I was so moved by the film adaptation, Le Scaphandre et le Papillon when I first saw it nearly eight years ago. Jean-Dominique Bauby authored this book by dictating with blinks from his left eye at a hospital an afternoon drive from Paris at Berck-sur-Mer, France. He is paralyzed by a stroke with something called locked-in syndrome. Formerly … [Read more…]
Archbishop Lazar Puhalo presents us with what is really a pastoral book on the care of sinners. He tells us the reason for helping ministers make the connection between sin and the mind (or more specifically the brain) is to ensure that confessors are not neglected, mistreated, or exorcised when they might need a referral … [Read more…]
I found this book (Something Beautiful for God: The Classic Account of Mother Teresa’s Journey into Compassion) at the Calgary Reads Book Sale in early summer. I’ve always been fascinated with Malcolm Muggeridge since reading about him in the Diaries of Adrian Mole and then his short story of the leprous heart. I learned he … [Read more…]
This is an introduction to early Christian history, covering essentially the first 500 years of the interactions of Jesus’s followers. The book draws me in because I want a framework in which to read early Christian writings because they form the basis for my core beliefs and I have only read three documents, all by … [Read more…]
I was startled to see my name on the title of a fellow airplane passenger’s book en route to Montréal. Ever since having spotted my name on the side of a Dutch bank in 1993, I’ve known that my name means “business” in Dutch. The plane was already its descent into Montreal, so I had … [Read more…]
This is a beautiful book. Just gorgeous. Author Brad Jersak takes on the dichotomy of the angry, retributive, wrathful God and the compassionate, life-giving, sacrificial Jesus. Diving into both ancient theology and biblical understandings, Jersak explores what it means to view an unchanging God through the lens of His truest revelation, Jesus. The book is necessary … [Read more…]
This is our family’s fourth time attending the frenetic Calgary Reads Big Book Sale in the 7 years living in Calgary and I think it will need to become an annual tradition. I met my family there after work. They spent the day downtown already for the Children’s Festival. I have to be very careful … [Read more…]
I remember hearing in a podcast of Thomas Hopko (Speaking the Truth in Love) about how at one point in history, bishops were expected to have memorized the entire catalog of Psalms (all 150 of them) in order to be ordained as a bishop. In fact it may have been just to enter the priesthood. … [Read more…]
The debate between those who believe in God and those who do not has often devolved into shouting matches or insults. What I have always appreciated about Randal Rauser is that he is as interested in listening as he is at being understood. I was introduced to Dr. Rauser has been a regular fixture at … [Read more…]
I shall add this book to the small list of books* that has powerfully shaken my grip on my perceived reality only to give me a far greater appreciation for the love of God and His holding together all things. Her Gates Will Never Be Shut: Hope, Hell and the New Jerusalem by Bradley Jersak is … [Read more…]