The Way to Christ, by Pope John Paul II

I had started reading this a few weeks ago, reading a chapter or two every couple of days, and finished this last night.

A quick summary:  The book is divided into two sections, and each section represents a different retreat in which the Pope spoke.  Each section is divided into different chapters, each about a different topic.

I enjoyed this book.  The chapters talked about topics such as God is person, conversion, prayer, and love.  The retreats seem to have been for students, so there is also one chapter specifically for female students, and one specifically for male students.  I thought it was a good book to use for devotional reading, since the chapters are short and make you think about different topics.

This is the first time I have read anything by Pope John Paul II, and I certainly plan to read more.  Here are some excerpts I liked:

"Maybe the greatest obstacle for us in our relationship with God, who is Creator, is the fact that he is invisible, and we wish he were the object of direct experience.  However, it is easy to realize that if he were the object of direct experience and were visible, he would not be God.  God cannot be visible.  Matter is visible.  The body is visible and we know that it is not God; it is destroyed, dies, changes, dissolves.  It is subject to time, whereas God is eternity.  He is above time and knows no beginning and no end.  God is outside the concepts of beginning and end; they do not refer to him, but they are found in the world of created things; beginning and end are found in me.  He is invisible, and this is something very special.  However, if I look within myself and reflect on myself for a moment I can say that to a significant degree I too am invisible.  The visible aspect of myself, which can be perceived by the senses, is only a part of me; we might describe it as the outer person, whereas the inner person is invisible.  So the inner person, who is invisible, cannot be in conflict with God, who is also invisible."  (p.11)

"God is Person.  Only the encounter with that Person who is God provides us, or our self, with the sense of the absolute importance of life." (p.12)

"Following Christ also means following yourself.  Christ does not tear you away from yourselves.  He does not diminish or nullify the personhood of any of us.  He enriches us if we truly desire to join him and shoulder the responsibility we have in common with all humanity: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations."  The Kingdom of God is something which involves everybody, and this is why every man who seeks the Kingdom of God finds himself." (p.58)

"Why do you pray?  Because I know that God exists, and because I am always seeking God...I pray because I believe.  What does believing mean?  Believing means bearing Jesus Christ's witness within ourselves." (p.83)

Mini Reviews

An Edible History of Humanity, by T. Standage

This book talks about food and how it has affected and changed history and society.  While it certainly had some interesting facts, I didn't really enjoy reading this book.  It felt a bit too textbook-y to me, so while I read the first few chapters, I mostly just skimmed the rest.  I was supposed to read this for book club, but since I won't be able to make it to that book club meeting, I don't feel too guilty.  Like I said, it did talk about some interesting things, and maybe if I'd read it some other time when I was in the mood for something like this, I would have enjoyed it a lot more than I did.



 Cold Comfort Farm, the movie

Well, I watched the movie today.  The movie was pretty good, in the sense that it was very close to the book.  I'm glad I watched the movie so soon after reading the book, because I was able to recognize dialogue I had read in the book.  Most of the cast was pretty similar to the way I pictured those characters to look like. 

I really love watching a movie after having read the book.  It's great to visually see what you've imagined in your head.  Sometimes it's very different, but sometimes it turns out to be pretty similar.  I think it's also cool to see if they change things about the story, and if so, how.  Usually, when they do change things, I tend to think the book was better, but there have been a handful of cases where I thought the movie was better.





 Book I've started reading next: Surprised by Joy, by C.S. Lewis. 

Cold Comfort Farm – by S. Gibbons

 A quick summary:  When Flora’s parents die, she decides to move in with some of her family at Cold Comfort Farm, where she decides to fix everything and everyone around her.

This book was okay.  I didn’t identify much with Flora at the beginning, but started to warm up to her somewhere around the second half of the book.  She reminded me a little bit of Emma, from Jane Austen’s book, because she was quite the meddler.  Unlike Emma, though, her meddling was successful and all the characters had some sort of happy ending.  There was something that was mentioned throughout the book which was not exactly resolved, and I thought that was a bit disappointing.  But other than that, the book was pretty enjoyable, with some funny parts here and there.  I saw that there is a movie starring Kate Beckinsale as Flora, and I’ll try to watch that sometime this week while the book is still fresh in my mind.

Book I’m reading next:  An Edible History of Humanity, by Tom Standage.  This is a nonfiction we’re reading for book club.

Looking for Alaska, by J. Green

A quick summary:  Miles leaves home to join a boarding school, in search of the "Great Perhaps."  There, he makes several friends, including Alaska, a girl he starts to like.  Then, something happens...

This book was recommended by someone who recommended other books I liked, so I was really expecting to like this book.  But it was just okay.  Maybe it's because it's a YA book - I don't always like YA.

I did like this quote:

"There were so many of us who would have to live with things done and things left undone that day.  Things that did not go right, things that seemed okay at the the time because we could not see the future.  If only we could see the endless string of consequences that result from our smallest actions.  But we can't know better until knowing better is useless."  (p.218)

If only we could see how even our smallest actions do affect our lives.  If only we could know better at the precise time when we need to know better.

The Night Circus, by E. Morgenstern

A quick summary:  Two illusionists, Celia and Marco, have been made to participate in a competition against each other.  They did not choose to be in this competition, but were entered in it by Celia's father and Marco's guardian.  These two begin training Celia and Marco since they are children, and only tell them they need to get ready for this competition, without telling them what exactly the competition entails or who they are competing against.  Eventually, Celia and Marco, who fall in love, find out they are competing against each other. The main events take place in a circus created precisely with the goal of being the setting for Celia and Marco's challenge. 

This was a very fun read - once I started reading I really did not want to stop.  There are many likeable characters.  I enjoyed reading about the circus and the different acts and illusions.  It sounded like an amazing place to visit!  Overall, I enjoyed this book very much!

For the first time in a while, I don't know what I'll be reading next.  Time to go through my TBR list and see what I can find.  It's always so exciting to pick out a new book...

Random Post…

I made these apple muffins this weekend and they were delicious!  I used whole wheat flour and ground flax seed, so they’re pretty healthy, too.  They made my kitchen smell absolutely wonderful!  And did I mention they were delicious?

 

                       (The picture is not great, I took it with my phone...)

Theology of the Body in Simple Language

A quick summary: This book is a summarized version of Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.  Each chapter is in a way a short essay, so it is very easy and quick to read.

I had been wanting to read this for a while, just to learn about what Theology of the Body was all about.  I thought this book did a very good job of talking about it in an understandable way.  One of my favorite things about this book was when it talked about the need to change hearts.  In other words, Jesus called for a shift from having laws that controlled outward actions to a focus on changing the heart – which we can only do with Him.  “The law written on the heart can be deeper, and even more reliable, than an external law.” (p.75)  Here are some other quotes I liked:

“Every human person has a unique, exclusive, unrepeatable relationship with God himself.” (p.12)

“So many people wonder: Who am I? Why am I here on this earth? The answer is found in this self-giving love.  We were created by Love, and we’re called to love in return.” (p.31)

“God know us more than any other person possibly can, and he wants us to know him.  Whether we are male or female, married or unmarried, young or old, this is the relationship to which Christ is calling each of us.” (p.42)