GreggTownsley.com

What I Read in 2005

A Chronology of what I’ve been reading, since January 2005: with a few comments, where deserved or needed…

Where western hats and saffron robes dominated the grooming den and book table in 2004–God forbid I was ever seen wearing them together– 2005 has started out with a strongly secularist bent. Still, the faithful can take heart. The spiritual books are by the bedside and await only a plane ride or breakfast break to finish. Until then, here’s what I’ve been reading, the most recent titillations listed first…

David Vennells, Beginner’s Guide to Reiki: Mastering the Healing Touch, (New York, NY: Barnes and Noble, 1999)

A reasonable introduction to the Reiki system of healing, with particular attention to how aspects of its development and practice are related to Buddhism, despite the Christian story of its development that is sometimes attached to Reiki.

Everyone I’ve met in the Reiki movement, though for the most part more notably new age than I’m typically comfortable with, are happy and wonderful people. So I’ve been intrigued. And since healing wholistic methods of healing are an interest of mine and, given the Goju Shorei martial arts sytem, a definite part of my future, I thought I give it a read. The book’s section on hand positions and meditation were most helpful, distinguishing between practitioners whose hands hover above the body (read within the body’s “aura”) and those who make it a habit to touch, the book offers practical insight and exercises to consider when healing oneself and others.

Adolf Holl, The Left Hand of God: A Biography of the Holy Spirit, translated from the German by John Cullen, (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1997)

Every so often you meet somebody who totally owns the basketball court you’re playing on. Holl’s work–a “divine biography” the booksellers would have us believe–is an incredible treatment of western intellectual history, seen from a deeply ecumenical perspective. With a nod to German intellectuals, my seminary professors might have referred to Holl’s subject as “holy history.” But to be fair, Holl takes his brush in hand with a much broader intent. He intends to paint the mystery of what the Divine has been up to without any particular religious prejudice or loyalty. The result is a highly readable and imaginative work touching on cultural acts and expressions as broad as religion, psychology, literature and war.

I remember mentioning this book to Marcus Borg a couple of years back at a dinner party. Typical of me I couldn’t remember either the title nor author when asking if Borg had read it. Borg hadn’t, but his books and religious experience–appreciated by me, as many of you know–would be richer if he did.

George Rodrigue, A Blue Dog Christmas, (New York, NY: Stewart, Tabori & Change, 2001)

If you could fill your house with artwork, you’d likely want to have a Blue Dog or two by George Rodrigue. Nancy and I have a few numbered prints by artists that we enjoyed on the walls, and this year got real close to buying our first original piece of art, but all we have of George Rodrigue are three of his books. This one was quite enjoyable, Rodrigue talking about Christmas as a child and the unique role his dogs played in it. While you’ll not go out and buy the book–though if that’s your only way to own a Blue Dog I’d encourage you to–it was a swell holiday read and I was grateful for it.

Asne Seierstad, A Hundred & One Days: A Baghdad Journal, (New York, NY: Basic Books, 2005)

A friend of a friend of mine, Asne Seierstad is a Norwegian journalist who has made quite a name for herself by reporting from Afghanistan–The Bookseller of Kabul, translated into twenty-six languages–and now from Baghdad. In this, the latest of her news journals, we get the play-by-play action and feelings of folks in Badgdad before, during and after the American invasion in 2003.

Lyrical and disjointedly honest, Seirstad’s work puts the reader in touch with the horror of Hussein’s oppressive government as well as the consequences of America’s war for freedom. Or was it oil? You’ll get both perspectives in this wonderfully readable work.

A friend at Norm Thompson turned me on to this book, having just published his own photo journalism project about Iraq. Partners in reporting at times–he freelance, she for German, Scandinavian and Dutch media outlets–Seirerstad is “the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” A real compliment given the guts and glory this lady waded through to bring her truth to western ears and eyes.

Bart Ehrman, Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament, (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003)

Ehrman’s book is a handy compendium of the pseudoepigrapha and other writings that didn’t make it into the Christian canon of holy writings. Handy in the sense that the book contains abridged writings rather than the whole manuscripts in some cases and compendium in that it’s quite complete. I’ve collected quite a few of the works when I was in full-time ministry, but here in this one volume you get a taste of everything.

Is there anything here that should be included in your devotional reading of the Christian faith? Yes, and in that sense Ehrman’s book is quite instructive. While I can do without The Shepherd of Hemas, a popular book in the first four centuries of the Christian era, my life is enriched by The Letter of Barnabas, The First and Second Letters of Clement, the Gospel of Mary, and the Didache, very popular books in the emerging church. Even the highly imaginative Acts of Peter and the Proto-Gospel of James, containing apocraphal stories of Peter and Jesus, were wonderfully instructive if read at a more reflective or redactive level. Witness the Word, so to speak, in the Letter of Barnabas: …And so he says, ‘those who wish to see me and touch my kingdom must hold of me through pain and suffering.’

And in another section of the letter, dated likely not to the hand of Barnabas but to a second century of Christian writers, Do not create a schism, but make peace by bringing together those who are at odds. Confess your sins. Do not come to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the path of light…

I loved this book and expect to use some of its insights and selections in my life and preaching.

Joseph Smith, Translator, The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, (Salt Lake, UT: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1986)

I started reading this book, still the mainstay of most Mormon scriptures, at the goading of Sherwood’s Mormon faithful. You’ll appreciate an anotation or two in the essay portion of the website noting my friendship with a rotating and constantly renewing cadre of elders in the Sherwood community. Their spiritual friendship and encouragement has meant a great deal to me.

While I’m unable to assign it a meaningful place in my own bookshelf of scriptures–the Bible, the Tao Te Ching, works by the Sufi poets Rumi and Hafiz, the same by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, and various Christian psuedoepigraphah–I do value its moral use. Particularly by my Mormon friends and neighbors.

Perhaps the most comfortable and enjoyable piece of reading the Book of Mormon was the friendship and encouragement of one of my student’s mothers. Wife of a local dentist in the Sherwood area and the child of a Christian family (I think), Polly’s enthusiasm for my spiritual search is most appreciated. More so, what the Book of Mormon has done in her life, and her family’s life. If the truths of the LDS scriptures are to have any value, one of the Mormon prophets recently said, it’s in their power to turn the heart of the faithful toward God and neighbor.

Evan Wright, Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War, (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2004)

Generation Kill tells the story of the the First Recon Marine Battalion entering the early days of the Iraq war, chronicling not just their battlefield experiences, but each man as an individual and part of their First Recon battalion.

This was an entertaining read. Not my usual fare, Wright’s story of the invasion of Iraq from the perspective of an embedded journalist–Wright usually writes for the Rolling Stone–was a riveting read. I was impressed not only by the angst of the story but the journey’s details as well. Brash, young, ignorant but committed soldiers of fortune–not in the usual sense of the word but in the only truthful sense of young people at war–making their way from Kuwait to Bagdad, what an eye-opener. Somehow I expected older, more seasoned warriors with a sixties sense of confusion.

And while the confusion was present and real to, I’m sure, a great many young warriors, the clear commitment to the warrior’s task given them by civilians in Washington, was admirable. Balance this book with Asne Seierstad’s book mentioned later in this log.

Charles Templeton, Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith (New York, NY: McClelland and Stewart, 1999)

This is my second time reading this book in the course of my curiosity about the faith journeys of formerly “faithful” folks who have found a new and “less faithful” point of view. Given all of the discussions about orthodoxy nowadays–the word “orthodoxy” means “right view”–I’ve wondered how some of us have begun to wrestle with the clear heterodoxy right thinking produces. Not to be clever, but if you’re going to be a thinking person, or even a thinking Christian (which I still consider myself), you’ve got to be impressed with the multiplicity of images and ideals among open-minded people, particularly faithful people. Templeton was an early associate of evangelist Billy Graham in the opening days of Youth for Christ, so he’s of particular interest to people who want to track fallen evangelicals. My own interest however is how this once wildly successful pastor made his way into the work-a-day world without suffering the usual spiritual and economic calamaties that so significant a change of personal mythology typically produces.

An easily readable book with not-to-be ignored chapters on the Bible, God, Jesus, the Church and Women, and other religious perspectives. While I don’t think it’s in print anymore, you can find used copies on Amazon. Your faith will be better for it, even more so your honesty.

Garry Wills, Saint Augustine: A Life, (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1999)

Augustine’s contribution to western civilization is so dense and immense I’ve longed to read a biography. While at Borders the other day, I picked up Garry Wills’ 150 page treatment of Augustine and found it easy to read and entertaining. Wills is apparently well acquainted with the main body of work on this towering architect of the Roman Church and generally takes the middle ground on Augustine’s intellectual influence, particularly as it pertains to his work The Confessions. Thirty-five years the bishop of a modest African city, Augustine weighed in on such matters as marriage, sex, doubt and human development. Would that I had read Augustine earlier in my ministry, it would have made quite a difference.

Masaru Emoto, The Hidden Messages in Water, (Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words Publishing, 2001)

A New York Times Best Seller, Masaruy Emoto argues that the molecules of water are affected by our thoughts, words and feelings. Since most of creation is made up of water, Emoto’s message argues that everything, particularly the environment and our relationship to it, needs to be considered spiritually. While I didn’t know what to make of the book while reading it–I’ve got a huge amount of skeptic in me about most things–I was taken by Emoto’s approach. I don’t doubt that his scientific theory and designs are marred, but I’m wondering to what extent, as he presents compelling evidence that the water we drink and the food we eat is affected by just about everything. You’ll never think of tap water the same again.

Dale Walker, The Calamity Papers: Western Myths and Cold Cases, (New York, Tom Dougherty Associates, 2004)

Okay, here’s the best book in the pile of western books I’ve read so far. Walker’s treatment of sources suffers only from his inability to talk to the actual people who knew the people he’s writing about. That said, it’s the best I’ve read so far treating some of the bigest men and mysteries that made up the American West.

His chapters on Sheriff Pat Garrett–whose financial difficulties are often glossed over–and the woman who in recent years claimed to be related to Calamity Jane were riveting.

John Stambaugh, The Ancient Roman City, (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1988)

Nancy and I are devoted fans of HBO’s current twelve week series called ‘Rome.’ Reading Stambaugh’s book–I wish I could tell how dated Stambaugh’s treatment is–does a nice job of focusing on Roman social life, commerce, social services, history and so on. One of the best aspects of the book is that one is able to skip around to suit one’s needs or reading schedule. We’ve got two table top books in our living room to complement the HBO series, but when I have a question about the film’s accuracy or want to know something more in depth, it’s Stambaugh’s book that I turn to.

Sheng Yen, Getting the Buddha Mind: On the Practice of Chan Retreat (Berkley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2005)

Zen Master Sheng Yen does a nice job of picturing what happens on a Zen retreat. A Buddhist monk who holds transmissions (teachings) in two Zen lineages, Yen shares the actual practices of a Zen weekend in the first seventy or so pages and adds interviews and period teachings or poetry in the last half. While not the best book to read to acquaint oneself with Zen practice, it’s the only book that I remember reading that pictures an actual Zen weekend.

Robert Gottlieb and Peter Wiley, America’s Saints: The Rise of Mormon Power (New York, NY: Putnam and Sons, 1984)

On my book shelf for years, I finally read Gottlieb and Wiley’s definitive treatment of the Latter Day Saint (LDS) climb to power in America. Observers of Mormon society for several years, journalists Gottlieb and Wiley detail the formal and informal networks of Latter Day Saints involved in government and business. A grand read, though a little dated. The book answered a lot of questions and gave me a much better understanding of the growth of the Latter Day Saint religion.

A special note to my LDS friends: it also got me reading the Book of Mormon.

Dan Burstein, Editor Secrets of the Code: the Unauthorized Guide to the Mysteries Behind the Da Vinci Code(New York, 2004)

A comprehensive guide to last year’s popular novel, the Da Vinci Code. A decent array of scholars and other experts–though nary a decent Jesus scholar among them–discussing the archeological and theological intricacies of Dan Brown’s intriguing tale. I picked this book up while staying with the Shaws in Fernley, Nevada in August. Perhaps the downside, if there is one, is that many of the experts sited are those Brown himself relied upon in his shoveling the Da Vinci Code together. Which tells you something about what I think of his novel. There’s so many good mysteries out there in real life…

John L. Brooke, The Refiner’s Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844 New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1994)

Good book, but very much on the academic side. An opinionated and informed foray into the making of the Mormon “myth,” particulary as it was affected and formed by early hermetic (mystery) and Masonic traditions in America. Perhaps it’s best contribution is its portrayal of the “Burnt Over District” in New York– which birthed three American religions, Mormonism, Christian Science, and the Jehovah Witnesses–and it’s retelling of the early Joseph Smith story.

Not a friendly read at all–unlike previous books in this list–but a noteworthy and necessary one for persons interested in the origins and early history of the Latter Day Saints.

Jeffery Paine, Re-Enchantment: Tibetan Buddhism Comes to the West, (New York, NY: Norton and Company, 2004)

All I can say is “wow.” Paine does an entertaining and informative job of explaining the contemporary history and impact of Tibetan Buddhism in America. How is it entertaining? Consider his treatment of Hollywood types and their part in popularlizing a religion that the late Orientalist Alan Watts characterized as “Roman Catholicism on drugs.” In particular his comment about action hero Steven Segal as the only contemporary Buddhist who can speak about the Dali Lama and use the ‘f’ word in the same sentence.

The books is frank, bold and wonderful. While I spent some time looking to see if so-and-so was cited or included–and this is the only downside of an otherwise wonderful read–there are so many contemporary Llamas and Tibetan spiritual centers nowadays, that its understandable that some voices in so popular a religious movement might escape Paigne’s notice.

Thich Nhat Nanh, Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers (New York, NY: Riverhead Books, 1999)

While not one of my favorite Buddhist authors–Hanh’s writing rambles as it’s oral in form, this book for example springing from talks given in 1999–Thich Nhat Hanh discusses the friendship Buddhists and Christians might have if they understood how each could learn from the other. Helpful pieces include imaginative dialogues between the two figures and a commanding ability to speak and think Christian. His piece on prayer to “who is more than person but not less than person” was a big help in solving one of my own devotional dilemmas.

Johnathan Kirsch, God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism, (New York, NY: Penguin Compass Books, 2004)

Kirsch is one of my favorite authors. His previous books, The Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible, King David: The Real Life of the Man Who Ruled Israel, Moses: A Life and The Woman Who Laughed at God were extraordinary reads. An author and frequent contributor to the LA Times, you can count on Kirsch to be well-written, entertaining and factual.

This book is no exception. A bit slower at the beginning when discussing Egyptian, Hebrew and Christian histories (there are better reads out there for at least the latter two catagories), his treatment of Constantine and the world after Constantine may be a real contribution to the current discussion of what the ancient church was really like.

I was most impressed with his treatment of Constantine’s sons, Constantine’s faith–or more specifically, his lack of Christian faith and practice, particularly as it bears upon the Council of Nicea–and his clear enjoyment of Julian, who brought about a counter-revolution to Constantine’s Christian reforms.

When you’re done reading Kirsch’s book, you’ll feel more embarrassment over the Church and its history and less embarrassment about the concern your family and friends express about your being “too pagan…”

You’ll also wonder if it’s not this kind of thinking that got us into the most recent Iraqi War.

Terryl Givens, By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2002)

A complete and well-balanced treatment of Joseph Smith’s The Book of Mormon, examining the text’s role in the history and life of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Easily read by Mormon and non-Mormon alike, I screamed through this book in four days it was that well-written and interesting.

Givens is Professor of Religion and Literature at the University of Richmond, Virginia. Author of The Viper on the Hearth: Mormons, Myths, and the Construction of Heresy (which I guess I’ll read next), the book work suffers only from it’s exhaustive length and scope. Nearly one-hundred pages of citations and notes, drawing from sources as diverse as sociologist of religion, Rodney Stark, to Mormon prophet and writer, Hugh Nibley.

A historian, Givens’ work is broadly dismissive of evangelical polemics, something I found refreshingly honest and informed. Evangelical Protestants, if they want to counter the claims of this very fast growing expression of American religion–something I’m less and less inclined to do, given it’s similarity to other Christian sects, not to speak of it’s spiritual product–need to get their act together and become better informed.

John Ames, The Real Deadwood: True Life Histories of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Outlaw Towns, and Other Characters of the Lawless West (New York, NY: Chamberlain Brothers, 2004)

A quick and entertaining read, comparing the “true life histories” of folks in and around Deadwood, South Dakota to the popular HBO show of the same name.

Matthew Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths, (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2000)

I’m grateful for this book. It’s deepened my sense of Self and strengthened hope that there is, in the Christian Church, a reason for remaining. Silenced by the Roman Catholic Church in 1989 and dismissed by the Dominican Order in 1995, Matthew Fox has devoted his life to strengthening our sense of what it means to live a “spiritual life.” The father of “Creation Spirituality,” addressed to some extent in this book as well as in previous ones, Fox capably and respectfully distills the common principles of the world’s religions and shows how, to quote Bede Griffiths (a Benedictine Monk), the different fingers of the world’s faiths connect to a single hand.

The usual concern in these kinds of books is “syncretism,” where every viewpoint runs together, in which case neither the viewer nor the viewpoint is well served. In Fox’s case, both are.

If you’re looking to read something that explains the “Deep Ecumenist” viewpoint, or want to take a step further into the cave where we find the realities which all of the world’s religious and philosophical visions have attempted to explain, this may be your book. Great notes. A good bibliography. And a
helpful effort by one of the world’s current spiritual treasures.

Tarif Khalidi, Editor and Translator, The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001)

What a delightful collection! Khalidi is the Professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. Perhaps the largest collection of stories and sayings of Jesus in Islamic literature, the book offers a glimpse how Islamic cultures view Jesus as sage, healer and prophet. The sayings–some short, others long–are accompanied by detailed sources and footnotes. Many of the aphorisms date back to ancient and (apparently) well known Christian sources, illustrating how utterly fascinating the person of Jesus was and is, even to Muslims.

Numbered, instead of arranged by topic, one wonderful saying is: They asked Jesus, ‘Show us an act by which we may enter paradise.’ Jesus said, ‘Do not speak at all.’ They said, ‘We cannot do this.’ Jesus replied, ‘Then speak only good…’”

Another: “Jesus met a man and asked him, ‘What are you going?’ ‘I am devoing myself to God,’ the man replied. Jesus asked, ‘Who is caring for you?’ ‘My brother,’ replied the man. Jesus said, ‘Your brother is more devoted to God than you are.’”

Great book, certainly one that ought to sit on the shelf of Jesus preachers and scholars. But an interesting and inspiring read for even the casual reader of Jesus studies and myths, particularly those interested in the cross-cultural bylines and corners of comparitive religion.

Daniel Ladinsky, Translator The Gift: Poems by Hafiz, the Great Sufi Master (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1999)

A gift from a good martial artist and friend Dave McNeill, Hafiz’s poems are, at first glance, in the same tongue and tone as Rumi. Both Persian poets and Muslim clerics and mystics, Hafiz’s work is simpler, more playful and at times (like Rumi’s) a sheer joy.

For instance, his poem “Two Bears” had me in tears last week as I drifted off to sleep…

Once
After a hard day’s forage
Two bears sat together in silence
On a beautiful vista
Watching the sun go down
And feeling deeply grateful
For life.

Though, after a while
A thought-provoking conversation began
Which turned to the topic of
Fame.

The one bear said,
“Did you hear about Rustam?
He has become famous
And travels from city to city
In a golden cage;

He performs to hundreds of people
Who laugh and applaud
His carnival
Stunts.”

The other bear thought for
A few seconds

Then started
Weeping.

Buy the book. I’ve read nothing like it. To repeat a phrase that we use in our Faithspring meetings, “It’s become scripture to me…”

Eugene Cunningham, Triggernometry: A Gallery of Gunfighters (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1934)

Save the occasional racist language and references to bad “negroes and negresses,” which I was for the most part able to ignore given the book’s age and scope, Cunningham succeeds where other western writers do not. His treatment of period bad guys and gals is the result of a first-hand acquaintance with quite a few and a goodly amount of reflection and research where that’s impossible. Triggernometry is a classic in western tomes and is to be appreciated for its completeness. The last chapter, by the same name, is worth the purchase price and is a review of period gun handling. An extensive introduction and updated bibliography is included by Josh Rosa.

Sleeve-draws are like swivel-holsters–more talked about than used. Actually, most so-called sleeve-draws are productions, rather than draws. I have heard of cunningly contrived mechanisms, similar tot he gamblers’ card-holders, used for derringers in the sleeve, but for me they remain in that hazy region where lives the hoop-snake.

Frank Latta, Dalton Gang Days: From California to Coffeeville (Exeter, CA: Bear State Books, 1977)

If you’re interested in the Dalton Gang–and I am, especially given my daughter-in-law’s recent revelation that she’s distantly related to the Dalton clan–you’ll find this book a necessary companion. Latta interviews the last remaining Dalton brothers in the course of his research and produces the seminal work on the Daltons. Great book, lots of material from family sources.

Alton Pryor, Outlaws and Gunslingers: Tales of the West’s Most Notorious Outlaws (Roseville, CA: Stagecoach Publishing, 2001)

Perhaps the worst book on western lore I’ve read. Pryor can’t tell a story nor can he write. The book was souless and it’s only purpose is to remind would be writers that there is a future to their own endeavors.

Richard Grant, American Nomads: Travels with Lost Conquistadors, Mountain Men, Cowboyws, Indians, Hoboes, Truckers, and Bullriders (New York, NY: Grove Press, 2003)

Best book I’ve read this year. British author and sometimes nomad himself, Richard Grant traces the history of wandering in America and decides that it’s part of the human condition. Reminded me a great deal of Peter Jenkins’ books, but deeper, better and more riveting.

Lee Wedlake, Jr., Kenpo Karate 101: Notes for the New Student and the Seasoned Instructor(Fort Meyers, FL: Lee Wedlake’s Karate Studio Inc., 2000)

For the most part a personal reminiscence of Wedlake’s early days with the founder of American Kenpo, Ed Parker. Good book for beginning students. Not a whole lot there for the advanced student or instructor.

Bruce Clayton, Shotokan’s Secret: The Hidden Truth Behind Karate’s Fighting Origins, (Burbank, CA: Ohara Publications Inc., 2004).

Not a big deal to many, which is to say non-martial artists, Bruce Clayton’s attempt to document the fighting origins of Shotokan karate as eminating from the immediate and specific needs of an Okinawan throne room is first class. Thoroughly documented via source and footnote, Clayton is sure to challenge the martial arts fuddy duddies who maintain that their art–be it Shotokan karate, Tae Kwon Do or even Kenpo Karate (the art that I teach)–is as old as Jesus or more so. If you are a martial artist, this is must reading. Honest. And the thought that “karate was invented by the world’s only unarmed bodyguards to protect the world’s only unarmed king…against Americans” is riveting.

G. Gordon Liddy, When I Was a Kid, This Was a Free Country, (Washington DC: Regnary Publishing, 2002).

Jump to conclusions if you like, but I thought Liddy’s first book Will: An Autobiography was an awesome read. And while my memories of it have faded somewhat, I recommend it (and this book, Liddy’s most recent) as a strong encouragement to folks to find their own way. A fair treatment of the man can be seen at http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/misc/g-gordon-liddy/, portraying the ex-Nixon plumber as the enigma he is. Would that more of us were willing to take leave of cultural expectations of who we are and what we should be doing for the sterling call to self-hood we can find within…

Coleman Barks, Rumi–The Glance, Songs of Soul-Meeting (New York, NY: Penguin Compass, 1999).

A delightful new book by our favorite Rumi writer, including the Sufi master’s wonderful poem, “Would You Bow?”

If the Friend rose inside you, would you bow? Would you wonder where that one came from and how? If you say, “I will bow,” that’s important. If you answer, “But can I be sure?” it will keep the meeting from happening…

Most appreciated was Barks’ encouraging portrait of self and sensuality at the beginning of the book, a piece of which I share here:

I want to be careful not to be dishonest or hypocritical about my own life in relation to this poetry. By some external standards I’ve led a scandalous life: lots of lovers, lots of wine drinking, lots of unconsciousness. God knows, I have loved sex and stilll am drawn to it. But the focus of my loving has moved upward since…

Wow.

Maggie Hyde and Michael McGuinness, Introducing Jung, (Thirplow, Royston: Totem Books, 2005).

Apparently, the Introducing books are a series–see a series of them on the inside cover including Introducing Chaos, Introducing Ethics, Introducing Chomsky, etcetera–and are well appreciated for their style and illustrations. Hyde and McGuinness offer a cartoon-style summary of Jung’s life and thinking. I read it while vacation in Hawaii. What a blast!

Susan Jacoby, Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism, (New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, 2004).

I’ve been a fan for some time now of biographies and histories of American rationalist thinkers and theologians. Beginning with Emerson–who left his New England congregation over conscience issues regarding communion–and more recently John Shelby Spong’s attempts to reframe the Christian myth. Jacoby’s brief history of secularism in America is interesting and notable, including a chapter on the American Catholic Church’s labeling of birth control as “a communist conspiracy” a century or so ago…