The Darkest Evening of the Year

Author: Dean Koontz
Publisher: Bantam

With The Darkest Evening of the Year, Dean Koontz returns to a familiar and loved figure from The Watchers and from his own life: a golden retriever. While it isn’t the same dog, the golden retriever is a nod to Koontz’ own dearly departed dog, Trixie.

This is a suspenseful story about order that underlies the seeming chaos rampant in our world and about an incredible bond between humans and dogs.

The story focuses upon a young lady, Amy Redwing and her boy-friend, Brian McCarthy. Amy devotes her life to rescuing abused Golden Retrievers. Brian, an architect devotes his life running after Amy. Both Amy and Brian have their own dark secrets that will converge and threaten to destroy them both.

Harrow and “Moongirl” also share a bond. Their bond is a mutual desire for destruction and violence. They are the antithesis of all Brian and Amy stand for. Where Brian and Amy see reason, purpose, and unselfishness, they see nothing but chaos and self-centeredness. All four are on a collision course with each other and they will demonstrate whether the world is ruled by chaos and chance or purpose and design.

In the center of it all are two key figures: a golden retriever named Nickie and a little downs-syndrome girl named Hope. They serve as the representatives of all that is good, either in heaven or earth.

Dean Koontz shows us once again his love for suspenseful storytelling and his underlying belief in a good that far outshines any force of evil that may exist. He also expands an underlying belief that can be found in several of his novels: the greatest evil is to refuse to take a stand against evil; even if it means resorting to violence.

Compare the two passages below from two different Koontz novels:

From the Corner of His Eye

Three years ago, in St. Mary’s Hospital, with Phimie’s warning fresh in her mind, Celestina swore that she would be ready when the beast came, but here he came, and she was not as ready as possible. Time passes , the perception of a threat fades, life becomes busier…your little girl grows to be so vital, so vivid, so alive that you know she just has to live forever, and after all, you are the daughter of a minister, a believer in the power of compassion, in the Prince of Peace, confident that the meek shall inherit the earth, so in three years, you don’t buy a gun, nor do you take any training in self defense, and somehow you forget that the meek who will one day inherit the earth are those who forego aggression but are not those so pathetically meek that they won’t even defend themselves, because a failure to resist evil is a sin, and the willful refusal to defend your life is the mortal sin of passive suicide, and the failure to protect a little yellow M&M girl will surely buy you a ticket to Hell on the same express train on which the slave traders rode to their own eternal enslavement, on which the masters of Dachau and old Joe Stalin traveled from power to punishment, so here, now, as the beast throws himself against the door, as he shoves aside the barricade, with what precious little time you have left, fight.

The Darkest Evening of the Year

She saw the knife then, how big it was.

He was not ready to use the blade, but twisted her hair to turn her, and she turned like a helpless doll.When Michael shoved her hard, she stumbled away from him and fell, and almost struck her head against a dresser. But she held on to the purse.

She tore at the zipper of the purse, reached within, rolled onto her back, and worked the double action as she had been instructed.The shot shattered something, missing Michael, but in shock he shrank from her.

She fired again, he fled, and as he passed through the doorway between the bedroom and hall, he cried out in pain when the third shot nailed him. He staggered, but he did not go down, and then he vanished.

In self-defense and in defense of the innocent, killing is not murder, hesitation is not moral, and cowardice is the only sin.

She went after him, certain that he was not mortally wounded, determined that he would be.

Systems-Sensitive Leadership: Empowering Diversity Without Polarizing the Church

by Dr. Michael C. Armour and Don Browning

What is the source of conflict among churches in America today? I suppose one could list a variety of reasons from doctrinal differences, personalities (or lack thereof), the so-called "worship wars" to generational differences.

Armour and Browning shed light on differences which run much deeper than doctrine, preferences, and personality. Using the theory of Clare Graves the authors show how human-kind has developed several modes of thinking styles and how different styles lead to potential conflict.

Graves identified eight different thinking systems that form our values. Each different system builds upon the other and people may transition from one system to another as they are confronted with certain life situations. Some may see similarities between Graves and Maslow (in fact, they were friends). Others have pointed out to me the similarities between this system and stages of development postulated by Fowler, Erickson, or Piaget.

Each system in Graves' theory has its own strengths and weaknesses. The goal is not to force transition from one to another (that would be foolhardy and counter-productive) but to encourage health in each system. If approached correctly, the systems can function together in a healthy way.

This is not a light or easy read. The first half of the book deals with Graves' theory and can seem quite daunting. However the description of the theory is essential in order to access the pragmatic advice in the second half of the book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to understand the nature of conflict (especially church conflict). I believe this holds the best chance for helping churches to learn to live with the diversity of thinking that so permeates their membership.

Farewell Summer

Ray Bradbury

My favorite author since my Junior High years has always been Ray Bradbury. He, along side of Andre Norton, introduced me to the world of Science Fiction and horror with classics such as The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, and Something Wicked This Way Comes.

But by far, my favorite of favorites had to be Dandelion Wine, the story of Douglas Spalding and the summer of his 12th year. The setting is Green Town, a small hamlet in Illinois. The year is 1928. The book is actually a string of short stories tied loosely together by the life and experiences of Badbury's alter ego, Douglas.

In 2006 Ray Bradbury revisited Green Town, Illinois, with the publishing of Farewell Summer. Rather than a loose weave of short stories, Bradbury provides a more structured and tightly knit narrative.

This time it is the Fall of Doug's 13th year and all out war has been declared.

It seems the young, represented by Douglas, his little brother Tom and their cohorts, are involved in the generational conflict of the ages. Douglas and his friends stage fantastic raids against the elderly who are represented by School Board despot, Calvin C. Quartermain--an old Bachelor who never understood the joy of passing on life to another generation. The final assault is a daring evening raid on the town clock where Doug and company attempt to stop time itself so childhood's summer will never end.

Of course, time, Quartermain's cunning and a first kiss all conspire against Doug and his friends. The outcome is inevitable. But in the middle of it all both old and young find themselves changing and growing toward each other. Life is passed on and Doug learns that not all farewells are tragic.

Bradbury presents a poignant and lovely coming of age novel that I heartily recommend to all Dandelion Wine fans. The book ends with a fearful little brother stealing into Doug's room to go to sleep:

"Can I sleep here tonight? Please!"

"Why, Tom?"

"I dunno. I just had this awful feeling tomorrow morning we'd find you gone or dead or both."

"I'm not going to die, Tom."

"Someday you will."

"Well..."

"Can I stay?"

"Okay."

...A wind came up outside and shook all the trees and every leaf, every last
one fell off and blew across the lawn.
"Summer's over, Tom."
Tom listened.
"Summer's done. Here comes autumn."
"Halloween."
"Boy, think of that!"
"I'm thinking."
They thought, they slept.
The town clock struck four.
And Grandma sat up in the dark and named the season just now over and done
and past.

Conversation: How Talk Can Change Our Lives

Theodore Zeldin

Here is an extraordinary little book that looks like it belongs on your coffee table. Perhaps the coffee table is the best place to put it, if it will start a few conversations!

Theodore Zeldin is a philosopher and the former dean of St. Anthony's College, Oxford. He has been internationally acclaimed as "one of the forty world figures whose ideas are likely to have a lasting relevance to the new millennium" (Independent on Sunday, U.K.).

Conversation is a conversation encouraging us to engage each other through listening and being open to change. In his words: The kind of conversation I'm interested in is the one which you start with a willingness to emerge a slightly different person. It is always an experiment, whose results are never guaranteed. It involves risk. It's an adventure in which we agree to cook the world together and make it taste less bitter.

Zeldin takes to task both Rhetoric (which often degenerates into flowery speech used to impress and manipulate people with its flourishes and charm) and Plain Speech which, in one stream, becomes a rejection of standards and turns into scientific jargon in a parallel stream. He even takes a jab at politically correct speech ("Every slimming diet has its dangers.")

By conversation we leave the boring landscape of just one perspective. I love this line: For about a century now, we have been brought up to believe in the virtues of introspection. But asking that same old question, "Who Am I?" cannot get us much further. However fascinating one may think one is, there is a limit to what one can know about oneself. Other people are infinitely more interesting, have infinitely more to say.

Zeldin covers topics such as "What saves family conversation from being boring," "Conversation in the workplace: why specialists are having to find a new way of talking," "What technology can do to conversation," and "How conversation encourages the meeting of minds." The book ends with a practical list of thirty-six topics of conversation.

Conversation is an excellent little book (103 pages) to get you thinking. However, if all you do is think--then Zeldin will have failed in his purpose. He wants to get you conversing!

"Since religion still continues to dominate discussion in many parts of the world, bringing believers and unbelievers together in conversation seems urgent as well as interesting."

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

Yes, I have finished the grand finale of J.K. Rowling's epic series! It was worth the read and the journey! The only reasons I had not finished it before now were: 1) my 19-year-old daughter obsconded with it before I could get my grubby paws on it and 2) I do have a life...

J. K. Rowling has been quoted as saying she had basically written the last chapter of the Harry Potter series in 1990 (not to say she had already written the book). After finishing the book at midnight last night (July 24) I must concur there was no other way for her to tie all of the loose ends from the other novels so neatly together unless she already had the end very clearly in mind.

All of the novels mesh together quite nicely in this final episode--but not in some smug or simplistic way. Rowling has proven herself to be an accomplished fantasy / epic / adventure / mystery writer. I remember all of the early accolades comparing her with C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. My response always was: "Sorry, not that good." I had classified the early books as Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys meet Merlin the Wizard: good, maybe in a sense classics, but not even close to those great literary icons.

I now, unashamedly revise my opinion. While she is still no C. S. Lewis, I would nominate her for an associate or junior membership to The Inklings, that group of literary friends who met on Thursday evenings in a pub to discuss and read from their latest ideas: Tolkien, Lewis, Neville Coghill, W. H. Lewis, John Wain et al. Or at least part of that group I call "The Friends of the Inklings" which include such notables as Dorothy L. Sayers, W.H. Auden, and T.S. Eliot.

I would suggest plenty of tissues when you get to the middle of the book. I knew I would be in trouble when I heard my 19-year-old scream "No! I hate, you Rowling!" I walked in her bedroom to see her in tears! (My reaction was not quite so vehement! While Rowling made me care for her characters, I have a very firm grasp on what is fiction and what is not! Apologies to my daughter.)

Expect to see a full range of mythic archetypes in this novel: the Hero, the mentor, the gate keeper, the shadow, etc. Be ready to be very surprised--but in a very satisfying way, I think.

While one reviewer described the book as a "hero's quest" (and it is), I think the ultimate theme is redemption. If it is not the ultimate theme, it is certainly a dominant theme.

To those who have a very hard time reconciling their religious views with enjoying a novel about witches and wizards: this novel is 1) classic good vs. evil; 2) portrays and upholds the value of such virtures as loyalty, community, courage, and unselfishness; 3) portrays redemption and self-sacrifice in an incredibly beautiful way that is reminiscent of the gospels--and in fact, I would suggest the gospel story is reflected in the story (perhaps unconsciously on Rowling's part--I don't think so, it's too similar) . I would also suggest this book does not offer an "unrealistic" view of good and evil. Some writers like making the "good" perfect and unencumbered with doubts and even some evil in thier lives while "evil" is so black and sinister there was absolutely no way for redemption. Rowling is no such writer. Her characters are complex and filled with mixed motives.

I recommend the entire series for young adolescents and adults. The last three books are certainly darker and demand more maturity on the readers' part, but they are certainly wonderful books worthy to be read!

The Sabbath: Its Meaning For Modern Man

Abraham Joshua Heschel

Published in 1951, this little book has been considered a classic almost since its publication. Heschel (1907-1972) is a Jewish scholar whose works are highly respected by both Jewish and Christian theologians.

My copy (published by Shambhala Books) is a little bigger than a waffle, but you won't breeze through it! It will force you to stop and reflect every page or two.

American society is especially in need of this little volume. In it Heschel argues the holiness of time as primary over the holiness of space. Technology is seen as man's attempt to conquer the world of space at the sacrifice of time. "Yet to have more does not mean to be more."

If anyone wishes to argue our technology frees up our time I would like to ask how a cell phone frees my time up? It keeps me on call 24/7! My laptop with its wireless connectivity enables me to continue working in coffee shops and restaurants. My gadgets seem to have more control of my life than ever before. Doubt it? Go for a day without any of your "gadgets" and see how well you do.

Heschel is incredibly prescient with this little book. It was written over 50 years ago: before personal computers, laptops, cell phones, pagers, answering machines, and (I may be off on this one by a couple of years) before color television! Yet he knew our propensity to be under the control of technology, space, and possessions.

Here are a few excerpts to whet your appetite:

"The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time."

"He who wants to enter the holiness of the day must first lay down the profanity of clattering commerce, of being yoked to toil...He must say farewell to manual work and learn to understand that the world has already been created and will survive without the help of man...Six days a week we seek to dominate the world, on the seventh day we try to dominate the self."

"The soul cannot celebrate alone, so the body must be invited to partake in the rejoicing of the Sabbath."

"After six days of creation--what did the universe still lack? Menuha. Came the Sabbath, came menuha, and the universe was complete. Menuha, which we usually render with 'rest,' means here much more than withdrawal from labor and exertion, more than freedom from toil, strain or activity of any kind. Menuha is not a negative concept but something real and intrinsically positive. This must have been the view of the ancient rabbis if they believed that it took a special act of creation to bring it into being, that the universe would be incomplete without it. What was created on the seventh day? Tranquility, serenity, peace and repose. To the biblical mind menuha is the same as happiness and stillness, as peace and harmony."

While many argue observance of the Sabbath is not a Christian practice, I would suggest the principle is still valid. Read the book and see for yourself if Heschel's meditations do not resonate within!

The Children of Hurin

(Published in April, 2007)

All of you Lord Of The Rings fans get ready for another masterful story by J. R. R. Tolkien! Tolkien's son, Christopher, has edited and finalized one of the major stories of Middle Earth!

As the title suggests, the story centers on the children of Hurin: Turin and Ninenor. This is a heroic story with a tragic ending. Here we encounter the Dark Lord Morgoth (of whom Sauron served as lieutenant), his servant Glaurung the dragon, and the Elvish Kingdoms that existed long before Hobbits appeared on the scene.

The story begins with Hurin leaving his pregnant wife, Morwen and his young son, Turin, to fight against the Dark Lord, Morgoth. The armies of Elves and men are defeated and Hurin is captured. Although at Morgoth's mercy and subject to his taunts and torments, Hurin defies and scorns the Dark Lord. For this Morgoth curses the family and children of Hurin and binds him high on a throne giving him his eyes where he is forced to helplessly witness the playing out of the terrible curse on his family.

Hurin's land becomes overrun with Easterlings who plunder the land and make themselves lords over the region. Morwen sends Turin away to live among the Elves at Doriath. Not long after, Morwen gives birth to a daughter, Ninenor. The story continues with Turin fleeing the Elvish realm and becoming an outlaw due to a miscarriage of justice. However, Turin soon finds himself on the side of Elves again battling Orcs. Even so, it seems every good deed is over shadowed by Turin's pride and the evil of Morgoth's curse. Every victory Turin gains is won at the cost of great pain and tragedy.

I won't go into any more detail, you need to read this story for yourself! The first chapter is by far the most difficult to get through. Even so, I highly recommend you stick to it and wade through the introduction as well. The story is worth the effort!

After chapter one with all of the difficult and obscure names and genealogies, the story picks up pace and does not slow down! You will not be disappointed with this beautiful and sad story! This is "fairy tale" in its true mythic sense. If you loved The Lord of the Rings and The Silmirillion, you will love this book!

The Odyssey translated by Robert Fagles

Since I was in Junior High School I have been fascinated with Greek Mythology. I remember being held spell bound by Edith Hamilton's classic on the subject. The Iliad and The Odyssey were two of my favorite stories. In High School I became acquainted with The Aenid of Virgil and the novel Whom the Gods Would Destroy, stories depicting Troy's side of things.

The difficulty is trying to find a decent translation of Homer that is readable while keeping the poetic format.

Robert Fagles does not disappoint with his magnificent translation of Homer's The Odyssey. I literally could not put the book down until I read the final page. The translation was published in 1996. Yes, he has also translated The Iliad--unfortunately, I have not been able to secure a copy yet. When I do, I will include a brief review of it here.

Here's a little sample of Fagles' translation:

........................................................................ As soon
as young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more
the rams went rumbling out of the cave toward pasture,
the ewes kept bleating round the pens, unmilked,
their udders about to burst. Their master now,
heaving in torment, felt the back of each animal
halting before him here, but the idiot never sensed
my men were trussed up under their thick fleecy ribs.
And last of them all came my great ram now, striding out,
weighed down with his dense wool and my deep plots.
Stroking him gently, powerful Polyphemus murmered,
'Dear old ram, why last of the flock to quit the cave?
In the good old days you'd never lag behind the rest--
you with your long marching strides, first by far
of the flock to graze the frsh young grasses,
first by far to reach the rippling streams,
first to turn back home, keen for your fold
when night comes on--but now you're last of all.
And why? Sick at heart for your master's eye
that coward gouged out with his wicked crew?--
only after he'd stunned my wits with wine--
that, that Nobody...
who's not escaped his death, I swear, not yet.
Oh if only you thought like me, had words like me
to tell me where that scoundrel is cringing from my rage!
I'd smash him against the ground, I'd spill his brains--
flooding across my cave--and that would ease my heart
of the pains that good-for-nothing Nobody made me suffer!'

Obviously not for the faint of heart! But this is a rip-roaring good read!

Given Poems by Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry is one of my favorite poets. If you want to read a book of poems featuring no meter or rhyme, pick up a book by Rod McKuen, but don't pick up this book! If you want a sentimental, amateurish approach to poetry--you'd be better off buying a greeting card. If Edgar Guest is your idea of a great poet, you might want to pass over Wendell Berry! If, however, you are a fan of Frost, Eliot, or Whitman--you'll want to read Berry!

Wendell Berry has been writing poetry for fifty years. He has written over forty books of poetry, fiction and essays. He holds a Masters Degree in English and has taught English and Creative writing in New York. He now farms the land that has stayed in his family for generations.

I find Berry's work reminiscent of Robert Frost, but more in tonal quality and spirit than in style. Berry is no imitation: his voice is quite his own. He is a recipient of several awards including the T. S. Eliot Award, Aiken Taylor Award, Jean Stein Award, and Rockefeller Fellowships.

Here's a sample from Given Poems:

In Heaven the starry saints will wipe away
The tears forever from our eyes, but they
Must not erase the memory of our grief.
In bliss, even, there can be no relief
If we forget this place, shade-haunted, parched
Or flooded, dark or bright, where we have watched
The world always becoming what it is,
Splendor and woe surpassing happiness
Or sorrow, loss sweeping it as a floor.
This shadowed passage between door and door
Is half-lit by old words we've heard or read.
As the living recall the dead, the dead
Are joyless until they call back their lives:
Fallen like leaves, the husbands and the wives
In history's ignorant, bloody to-and-fro,
Eternally in love, and in time learning so.

Not all of his poems are rhymed. He has written some wonderful blank verse as well. If you haven't read poetry in a while, pick up one of Wendell's collections. You will find a warm welcome back to good poetry!

Warning: Psychiatry Can Be Hazardous To Your Mental Health

(Full disclaimer: my father, who holds a Doctorate in Pharmacy, is strongly opposed to psychopharmacology and believes drugs like Prozac and Ritalin are very dangerous. Because of my upbringing and our relationship--I tend to agree with him. I also have attended a basic training course in Reality Therapy & Choice Theory by a Glasser Institute approved Licensed Professional Counselor.)

This is a controversial book to be certain! For a related book see this web page's book review on Choice Theory by the same author William Glasser.

I read one reviewer recently who took Glasser to task for being too extreme in denouncing psychopharmacology (the use of "brain drugs"). The review described Glasser (who is a board certified Psychiatrist) as "anti-psychiatry."

While the reviewer did not call attention to the fact in the body of the review, I couldn't help but notice he is a Psychiatrist himself, and is a professor in a Family Medicine and Psychiatry program of a major university. This alone doesn't disqualify the reviewer from offering critique. However, it is always important to admit when one approaches a topic with a particular bias or point of view. The reviewer certainly had a vested interest in proving Glasser wrong.

In all fairness, Glasser has often said in other publications, he would never demand someone who came to see him to discontinue their use of anti-depressants or whatever psycho-pharmaceuticals he or she is taking. He would simply offer his help. He claims the patient would discover less and less need for the drugs.

Although, Glasser seems to be on the losing end of Psychiatric popular opinion (which, in itself, proves nothing: remember a guy named Copernicus?), his is not the only voice opposed to psychopharmacology. Other critics include board certified Psychiatrist Dr. Peter Bregen, author of Toxic Psychiatry: Why Therapy, Empathy, and Love Must Replace the Drugs, Electroshock, and Biochemical Theories of the "New Psychiatry."

Warning: Psychiatry Can Be Hazardous To Your Mental Health is an easy-to-read version of Choice Theory. It has a narrative structure centered around a fictitious group of people who have formed a book review group to discuss each chapter of the book as Glasser is writing it. This is truly a book designed to be "self-help" or perhaps "group help." Much of what is proposed in the book appears to be a common sense approach to relationships and problems.

Note well: Dr. Glasser approaches therapy from a secular point of view. This is not a book written from a "Christian" perspective. The role of God's Spirit as a resource in mental health and healing is not taken into consideration.

Simple Church

A refreshing approach to church! But don't get your hopes or your cynicism up! This is not a book promoting another gimmick or church model. Researchers Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger do not hold up or promote a new program or add more activities to your already bloated calendar.

Thom and Eric actually will encourage you to streamline and eliminate. As the promo material on the back of the book says: "Simple Church calls Christians to make a clear return to the simple gospel-sharing methods of Jesus. No elaborate, multi-level out-reach strategies required."

The key words used throughout the book are: Clarity, Movement, Alignment, and Focus. Based on research of four hundred American churches Simple Church demonstrates how effective simple churches are taking those four words very seriously.

This book will make you scratch your head, put it down for a while, then pick it back up to re-read portions. You will struggle to shift your attitudes. What this book does not offer is a new program. It offers an old way of looking at things--a way so old it looks and feels new!

Going To Church in the First Century

If you want an interesting but quick read, pick up this little 48-page book by Robert Banks. Banks is the author of the classic study on Paul's view of church: Paul's Idea of Community: The Early Housechurches in their Historical Setting.

Banks attempts through a simple fictive narrative to describe what a meeting of the first century church must have been like. The setting is in Rome at the house of Aquila and Prisca. The story is told in the first person by a guest, Publius Valerius Amicius Rufus.

Some might quibble with various details. Remember, this is fiction! However, it is based on some solid research and study by the author. Of course part of our challenge relates to the fact there is no "order of worship" program found in the pages of the New Testament! Perhaps there is a reason for the omission!

From the book:

"From a religious point of view the whole meeting left a lot to be desired. What had happened contained scarcely anything religious at all. They didn't even have a priest, let alone all the ritual that you expect. This wasn't quite what I had bargained for. Neither decently ritualistic nor exotically mysterious. All very simply and matter-of-fact. I wondered what their god made of this slipshod and common way of doing things. Not at all in the manner to which I would have thought a god was accustomed."

I recommend you form a reading group to discuss this book. I think it would generate quite a bit of lively discussion!

Odd Thomas Trilogy

You may wonder about me after this. I am a serious Dean Koontz fan! No, I do not like the horror genre per se (I read Salem's Lot as a teenager and slept with a crucifix under my pillow for months!--I don't like horror).

However, the Odd Thomas books are not so much horror as they are supernatural mysteries. Furthermore, there are clear elements of good vs. evil throughout all of Dean Koontz' books. I don't know his theology, but Dean Koontz has some very deep insights into the meaning of life.

Consider this dialogue from Forever Odd:

While Carla brought another chair out of the restaurant, put it next to mine, sat down, and fussed over me, Wyatt used the Police Ban radio to order an ambulance. When he returned I said, “Sir? You know what’s wrong with humanity?”

“Plenty,” he said.

“The greatest gift we were given was our free will and we keep misusing it.”

“Don’t worry your self with that now,” Carla advised me.

“You know what’s wrong with nature,” I asked her “with all its poisoned plants, predatory animals, earthquakes, and floods?”

“You’re upsetting yourself, sweetie.”

“When we envied—when we killed for what we envied, we fell. And when we fell, we broke the whole shebang; nature, too.”

A kitchen worker whom I knew who had worked part time at the grill, Manuel Nunez, arrived with a fresh beer.

“I don’t think he should have that,” Carla worried.

Taking the beer from him I said, “Manuel, how you doing?”

“Looks like better than you.”

“I was just dead for a while, that’s all. Manuel, do you know what’s wrong with cosmic time as we know it, which steals everything from us?”

“Isn’t it spring forward and fall back?” Manuel asked, thinking we were talking about Daylight savings time.

“When we fell and broke,” I said, “we broke nature, too. And when we broke nature, we broke time.”

“Is that from Star Trek?” Manuel asked.

“Probably, but it’s true.”

“I like that show. It helped me learn English.”

“You speak it well,” I told him.

“I had a brogue for a while because I got so into Scotty’s character,” Manuel said.

“Once there were no predators, no prey, only harmony. There were no quakes, no storms: everything in balance. In the beginning time was all at once and forever; no past, present, and future; no death. We broke it all.”

Chief Porter tried to take the Heineken from me. I held on to it.

“Sir, do you know what sucks the worst about the human condition?”

Bill Burton said, “Taxes?”

“It’s even worse than that,” I told him.

Manuel said, “Gasoline costs too much, and low mortgage rates are gone.”

“What sucks the worst is this world was a gift to us and we broke it. And part of the deal is that if we want things right, we have to fix it ourselves. But we can’t. We try, but we can’t.”

I started to cry. The tears surprised me. I thought I was done with tears for the duration.

Manuel put a hand on my shoulder and said, “Maybe we can fix it, Odd. You know, maybe.”

I shook my head, “No. We’re broken. A broken thing can’t fix itself.”

I'll let you contemplate that bit of Oddology for a while.

Odd Thomas is a 21-year-old fry cook in Pico Mundo, California. He sees dead people, but, as he says, "I do something about it." Since the lingering dead complicate his life so much--he intentionally lives a very sparse and simplistic life style. He doesn't need any more complications.

According to Odd, the lingering dead linger generally because of some unresolved issue. Some continue to linger because they just can't let go of this life. He tries to help them resolve their issues and go on. Of course, Koontz compounds the problem by making the lingering dead mute and unable to explain their issues.

Odd is haunted particularly by a benevolent ghost: Elvis Presley. Odd has several theories why Elvis would haunt Pico Mundo. (He thinks perhaps it is because, while Elvis seems to have visited every place in the world, he never made it to Pico Mundo). However, you won't find out definitely the answer to that question until Brother Odd.

Btw, Odd is not a nick name. The main character's parents claimed his name was supposed to be "Todd" but the nurses got it wrong on his birth certificate and they never corrected it. Odd has serious doubts with his parent's explanation.

If you ever want to read some serious "good vs. evil" novels, then I suggest Dean Koontz. Other great novels of his include From the Corner of His Eye and One Door Away From Heaven.

The Papa Prayer

If you view prayer as a wish list to God, then prepared to be challenged. Larry Crabb has made it a habit to challenge our comfortable Baby Boomer-style legalism.

In an earlier book The Pressure's Off, Crabb challenged our tendency to reduce Christianity to a group of principles and formulas we follow in order to receive blessings (e.g., "Follow these five simple steps and your marriage will turn out fine!"). He demonstrated how God is not necessarily interested in getting us out of our struggles. He is much more interested in getting us to know him.

The Papa Prayer builds on this foundation and offers one of the most beautiful and sensible approaches to prayer I've seen. Larry is a realist and he won't settle for platitudes or sentimental views of prayer. He isn't given to exaggeration or hyperbole. Larry will share exactly what he is experiencing in prayer and how the "PAPA prayer" has been shaping him.

He begins with our view of God. For some this is old hat, for others this can be threatening and seemingly sacriligious. He invites us to approach God as "papa" (you might want to do some research on the Aramaic word "Abba" if you have a problem with addressing God so intimately). He goes on to describe the chief purpose of prayer

"is not to get things from God. Neither is it to praise or thank him from a distance. The chief purpose of prayer is to get to know God, to deepen our relationship with him, to nourish the life of God he's already placed within us, and to do it all to satisfy his desire for relationship with us."

He continues to say prayer isn't about us and it isn't just about God. It is all about God and us. "Therefore it makes sense to say that we must learn to pray relationally, to enjoy a two-way conversation with God where he gets the first and last word, before we ask him for what we want."

You may guess PAPA is an acronym, but it is not to be viewed as a new formula (e.g., The Prayer of Jabez). For Larry, the actual form isn't at issue--the heart is. The acronym is this:

• P - Present yourself to God without pretense. Be a real person in a real relationship. Tell him what is going on inside you that you can identify.
• A - Attend to how you are thinking of God. No pretending here. How are you looking at God in this moment? Do you view him as an impersonal force, a distant or disapproving father? "Or is he your gloriously strong but intimate Papa?" The key: be honest.
• P - Purge yourself of anything blocking your relationship with God. Put into words whatever is making uncomfortable or embarrassed when you are in relationship with him. Are you thinking more about yourself and what you want or are you focusing on God and his love and pleasure?
• A - Approach God as the "first thing" in your life; that is, as your most valuable treasure, the person you most want to know. Again, be honest and admit "other people and things really do matter more to you right now, but you long to want God so much that every other good thing in your life becomes a 'second-thing' desire."

This is not a magic formula. There are no guarantees you will have some great ecstatic experience or hear God's voice in clear, deep baritone. In fact, most often there will be no experiences. This is not an exercise in ritual magic or getting three wishes from "a docile genie." As Larry puts it: "It's simply a way to come to God and learn to wait, to listen with a little less wax in our spiritual ears, and, most of all, to be relentlessly real."

Put this book on your "must read list" for 2007! I will not say "you won't regret it!" It has the potential to stir things up in your heart and cause discomfort--but it will be worth the challenge.

Choice Theory

If you want a great book to help you get a grip on life and reality, let me suggest Dr. William Glasser's (M.D.) Choice Theory. Yes, this is the same psychiatrist who gave us the iconoclastic Reality Therapy in 1964. Don't expect a book filled with psychiatric jargon and suggestions for mind drugs or years of therapy. Glasser doesn't have much use for either.

He has never prescribed anti-depressants, he believes they can be counter productive. He even goes so far to suggest that the act of depressing may alter brain chemicals rather than vice versa. The answer is to quit depressing--not take drugs.

To me, one of the most fascinating practices Glasser has is to designate what are normally nouns and adjectives into verbs. "I choose to depress" or "I am depressing" instead of "I am suffering depression" or "I am depressed."

Choice Theory is contrasted with typical psychological external control. External Control suggests 1) people do things as a result of some external signal (e.g., answering a phone when it rings), 2) people can be controled, and 3) it is a moral obligation to control other people's behavior through punishment and reward . Choice Theory suggests there is only one person we can control: the self. We can choose our own behavior (we answer a telephone because we choose to, not because we have to). We even have indirect control over our feelings and physiology.

Glasser says the only thing we can really do is behave. When he uses this term he means "total behavior" which includes actions, thoughts, feelings, and physiology. He says:

Although all four components are always operating when you choose a total behavior, you have direct control only over your actions and thoughts. You may argue: "Sometimes I can't seem to control what I am thinking about; I can't get a repetitive thought out of my mind." I contend you keep choosing to think that repetitive thought, miserable as it may be, because it gives you better control over some aspect of your life than any other thought you could choose at the time. This idea, that you always try to make the best choice at the time, is essential to understanding total behavior.

This is not to suggest every behavior chosen is the best option--it just seems to be the best we can think of at that moment.

Here are a few axioms of choice theory:

• The only person whose behavior we can control is our own. No one can make us do anything we don't want to do. (Even martyrs chose death rather than recant some belief thus proving a person cannot be forced to choose something she doesn't want to choose).


• All we can give or get from other people is information. How we deal with the information is our choice.


• All long lasting psychological problems are relationship problems. A partial cause of many other problems, such as pain, fatigue, weakness, and some chronic diseases...is relationship problems.


• The problem relationship is always a current one.


• What happened in the past that was painful has a great deal to do with what we are today, but revisiting the painful past can contribute little or nothing to what we need to do now: improve an important, present relationship. It is good to revisit the parts of our past that are satisfying but leave what was unhappy alone.


• All we can do from birth to death is behave. All behavior is total behavior and is made up of four inseparable components: acting, thinking, feeling, and physiology.


• All total behavior is chosen, but we have direct control only over the thinking and acting components. We can, however control our feelings and physiology indirectly.

These are just a few of the ideas proposed by Glasser. I found the book very easy to read and assimilate. You probably won't agree with everything Glasser says or suggests, but much of what he says makes sense. He also backs his beliefs up by a very effective and successful psychiatric practice of over 40 years.

Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense by N. T. Wright

With a nod toward C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity N. T. Wright gives us what Anne Rice calls, "a classic." Since I'm not qualified to make such judgements, I'll settle for saying: This is an incredible explanation of what it means to be a Christ follower.

Dr. John Harrison, chair of Graduate Bible at Oklahoma Christian University, says: "What C. S. Lewis did for the modernist in Mere Christianity, Wright hopes he has done for the post-modernist who genuinely wants to know 'What is this Christianity thing really all about?'"

Wright begins by exploring four areas he describes as "echoes of a voice." These are : the longing for justice, the quest for spirituality, the hunger for relationships, and the delight in beauty. These themes form the foundation of the book.

The second part of the book is an exploration of the central Christian belief about God who called the people of Israel to be his agents in

"setting forward his plan to rescue and reshape his creation. We therefore spend a whole chapter in looking at the story and hopes of ancient Israel, before spending two chapters on Jesus and two on the Spirit. Gradualy, as this part unfolds, we discover that the voice whose echoes we began to listen for in the first part becomes recognizable, as we reflect on the creator God who longs to put his world to rights; on the human being called Jesus who announced God's kingdom, died on a cross, and rose again; and on the Spirit, who blows like a powerful wind through the world and through human lives."

In part three, Wright sets forth what it looks like to follow Jesus. He examines worship, prayer, and scripture. He then focuses on the "church" as the "company of all those who believe in the God we see in Jesus and who are struggling to follow him."

In this section he particularly explores the purpose and mission of these people we call "the church." It isn't the idea of following a list of arbitrary rules so that we can get to some place called "heaven" when we die. While our future is very important, the nature of living for Christ and the Christian hope focuses on the present life. Our calling right at this moment is to become instruments of God's new creation--to continue Jesus' mission to "put the world to rights."

While it isn't exactly an aria da capo, the themes of the first section find themselves coming back up in the last section more fully as justice, spirituality, relationships and beauty are described as part of the Christian vocation. He speaks of beliving, belonging, putting the world to rights, and a beautiful new creation.

What impresses me about N. T. Wright is his appeal to classic Christian belief which has fallen on hard times during the past 50-100 years; specifically the teachings of the Resurrection ("life after 'life after death'"), the nature of Jesus, and the renewed creation. He describes these complicated themes without ambiguity.

To get a flavor of his style here's an excerpt (one of my favorite passages) from chapter 13, The Book God Breathed:

"It's a big book, full of big stories with big characters. They have big ideas (not least about themselves) and make big mistakes. It's about God and greed and grace; about life, lust, laughter, and loneliness. It's about birth, beginnings, and betrayal; about siblings, squabbles, and sex; about power and prayer and prison and passion.

And that's only Genesis."

Whether you are a Christ-follower or an inquirer, this is a book well worth reading! His style is easy-to-read for such huge themes. You may or may not agree with him, but he will make you think and ponder.

"Simply Christian goes beyond C.S. Lewis's great classic Mere Christianity. N.T. Wright is simply crucial; his writing can transform one's life. This will become a classic."

-Anne Rice, author of Interview with a Vampire and Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt