Summer Reading Non-List

At the beginning of each summer, I usually put together a list of all the books I'd like to read, and all the books I own that I haven't read yet. From there, I go on to form some sort of a reading plan or theme for each summer. Last summer was Jane Austen (and I almost made it through all of her major works!) and the summer before was CS Lewis. I've been working on this summer's theme since the winter, and I simply couldn't figure anything out.

A few days ago, a book on one of my many bookshelves caught my eye. It was "So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading" by Sara Nelson. Before everyone starting writing blogs in order to turn them into published books, Nelson was a book reviewer who decided to keep a diary as she read one book a week. Instead of reviewing the books, she wanted to see the connections that her life made with whatever she was reading. It's a book that I started several years ago, and never finished (I can't remember why). I've become completely enthralled by her writing, and it's inspired me to do something I haven't done in a long time.

This summer I'm not creating a reading list. I'm not setting goals for how many books I want to read. Instead, I'm going to read whatever I want to, whenever I feel like it. This will probably result in me not finishing as many books as I normally do, but I'm really enjoying them. I don't need my summer reading to be a substitute for school.

These are the books that I've already started reading this summer, and I'm open to any suggestions anyone has (especially if it's in the area of fiction - I've got plenty of nonfiction):

The Horses of St. Mark's by Charles Freeman
-This is nonfiction work that tells the story of the four horses (quadriga) that are on top of St. Mark's in Venice and their journey from Constantinople to Venice, Paris and back to Venice.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
-This is a classic American novel that truly brings out the dark humor associated with war, the military and the government.

So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading by Sara Nelson
-See above

The Army At Dawn by Rick Atkinson
-This is the first volume in Atkinson's Liberation trilogy and it details the War in North Africa from 1942-1943

Many more books will be added to this list as the summer progresses!

Hearing and Doing

I'm not quite sure what prompted these thoughts, but this morning these verses from James popped into my head (yes, this is the KJV, since that's the version I used to memorize verses when I was younger):

"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." - James 1:22

It's a rather familiar verse, and I've heard many, many sermons, Sunday school lessons and chapel messages on it. It's one of "those" Bible verses that we can always use for a devotional, because we all know that we're not following it to a certain extent. And I've always heard the application that we need to go out and serve others. Give to the poor. And I think that's an entirely valid application. But shouldn't there be something more?

This verse shouldn't just hit our outward actions. This should hit all of us.

There is a tension in our life between our outward action and our inward thoughts (faith and deeds argument). It's so much easier to take a verse like the one from James and apply it to one of those things - outward actions. But God wants His Word to impact all of us.

What if our entire life - our thoughts, attitudes, actions - showed that we weren't just "hearers" of the Word, but "doers"?

I realized this morning that there are so many things that God has told me in the Word about myself that I only hear. He loves me unconditionally. He wants me to rest in Him. I don't have to earn His favor. I've heard all those things, but I need to do something about them. Those truths should radically affect how I view myself, what I value, how I manage my life.

What have you heard lately that should change your life, inside and out?

Decisions and Worship

Worship. It's something all of us do. Whether we're consciously thinking of it or not.

Everyone worships something. We're made to worship. It's part of our nature. It's what we do. That doesn't mean that everyone is "religious" - we worship things have have nothing to do with supernatural powers. Even those who are religious worship other things.

We worship whatever we value most.

The easiest way to find out what we value the most is to examine our life. What motivates us to get up in the morning (besides the alarm clock)? Where do we spend our time, energy, money, etc? If we seriously look at our life, our choices won't lie.

Life is made up of choices.

Not particularly profound, unless you think about the consequences that has. Every choice we make is significant, because every choice indicates what we value. Okay, whether you have Trix or Lucky Charms for breakfast may not impact eternity, but you see my point. Whether we choose to have a positive or negative attitude about something. When we choose how much effort to put into something. When we choose our words.

How often do we stop and think before we speak? Probably not often enough.

There are countless passages in the Bible that describe the life of a wise and righteous person. And in most of those passages that I've encountered recently, one of the first things that is mentioned is that the person keeps a tight reign on his (or her) tongue.

That's a virtue that's become lost. We're much better at forming a great retort, a cutting remark, or repeating something we overheard in the elevator than we are at keeping quiet.

Just something to think about before speaking or making a decision.