Free Trade with Peru

Bush signs free-trade pact with Peru

Reading Lists

In an effort to clean up the sidebar of my blog, and make it load a bit quicker, I am removing all but the current 2009 completed reading list.

However, since I still feel a need to keep track of those books which I have read, I am putting them in a post, here. This post is just for me. You don't have to read through the list. But if you do, you'll find some good books!

2007 - Non-fiction Reading List
Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)
The Year I Got Everything I Wanted (Cameron Conant)
Contemplative Youth Ministry (Mark Yaconelli)
Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith (Barbara Brown Taylor)
Stumbling Towards Faith (Renee Altson)
The Only Road North (Erik Mirandette)
Now and Then: A Memoir of Vocation (Frederick Buechner)
God On Mute: Engaging the Silence of Unanswered Prayer (Pete Greig)
Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith (Anne Lamott)
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith (Anne Lamott)
The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness (Karen Armstrong)
Simplicity (Mark Salomon)
The Vision and the Vow (Pete Greig)

2008 Reading List
The Life of the Virgin Mary (Ranier Maria Rilke, translated by Stephen Spender)
Living Prayer (Robert Benson)
Let Them Eat Cake (Sandra Byrd)
Between the Dreaming and the Coming True (Robert Benson)
The Atonement Child (Francine Rivers)
Wounded (Claudia Mair Burney)
With Daring Faith: A Biography of Amy Carmichael (Rebecca Henry Davis)
Cassidy (Lori Wick)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J. K. Rowling)
Trouble the Water (Nicole Seitz)
Summer Snow (Nicole Baart)
A Restless Soul (Henri Nouwen)
The Sign of the Cross (Bert Ghezzi)
The Insufficiency of Maps (Nora Pierce)
In All Deep Places (Susan Meissner)
Straight Up (Lisa Samson)
Embrace Me (Lisa Samson)
Healing Stones (Nancy Rue & Stephen Arterburn)
Cracked: Putting Broken Lives Together Again (Dr. Drew Pinsky)
I Heart Bloomberg (Melody Carlson)
Zora & Nicky (Claudia Mair Burney) x2
My Hands Came Away Red (Lisa McKay)
Quaker Summer (Lisa Samson) x2
Murder, Mayhem and a Fine Man (Claudia Mair Burney)
Kissing Adrien (Siri L. Mitchell)
Only Uni (Camy Tang)
Sushi for One? (Camy Tang)
A Promise to Remember (Kathryn Cushman)
The Shack (William P. Young)
Willow Springs (Jan Watson)
Good Grief (Lolly Winston)
Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God (Edited by Anita Barrows & Joanna Macy)
Every Secret Thing (Ann Tatlock)
Lost in NashVegas (Rachel Hauck)
Sabrina (Lori Wick)
Reconstructing Natalie (Laura Jensen Walker)
Amanda (Debra White Smith)
Wrestling With Angels: Adventures in Faith and Doubt (Carolyn Arends)
Someday (Karen Kingsbury)
Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion (Sara Miles)
Fire Dancer (Colleen Coble)
Echoes (Kristen Heitzmann) x3
Unforgotten (Kristen Heitzmann)
Secrets (Kristen Heitzmann)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)
Let Them Eat Cake (Sandra Byrd)

Henri Nouwen on Hope

I like Henri's definition of hope.

Living with Hope

Optimism and hope are radically different attitudes. Optimism is the expectation that things-the weather, human relationships, the economy, the political situation, and so on-will get better. Hope is the trust that God will fulfill God's promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom. The optimist speaks about concrete changes in the future. The person of hope lives in the moment with the knowledge and trust that all of life is in good hands.

All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope. Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Rumi, Gandhi, and Dorothy Day all lived with a promise in their hearts that guided them toward the future without the need to know exactly what it would look like. Let's live with hope.

What healing looks like.

As I have so often lately, I feel a general tearing in the universe and within my own heart, and am working not to dissolve into tears.

I try to confine the daily (sometimes several times daily) crying jags to the moments when I am alone in my house, or alone in my car, or laying in bed praying for rest.

I'm tired. Bruised. Shattered.

I'm remembering.

I'm looking backwards. And forwards.

I was surprised to find, in the midst of a conversation last night, that some olds wounds have healed. Or mostly healed. And I was surprised at the ones that still sting.

I'm waiting. To see. To hear. To know. To be finished.

I'm praying. With my own words. And words I've borrowed.

For myself. And the nations. And especially those I love deeply.

I'm lonely. And reminding myself that I am not alone.

I'm feeling ugly and unworthy of love. But reminding myself that these too, are lies.

Maybe this is what healing looks like?

Borrowed Prayers

I am praying tonight with borrowed words.

Words and heart cries borrowed from a shepherd crowned king, but still buried in adversity.

Words borrowed from the songs of pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem.

A mish-mash of words, borrowed from Psalms 55, 56, and 126.

These are the prayers of my heart tonight.

Listen to my prayer, O God.
Do not ignore my cry for help!
Please listen and answer me,
for I am overwhelmed by my troubles.
My heart pounds in my chest.
The terror of death assaults me.
Fear and trembling overwhelm me,
and I can’t stop shaking.
Oh, that I had wings like a dove;
then I would fly away and rest!
I would fly far away
to the quiet of the wilderness.
How quickly I would escape—
far from this wild storm of hatred.

selah

It is not an enemy who taunts me—
I could bear that.
It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me—
I could have hidden from them.
Instead, it is you—my equal,
my companion and close friend.
What good fellowship we once enjoyed
as we walked together to the house of God.

But I will call on God,
and the Lord will rescue me.
Morning, noon, and night
I cry out in my distress,
and the Lord hears my voice.
He ransoms me and keeps me safe
from the battle waged against me,
though many still oppose me.
God, who has ruled forever,
will hear me and humble them.

Selah

For my enemies refuse to change their ways;
they do not fear God.
As for my companion, he betrayed his friends;
he broke his promises.
His words are as smooth as butter,
but in his heart is war.
His words are as soothing as lotion,
but underneath are daggers!

O God, have mercy on me,
for people are hounding me.
My foes attack me all day long.
I am constantly hounded by those who slander me,
and many are boldly attacking me.
But when I am afraid,
I will put my trust in you.
I praise God for what he has promised.
I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?
What can mere mortals do to me?
They are always twisting what I say;
they spend their days plotting to harm me.

Selah

You keep track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.
I praise God for what he has promised;
Yes, I praise the Lord for what he has promised.
I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?
What can mere mortals do to me?
I will fulfill my vows to you, O God,
and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help.
For you have rescued me from death;
you have kept my feet from slipping.
So now I can walk in your presence, O God,
in your life-giving light.
Restore our fortunes, Lord,
as streams renew the desert.
Those who plant in tears
will harvest with shouts of joy.
They weep as they go to plant their seed,
but they sing as they return with the harvest.

amen.