The Story of Santa Claus, by Joseph McCullough

I know Christmas is still a few months away, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see Christmas trees at Wal-Mart soon.  Looking ahead to the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, I read Joseph McCullough's The Story of Santa Claus.  McCullough traces the origins of the the Santa Claus legend from St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, through Kris Kringle and Sinterklaas, up to the Americanized Coca-Cola/Nast Santa we know and love today.

The best part of The Story of Santa Claus is the compilation of biography and legends (and of course, these mix and mingle) about the original St. Nicholas.  Drawing on centuries-old writings, he makes the  case for a real, saintly person who loved to give gifts.  His saint's day, December 6, was frequently celebrated with gift giving, but eventually, after the Reformation, the gift giving in his memory was moved to Christmas Day.

It's interesting how several other traditions merged with the legend of St. Nicholas to give us the Santa Claus figure that we now recognize.  Is it a bad thing that pagan legends have a part in the story of Santa Claus?  I don't think so.  But Christians who want to "keep the Christ in Christmas" would be well-served to remember the example set by St. Nicholas himself.  He embodies the spirit of Christmas and the sacrificial, self-giving character of Christ.  Happy reading, and a way-to-early merry Christmas to all!


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Mindset List of the Obscure, by Tom McBride and Ron Nief

Perhaps you have been reading an old novel or watching an old movie or TV show, and some cultural reference passes you by without your getting it.  It happens.  Ron Nief and Tom McBride want to help out citizens of the 21st century by bringing to their attention some long-forgotten tidbits of life and culture.  In The Mindset List of the Obscure: 74 Famously Forgotten Icons from A to Z, Nief and McBride have selected a few dozen of those tidbits, bringing them back to life, and placing them in their history and context.

As a reader in my 40s, some of these were quite familiar, either through first-hand experience or second-hand awareness.  I actually made collect calls, listened to 45s on my sister's record player, enjoyed the smell of mimeographed worksheets at school, played with my father's slide rule (although I never figured out how to actually use it), and saw Liberace on TV (with rabbit ears).  But kids today, well, they don't know what all those things are.

Most of the items on McBride and Nief's list were from well before my time, although the names might ring a bell.   The alphabetical arrangement gives The Mindset List the feel of a reference book, and it certainly can be, but I think I would rather have seen the items listed chronologically or by type.  Plus, although the list is wide ranging, it is by no means comprehensive enough for this to be considered a go-to cultural reference work.  Ironically, just as the authors say World Book Encyclopedia has been rendered obsolete by online alternatives, so their book may be already obselete because of Wikipedia and the like. Still, it's fun to read about these relics of the past.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

People I Want to Punch in the Throat, by Jen Mann

There are mommy blogs, and then there are the anti-mommy-blogs.  (I mean blogs opposite of the usual mommy blogs, not blogs against motherhood. . . . Although perhaps there are those, too.)  Jen Mann has a mommy blog with attitude, and has collected some of her rants and observations in People I Want to Punch in the Throat: Competitive Crafters, Drop-Off Despots, and Other Suburban Scourges.

Social niceties aren't really Mann's thing.  She doesn't have a lot of patience for the "perfect mothers" who surround her in her suburban neighborhood.  I'm no PTA mom and I don't have as much experience in the carpool lane or neighborhood book club as Mann does, but, like any parent of school-age kids, I could relate to her wild tales of confrontation and disputation.  I am not as confrontative or disputative as Mann, but I loved living vicariously through her.

Mann has an attitude and a potty mouth to go with it, but I couldn't help but laugh with her.  I'd love to be a fly on the wall at her next teacher-parent conference or PTA meeting.  She's a riot.

For more from Mann, follow her aptly-named blog, http://www.peopleiwanttopunchinthethroat.com/.




Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

I Need a New Butt, by Dawn McMillan, illustrated by Ross Kinnaird

If there is a need for silly, pointless, entertaining children's books, Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird have found that niche.  Their new book, I Need a New Butt definitely fits the bill.  Their hero has discovered his butt crack, decides that it must have happened when he farted, and speculates over getting a replacement.

He weighs the virtues of different types of butts he might get (wood, armor-plated, chrome, rocket-powered, different colors) but resigns himself to his fate.  He's stuck with the butt he has, and is somewhat comforted and disturbed to discover that his dad's butt has a crack as well.

I Need a New Butt reminded me of I Wish That I Had Duck Feet by Dr. Seuss.  I could speculate that McMillan and Kinnaird have a lesson here about kids discovering how their bodies work, etc.  But mostly it's just a silly book.  This is one for dads to read to their boys.  Little boys will enjoy the silly humor, but mothers who forbid their children to use the "F-word" (fart) will not appreciate it.



Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Dear Friends, by Christopher L. Webber

Here's an ambitious project: how about an updating of the letters of Paul for the church in the United States today?  That's exactly the task Christopher L. Webber, Episcopal pastor and writer, takes on in Dear Friends: The Letters of St. Paul to Christians in America.  With a great sense of Paul's style and theology, Webber gives a modern take on Paul.

The result is not quite what I expected, but was enjoyable nonetheless.  Webber's book is more than a new translation or paraphrase of Paul's writing, but not a whole lot more.  He retains the essential structure of the epistles, with much of the same phrases and wording that Paul uses, yet with Webber's own voice, so the text was constantly familiar yet fresh.

Some of the best bits were the modern cultural references, but even then, as you might expect, the concerns are timeless.  For instance, Paul writes, "You cannot drin gthe cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, too." (1 Cor. 10:21, NIV)  Webber's parallel is convicting, if not exactly equivalent: "You cannot pay more for sports events than you give to your church or spend more at restaurants than you give to the poor."  Ouch.  Tough reminders of our tendency toward idolatry.

Another example from 1 Corinthians:  In chapter 14, Paul reminds his readers not to focus on their own edification when exercising the gifts of tongues and prophecy.  Expanding on that idea, Webber writes: "You measure a congregation by attendance and provide convenient parking, comfortable seating, and the music of the secular world yet your divorce rate is growing, poverty is increasing, and anger and divisiveness are more evident every year.  I see little difference between the lives Christians live and the lives of those around you."

I cringed a couple of times, as Webber allowed his liberal (read: more liberal than I am) tendencies to come through.  In his version of 1 Corinthians 7, on marriage, Webber has Paul clearly endorsing same-sex marriage.  "As to faithful marriage between two men or between two women, I find no guidance in scripture. . . . Why should the church not ask God's blessing on that relationship?"  I find it hard to believe that Paul would agree.

He later rejects a legal ban on abortion, in Galatians 2, which deals with Jews who want Gentile Christians to follow Jewish customs.  "Are you not also returning to the bondage of the law when you deny all access to medical help for those who cannot face the difficulties of childbirth? . . . I wish all abortion clinics could be closed this very day, but I cannot force my opinion on others whose circumstances and motives are unknown to me. . . . I will not turn to the law to compel them against their will."  Molech is alive and well, and accepting sacrifices daily.

Sorry if it seems I'm unfairly focussing on some quibbles.  All told, Webber stays very true to Pauline theology.  Reading Dear Friends is much like reading the Bible.  I think most of us take Paul in little doses.  I can't think of when I've ever read Paul's letters straight through in a couple of sittings.  That's really the best feature of Dear Friends.  It points the reader back to scripture, encouraging all of us to pick up the Bible and reflect on God's message for today in these ancient pages.  Webber is to be commended for that, if nothing else.



Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Perhaps you heard some media coverage last spring about Brandeis University's inviting and then uninviting Ayaan Hirsi Ali to speak at their commencement ceremonies and to receive an honorary degree.  (In case you missed it, try this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10/brandeis-ayaan-hirsi-ali_n_5127792.html)  They said they admire her, but "cannot overlook certain of her past statements that are inconsistent with Brandeis University's core values."  It seems that badmouthing Islam is not approved on the Brandeis campus.

In older news, you may have read about Ali's speaking out against forced marriage, female genital mutilation, and Islam's overall poor treatment of women. For her efforts, she became the subject of an international hunt. She not only survived but became a member of parliament in her adopted home, the Netherlands. In Infidel, Ali tells her story. Born in Somalia, then living in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, she experienced the full range of subjugation under which Muslim women suffer.  Reading about her experiences, I can't say that I blame her for rejecting Islam.

The vehement opposition she has met from the Muslim community stems from her claims that Islam should end.  Ali sees the oppression of women as an essential element of Muslim theology and practice, thus she not only rejects Islam but also calls for its eradication.  Further, she rejects theism altogether.  Surely this is a case of the baby going with the bathwater.  I am a Western Christian, and no fan of the horror that elements of Islam have brought into the world, but I also recognize that many Muslims are, in fact, peaceful, life-affirming people, even though I completely reject their overall theology.  I also recognize that many Christians, Jews, and even Muslims have long advocated for women's rights.  I got the feeling that Ali's atheism is grounded more in her personal pain; her tormentors did what they did in the name of what they recognize as God.  I just wish Ali could experience the boundless love and grace of the God of creation.

Her story is a powerful one.  The first half of the book drags a bit; there was a lot of detail about her family and childhood that provided somewhat interesting cultural background, but it contributed little to her larger message.  I wish her the best as she continues to advocate for women's rights in the Muslim world.  God bless you, Ayaan.

Overrated, by Eugene Cho

The subtitle of Eugene Cho's book Overrated: Are We More In Love with the Idea of Changing the World Than Actually Changing the World? asks a compelling question.  Cho's answer: yes.  Cho writes that "we are more in love with the idea of compassion and justice than we are with actually putting it into practice" and that "we love compassion and justice . . . until there's a personal cost to living compassionately, loving mercy, and seeking justice."

Cho, pastor of Quest Church in Seattle, and founder of One Day's Wages, writes this as confession as much as a challenge to the rest of us.  As he and his family struggled with what justice and compassion mean for Christians, they decided to give away a year's salary.  I don't know that there are many of us who would be able to pull that off, but he did.  His mission: to demonstrate a "lifestyle of enough.  We have enough.  We are blessed and blessed immensely.  God has given us enough.  God is our enough."    

With the resources, information, and communication we have, Cho calls us the "most overrated generation in human history."  Looking at Facebook posts and social media, someone might think that we are radically committed to a wide variety of causes, but we are rarely willing to make sacrifices and really make a difference.  "People who demonstrate support for causes and organizations on social media, such as Facebook, actually do less in real life."

I especially liked two of Cho's emphases.  First of all, changing the world and seeking justice must start with prayer and contemplation.  Just as Jesus took time to get away for prayer and to spend time with his Father, so must we.  Cho puts it bluntly: "Shut up, listen, and pray."  Second, when we do take action, it should be done with the right preparation and information.  Remember that "having a good heart is not enough."  It's not about our heart and what makes us feel good, but about the lives of others in need.  In this vein, he openly questions the effectiveness of short-term mission trips.  The money and time resources used for these trips are often wasted.  "Spending more money to visit in person and see the work than you are investing in the work is ludicrous."  At the same time, he does allow that "the value in international travel and 'vision trips' remains."

Cho gives readers an honest, personal challenge to be thoughtful and deliberate about their giving and actions in the name of justice.  The bottom line is that it's not up to us to change the world.  Rather, "God called us into this journey not just to 'change the world' but more so to change us." It's a reminder that we could all heed.



Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complementary electronic review copy!