I do still read now and then

Well, for a while to come, running will almost never be mentioned around here.

Mostly because I have to really hunker down and get finished with some books.

I have a few to report as completed, and maybe I will say something about them....

First I read this amazing book about the excavation and construction of the Panama Canal which is titled Path Between the Seas.  It was written by David McCullough, who wrote a really excellent biography of John Adams which apparently everyone on the planet but me has read.  He does loads of research, and I learned more than I expected about the politics of canals and canal building engineers, pandemic disease, mudslides, human oppression, and the ability men have to really persevere under adversity.  This might be my second favorite book of the whole bunch so far.....the favorite of all being, of course, The Making of the Atomic Bomb.  

Oddly enough, these two books were TOO BIG for me to have intelligently included in my list of 100 for the year.  The Atomic Bomb set me back so far I nearly despaired of ever catching up....and this one didn't help me make up lost time at all.

Then I also finished Amusing Ourselves to Death which is of course now 15 years old, and old news to everyone.  But I'd say read this one again.  It says all the things about which we all agree regarding television and screen based media rotting our brain and causing us to be unable to interact with or understand many forms of knowledge and art.  And that our endless hunger for entertainment has mastered us to such an extent that we willingly allow ourselves to be exploited by it.  And that the very skills that we should actively cultivate in order to enjoy a life of ongoing learning and inquiry are destroyed by too much screen time.  Lots and lots of "lightbulb moments" while reading this one.

And I read Becoming Conversant with the Emergent Church by DA Carson, as well.  This book is not easy to describe, at least not for me.  I think that I am uncomfortable discussing errors in the church which are currently in practice.  I understand that this is wimpy on my part.  I think that I have seen, on the internet, so much unloving criticism of some Christians by other Christians....and in such an unbiblical way, that I am fearful of joining in.

However, the Emergent Church is full of error.   And I understand that the errors which are stated by Emerging personalities  such as Brian McLaren are not minor errors.  They are errors about how we should handle truth, about how we are to understand our salvation, and about how we may present it to others, and how much difference of opinion may be tolerated in the church.  Carson explains these errors well, and he does so in a respectful and compassionate way....I was so grateful to him for that because it added a great deal to his credibility for me.  But this book is at times a bit beyond my understanding, and I would say it might be intended for pastors and seminarians.  Still, it did help me to understand some of what I see going on around me.  

Now I am starting Einstein's Ideas and Opinions, I read ten pages of it yesterday and couldn't tell you what it said.  I cannot seem to stay awake.  Hopefully this is temporary.  Daniel says it's because my "exerterator" is down because of all that running.  You can tell he is the son of a brilliant physician.    He explained further that my exerterator is located just above my gall bladder.....then he looked shocked as he remembered that my gall bladder was removed in March...he said " OH my Gosh, what if they took it out by mistake!" 

 I'm pretty sure they did.