another of her books, so I found her as an author. I generally enjoy reading other people's faith stories. Winner's is interesting because she went from Judaism to Orthodox Judaism to Christianity, but she still feels an affinity for much of what is Judaism.

    This book is a short read and fast, that incorporates some ideas about how an understanding of the spiritual practices and richness of Judaism and its traditions are valuable to the practices, prayers, and beliefs of a Christian.

    Some of the things she discusses are attentive eating, supporting a marriage, marking the stages of grieving, how one looks at one's body, aging, and more. She missed some of the rhythms of Jewish life that follow the year, much like Christian liturgy does, and wanted to incorporate it into her faith life -- and share it with us. She is now an ordained in the Episcopalian church.

    I especially liked her explanation of Sabbath.

    Have you read any of her books?     She is quite a prolific writer.
    Do you have a favorite?

    I rate this book 3.5 star out of 5.

    Parts of it were meaty for me; others parts were not. Theologically we are not necessarily at the same place all of the time. I get a bit tired of her writing style. That hasn't stopped me from looking at one article of hers referenced and available online or from reading two other of her books these past couple of weeks, reviews to follow.

    It is also available for Kindle:

    Karin
    www.savvythinker.com



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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/review-mudhouse-sabbath-by-lauren-f-winner/feed/ 0     Review girl meets GOD a memoir by Lauren F. Winner http://savvythinker.com/review-girl-meets-god-a-memoir-by-lauren-f-winner/ http://savvythinker.com/review-girl-meets-god-a-memoir-by-lauren-f-winner/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 17:55:00 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=8430
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    girl meets GOD is the third book I've read by Lauren F. Winner, though it is the first that she wrote. I got it from the library.

    She organizes the book mostly around the Christian calendar -- Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Eastertide, Pentecost, Advent -- and ties it to the Jewish calendar when it applies. The first chapter is Sukkot.

    Winner is a seeker after God. She collects an impressive library of Jewish works by the time she is in her teens, then gives them away when she becomes a Christian, then re-buys many of them to re-build her library. She is earnest. It is obvious that she wants to be her best at what she believes, from her converting to Orthodox Judaism (her father was a Reform Jew)(her mother a lapsed Baptist) to her driving a couple of hours away for an Episcopal priest to hear her confessions, even though she has confessed them to God and made an effort to leave them behind.

    She is not a virgin, and she writes frankly of trying to reconcile that to church teachings (and her confessions.) Additionally, she has written an online article about sexuality (which I read) and a book (which I have no interest in reading.) Her online article was not well received by some Christians. She feels it is unlikely that people will remain celibate into their 30's, if they postpone marrying until that time.

    Because I read all three books over a relatively short time, with a lot of interruptions by life, the books have run on together in my thoughts. The one easiest to read was Mudhouse Sabbath (see my review here.) That one ties together the two elements of her religious life, Judaism and Christianity. It shows how having a deep understanding of Judaism permeates and enriches her Christian faith. (It did many of the early converts to Christianity also, though she doesn't mention this.)

    What drew her to Christianity?
    The long and short of it: she read extensively, to the point that her Jewish friends commented on it, that it didn't make sense to them. She had a dream. She fell in love with Jesus. I think she was drawn to the ideas of atonement, forgiveness and heaven.

    Also, the farther she drifted from Judaism, none of her Jewish friends pulled her back or encouraged her in her faith walk of Judaism.

    What happens when she converts to Christianity?
    She loses friendships in the Orthodox Jewish community. It deeply disturbs her father. Later, both her father and her mother (who are divorced) are drawn more into their own faith traditions. Her father becomes active in the synagogue, and her mother becomes active in the Episcopalian church.

    In some ways she wrote this book as an apology to her Jewish friends, and with the hope that Christians might learn something about Judaism.

    My take:
    I give it 2 stars out of 4.

    I got tired of this book, perhaps because I know what follows in her later books. It got tedious. She has been called self-indulgent. In some ways, following along with her is an emotional roller-coaster. She deals with her jealousy of a friend's marriage and pregnancy -- and more.

    As I said, she is earnest, but it's as if, to me, she is trying so hard, because she isn't exactly sure what would happen if she didn't. There comes a point at which one rests in one's faith, while not being complacent. It is who one is, not so much the outward symbols of what one does, though how one acts is definitely important.

    Have you read it?
    What did you think?

    You can find my reviews of Still: notes on a mid-faith crisis here.

    It is available for Kindle:

    Karin
    www.savvythinker.com


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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/review-girl-meets-god-a-memoir-by-lauren-f-winner/feed/ 0     Review STILL: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis by Lauren F Winner http://savvythinker.com/review-still-notes-on-a-mid-faith-crisis-by-lauren-f-winner/ http://savvythinker.com/review-still-notes-on-a-mid-faith-crisis-by-lauren-f-winner/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 15:47:52 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=8421
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    This is the book that started me reading books by Lauren F. Winner, when I read a review of the book. It sounded interesting.

    It was, and it wasn't, at least for me. Dark nights of the soul are not uncommon to those in or out of religion. It's likely proverbial that each person's dark night is dark to them, and it's not a contest to see whose is darker or what problems or grief precipitate the crisis. And there really is no satisfactory answer, in the throes of a crisis, why one is in it.

    In Mudhouse Sabbath (see my review here) Winner is looking forward to her marriage and complimentary of her husband-to-be. This book chronicles her crisis of faith when she is miserably unhappy in her marriage and decides after much prayer and unhappiness to divorce him after six years.

    She says very little about their marriage, but you can read between the lines. I had a couple of pretty good ideas.

    She does not write anything negative about her husband, but she wends her way through her own crisis. It doesn't help her, some of the things that are said to her (for example, that it is a sin for her to divorce.) Her ex-husband is well thought of and seems not to show any signs of the crisis, at least in this book.

    Her mother dies shortly before her marriage, after a long struggle with illness, and that doesn't help the beginning of her marriage.

    Her faith path
    In her short life, she has gone through moderate interest in Judaism (her father was Jewish, her mother was not), to Orthodox Judaism, to Christianity, falling in love with Jesus. Even her friends wonder if she will move past Christianity. So far, she has not. She is ordained in the Episcopal church, since this book came out. She also teaches at Duke Divinity School in North Carolina.

    It is both interesting and profound, as well as sad, that in one of her books, she chronicles one of the reasons why she left Judaism -- for one thing, no one went after her to shepherd her back, to ask her why she had stopped going to shul, or where she was physically or mentally. In this book she feels that when she couldn't pray for herself or even go to church, she felt she had friends who were praying for her.

    Additionally she says that while she converted to Orthodox Judaism (because one is considered a Jew if one's mother is, regardless of whether one's father is) in many ways it did not count -- and her then-boyfriend's mother did not accept her -- and neither fully did he, because he hoped to have large family (both sides) gatherings at the various important days of Judaism when he married. Ironically, he later seriously dates a girl who is not Jewish at all, so much for all that. We all wonder what his mother would think then.

    These are salient points to think about for the expression of our own faith traditions -- do we pay attention if someone disappears? do we fully accept them if they weren't born into it? do we continue to show love? what if our children are dating or marry someone not of our faith?

    What do we say to someone deep in a crisis -- and do we even care what they are going through? (Perhaps our own life is in tatters.) Caring will cover over many a mis-statement, but saying the wrong thing without love is a sure turn-off.

    In an interview with Kim Shippey, after he read the book, she told him

    that the spiritual life can be summarized as a process of meeting God again and again. “I will say that there was a season of alienation between God and me—a standoff, perhaps. Still chronicles the tail end of the standoff and the beginning of a reacquaintance. . . . I encounter God in sermon-writing. In my fear. Sometimes in silence. I know God to be present in my conversations with friends, in my classroom. In my failures. In my merrymaking and in my sorrow.” Christian Science Sentinel p 20 4-9-2012

    As she says in this book:

    “I am not a saint. I am, however, beginning to learn that I am a small character in a story that is always fundamentally about God.”


    Have you read it?     What did you think?
    Do you have a favorite of her books or articles?

    My take
    I give this book 2 stars out of 5, only because faith stories and faith crisis are an interest of mine, and having gone through some deep waters myself, I read other people's stories to see how they come out the other side. But this book seems to me to wallow more than a bit and also to whine. It doesn't help that those she goes to for spiritual comfort and advice do not give it. (Similar to many stories, actually.)

    My advice is to read the chapter at the end of the book with questions and answers, then skim through the rest of the book. That chapter gives an overview of what she learned -- the book is almost a moment by moment diary.

    It is also available for Kindle:

    You can read my review of Girl Meets God here.

    Karin
    www.savvythinker.com


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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/review-still-notes-on-a-mid-faith-crisis-by-lauren-f-winner/feed/ 0     Hard truths of adoption, told softly http://savvythinker.com/hard-truths-of-adoption-told-softly/ http://savvythinker.com/hard-truths-of-adoption-told-softly/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 18:49:10 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/2007/07/28/hard-truths-of-adoption-told-softly/
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    There are many hard truths of adoption, all of which our children own. After all, it is their story. And age appropriately we share with them so they have the knowledge they need to take into the world with them.

    And some things may turn out to be unexpectedly difficult or hard for our children that we need to learn to wrap our heads around in order to walk the path with them.

    Tonight, on the way to dinner, out of the blue, our 11 yo asked if we knew any information about where she was found. We have talked about this before, but tonight she was ready to listen at another level. I don't know what sparked the question. She had spent time with a friend today, but she did not say they talked about anything. Perhaps it was just seeing someone in their birth family.

    I remember the first time I used the word 'abandon' or 'abandonment' with my children. It was a hard word to get out of my mouth, but after a while, it becomes easier, just as it was easy to think in my thoughts.

    I can't count the number of times people have said to me things like: they don't like girls in China -- they abandon or kill their girls in China.

    And I have asked them if they have ever been in China. (No.) The truth is something far different.

    My girls have also had it said to them in school.

    What good would it do them not to know the real facts or for me to gloss over them? They will grow up, and then they will know that I was not trustworthy.

    The word appears on their paperwork.

    We don't know who did what, when or why. I believe God was there over all, leading us to each other. I do not believe God caused it. There are some things in life that are not easy to understand or may never be understood here. But we process it as best we can, looking through a glass darkly. Life is complicated and complex, not simplistic.

    I have heard adult adoptees counsel not to say an adoption plan was made. After all, it wasn't, not in the sense we use the phrase in the West. How can one equate abandonment with an adoption plan? (In some countries you do know the birth parents' names, that is different.) I don't even think the concept exists in China. It has only been recently than any kind of supposed push toward domestic adoption is taking place. And, so far as I know, these are not known to the person adoptions.

    I have always told my girls the truth as we know it. I want them to come to me, knowing I will always tell them the truth vs. needing to ask someone else. (This goes for other things too like facts of life.)

    And even though we talk about these truths often, there are moments when it is more meaningful to them, as far as their level of understanding.

    So tonight we talked (again) about some of the known facts of Chinese adoption, as well as the gray areas where we do not have information, and we talked of the difference in culture.

    One child has no information re place of abandonment. It was not required by our government at that time. The other does. But in our small group of adoptive families that went to the SWI that we adopted from, four families (two each) had identical finding information, which seems unlikely. The truth is not forthcoming.

    What I considered cultural (a grandmother taking a child and forcing abandonment on the mother and/or father) is clearly kidnapping in our culture. (Yes! she said.) (And she said she could never do that. She'd feel too badly to cause so much hurt.) (And I said something like but remember we are raised to think differently.)

    And I said, it's very hard to admit we did something we wished we might not have, that caused us pain, expected or unexpected. I said, what if I had abandoned a child, and they found me and asked me later, what might I possibly say. (She said, you might say it was the grandmother.) (And I said, and in our case, my mother is dead, so you couldn't ask her. So it might be hard in this life to ever know the real truth.)

    And then we were at dinner...and there will be more moments to talk and share and process.

    Karin

    Originally posted 2007-07-28 17:13:40.

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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/hard-truths-of-adoption-told-softly/feed/ 2     Review Man Seeks God by Eric Weiner http://savvythinker.com/review-man-seeks-god-by-eric-weiner/ http://savvythinker.com/review-man-seeks-god-by-eric-weiner/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:33:03 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=8390
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    I've been on a roll lately, reading, and finding books to read at the library that lead me to other books, and I've not been good about keeping up with mentioning them on my blog, so I will make a beginning.

    I thoroughly enjoyed this book -- a sort of male version of Eat, Pray, Love, minus the love affair. I liked it so well, I asked the library to get me his first book, The Geography of Bliss (review to follow.) And I took quite a few notes so I would remember what were to me some of the more salient points.

    Since I was reading Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner at the same time, it made me wonder if this title shares some similarities. If I hadn't been reading them at the same time, I doubt I would have seen it.

    Weiner's voice is funny, ironic, self-depreciating -- and I laughed my way through a lot of it. He is a whole lot easier to read than Winner.

    He investigates: Sufism, Buddhism, the Franciscans, Raelism (in Las Vegas), Taoism, Wicca, Shamanism, and Kabahlah.

    The book starts out with a personal experience that begins when he thinks he is dying, but it is only a severe attack of gas. The nurse asks him: what is God to you? In the course of the book, he tells us that he suffers from hypochondria; he loves books, he loves to underline in his books; he suffers always from low-grade depression; and he likes to watch life and religion from a safe distance, not really as a participant. His back story is that he was raised in Judaism, but he isn't involved in it. He is more of a secular Jew. He is married with a wife and daughter, adopted from Kazakhstan. He credits his wife a lot.

    If you ever wanted an interesting overview of the particular religions he investigates, easy to read, with lot of interesting sidelines and people, this book is for you. As I said, I liked it a lot.

    I give it 4 stars out of 5.

    Have you read it, or anything else by Weiner?

    It is also available for Kindle:

    Karin
    www.savvythinker.com



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    ]]>     http://savvythinker.com/review-man-seeks-god-by-eric-weiner/feed/ 0     Happiness and intelligence http://savvythinker.com/happiness-and-intelligence/ http://savvythinker.com/happiness-and-intelligence/#comments Sun, 29 Apr 2012 05:52:09 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/2007/03/12/happiness-and-intelligence/
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    One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture and, if it were possible, speak a few reasonable words. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, poet, dramatist, novelist, and philosopher (1749-1832)

    I think I live by this philosophy. I bring into my life the elements I need for happiness, things of beauty.

    Even fragrance exists outside the bare utility of life. It adds to life; it does not subtract. Recently someone remarked that because her month had been hectic, stressful and hard, she chose to wear scents that she felt would anchor her when dealing with the issues -- scents that felt either grounding or comforting. I thought that was very astute. I also choose my scents by how I feel on a particular day. Her remarks made me think again of the mood altering effects of perfumes. We can change the way we feel by the elements we bring into our days.

    And when I am happy, it brings happiness not only into my experience, but lightens those who know me.

    Contrast this to the following:

    One of the indictments of civilizations is that happiness and intelligence are so rarely found in the same person. -William Feather, author, editor and publisher (1889-1981)

    What is happiness, anyway? I believe it exists entwined in the rest of life, including intelligence, which presumably would lead us to the things that bring us happiness, such as Goethe suggested.

    Perhaps happiness is also entwined with a degree of solution-thinking. If we believe that a solution exists or could be brought to bear upon the difficulties we face or see, then we are less apt to sink into despair. I don't have to be the one to find a particular solution. It may be enough for me to acknowledge that a solution can be found. I like to think this makes it easier for the one who is searching for a solution to find it.

    I don't think happiness is ignoring the world. Rather it is refocusing on what is beautiful in the world.

    What brings you happiness? Do you make a conscious effort to include more in your life?

    Karin

    Originally posted 2007-03-12 07:23:39.

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