Psalm 100

I thought this would be an appropriate poem to post for today, especially given that the title reads, "A psalm. For giving thanks."

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

--Psalm 100, NIV

wordless wednesday (snow before thanksgiving?)

Snow

by Kathryn Hewitt

Snow is a very tough coming-of-age novel in which 15-year-old Ruth struggle to learn the meaning of love and, tragically, removes God to the backseat. It could be called a romance, I suppose, but once you read this book you will understand how terribly misguided that label is. Rather, it's a Christian YA novel--fiction, and yet the story of so many very real teens. This novel quickly overtook control of my emotions thrust me on a winding journey.

I liked the premise of Snow, and for the most part I enjoyed reading it. However, I think Snow falls short of its full potential. Sometimes I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again as Ruth maintained the same emotions, repeated the same questions and argued the same points. She seemed like a very close-minded and somewhat flat character, even given her situation.

What bothered me most, though, was that Ruth's boyfriend is portrayed as a villain. His motives were selfish, heartless and seemingly inhuman, and he never felt the slightest amount of remorse for any of his offenses. Yes, he did some terrible things, but the book felt like an attack on him, without stopping once to think that he is human, too, that he has a soul.

Overall, I think Snow was a decent read with a very important message. Because of the difficult topics involved, I recommend this book for ages 15 and up.

3/5 leaves

(Thanks to Kathryn Hewitt for sending me a free book in exchange for an honest review!)

The Jesus I Never Knew

Philip Yancey

Wow. I thought this book would be a glorified retelling of the Gospels, and that I would have a hard time working through it. After all, it isn't fiction--it's not even a devotional--so I expected it to be a bit dry. I didn't once get bored. Not once. Every idea was new, or at least from a new angle, and I drank in every word.

Philip Yancey begins with "The Jesus I Thought I Knew"--the Jesus we all think we know--and spends the next 250 pages explaining what we don't fully understand about the Son of God, or perhaps what we don't think hard enough about. He starts at the beginning, at Christmas, and then takes a step further back to describe the Jewish culture into which Jesus was born. From there he moves chronologically through Jesus' life, ending with the Ascension and the Kingdom.

None of it is lofty or preachy, and it is clear through Philip's style of writing that he is on a faith journey like the rest of us and therefore doesn't have it all together, like some authors would have us think. I like that. It's real and raw and human. You should read it.

5/5 leaves

words borrowed from John Caddy

As I watch leaves
fall from trees,
I become incredibly aware
that air is really there,

that even in this windless
autumn daydream,
air in its own reverie
eddies like a stream,
slides a leaf this way, that,
then spins it down to ground

to sink into soil and wait
to be pulled up by roots again
to dance in the air
that really is there.

-John Caddy, Morning Earth: Field Notes in Poetry