Today's post is both a book review and an internship update. Apologies for any ramblings ahead of time.
It was a slow week in the office. I've started my internship at a weird time in the schedule of the church, between big events and my boss' vacation. So not a lot to do for the worship intern yet - especially when there are three of us. So the majority of my day was spent acquainting myself with the music of the church, learning to make coffee for the staff, and reading a book the worship pastor assigned me. In my free time, I don't have much of a social life. To be expected, if you know me at all. So I spent some time getting to know my host family, binging a Netflix show, and reading. So here are my ramblings on each book I read this week.
Rhythms of Grace by Mike Cosper was informative and well structured. A lot of it was things I knew, when it comes to the importance of how we structure worship and what those structures say about what we believe. But there were some moments that stuck with me. Cosper uses the phrase "so we pray, so we believe" again and again in the latter half of the book, and its a beneficial mantra for worship leaders, and ministry leaders in general. The way that we structure prayers, music, Communion, and gatherings in general not only says something to the outside world about what we believe, but it shapes the way our communities understand God, themselves, and their relationships with each other. In this lens, the order of our worship becomes important not only for encouragement and fellowship, but for instruction and spiritual formation. Whether or not we allow space for silence, for lament, and for the confession of sins forms the life of the individual believer and how they will handle the difficulties of life. (This is not to say that this is the only place that believers learn how to deal with the awful parts of life, but it is one place, and a powerful and habit forming place at that.) Cosper's book does a great job of not only explaining the theories and concepts behind liturgy in current church models, but gives hands on examples - in the form of possible next steps at the end of several chapters, as well as model service orders at the end of the book. All in all, I really enjoyed it. Not a bad way to spend a work week, not at all.
As evidenced by the list below, I've also checked two other books off the list this week - Beauty by Robin McKinley and Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. I'll attempt to be brief, but I do want to talk a little about both of them, if you'll indulge me.
Beauty is a book I read a long time ago, probably when I was eleven or twelve. I've read several of McKinley's books, and loved them all. She writes in one of my favorite sub genres - darker or more realistic re-tellings of classic fairy tales. Beauty, predictably, is her re-imagining of Beauty and the Beast. In this version of the story - which aligns more closely with the German version than Disney's - Beauty is the youngest of three sisters, and whose given name Honour was replaced with the nickname Beauty before she matured into what she considers a rather unpleasant looking young woman. The general flow of the story is peaceful, told from Beauty's practical, no-nonsense perspective. Her family is gentle and loving, making the most of one terrible situation after another. This is one of the things which endears the book to me. Rather than making the two eldest sisters vain and petty because of their beauty, they are beautiful inside and out. They have their silly moments in the first first chapters, but they grow and mature brilliantly through the course of the story. I quite like Beauty, and her practicality. Her heart is easily controlled by her head, and she isn't swayed by much - a refreshing departure from so many depictions of the "princess" characters of my childhood. Her love for the Beast grows naturally and slowly, un-coerced by her sense of gratitude or duty. If I have any critique of the story it is this - it ends abruptly. After the Beat transforms, there is a brief explanation of his curse, a description of her family coming to join them in the castle, and the story ends. I wished to know at least a little more, although I can't exactly tell you what. Despite the abrupt ending, its a refreshing story, and a nice primer to McKinley's other works, which are longer and darker.
Till We Have Faces. I struggle for words to describe this story. I can tell even now, having just finished it yesterday, its a book I will return to again and again throughout my life. Till We Have Faces is Lewis' version of the story of Cupid and Psyche, which I admit, I'm not particularly familiar with. The short version of the original tale is this: Psyche is the youngest of three princesses, and the most beautiful. The goddess Aphrodite is jealous of her beauty, and sends misfortune on the land, demanding Psyche be sacrificed to save her kingdom. The king concedes, and ties Psyche to a tree at the top of the mountain to be eaten by the gods. Aphrodite sends her son Cupid to destroy Psyche, but Cupid is struck by her beauty and cannot kill her. Instead, he hides her away in a palace and visits her only in the dark of night, so his mother will not find out what he is doing. Psyche's sisters visit her on the mountain, and are jealous of her comfort and wealth. They tell her she must see her husband, even though he has forbid Psyche from seeing his face. Unwillingly, Psyche concedes, and lights a lamp to see the god while he is sleeping. A drop of oil from the lantern wakes him, and he is enraged by Psyche's disobedience. Psyche is cursed to wander until she completes three tasks, which will restore her to the good graces of Aphrodite. In the end, Psyche is victorious, marries Cupid, and is made a goddess.
Lewis was perplexed by the sisters of this story. His version is told from the perspective of the eldest sister, as her book against the gods for taking her sister away. It's difficult for me to explain, but I think what I can say is this: Lewis tells a story of love; not primarily between the god Cupid and the would-be goddess Psyche, but first the love of Orual, the eldest sister. He builds characters who are complicated and terribly flawed. In their brokenness and imperfection, they love imperfectly. Orual's love for her sister is deep and true, but in her own blindness, she is the cause of her sister's pain. Orual loves a man she cannot have, and in loving him the only way she can, she loses him. Orual loves her mentor, but not enough (or too much?) to let him go. Even the middle sister, Redival, is driven by love that has become twisted and vengeful. All the characters in this story are driven by love, but love imperfectly shown. Till We Have Faces is a story that deserves multiple readings, and really creates a desire for them. I just put it down a few hours ago, and I already want to read it again, realizing the questions I have and the details I missed. Of the three books I read this week, this is the one I recommend most highly.
Wow, if you made it through all of that, I commend you, and thank you!
780 down - 4,222 to go.
theList//
It was a slow week in the office. I've started my internship at a weird time in the schedule of the church, between big events and my boss' vacation. So not a lot to do for the worship intern yet - especially when there are three of us. So the majority of my day was spent acquainting myself with the music of the church, learning to make coffee for the staff, and reading a book the worship pastor assigned me. In my free time, I don't have much of a social life. To be expected, if you know me at all. So I spent some time getting to know my host family, binging a Netflix show, and reading. So here are my ramblings on each book I read this week.
Rhythms of Grace by Mike Cosper was informative and well structured. A lot of it was things I knew, when it comes to the importance of how we structure worship and what those structures say about what we believe. But there were some moments that stuck with me. Cosper uses the phrase "so we pray, so we believe" again and again in the latter half of the book, and its a beneficial mantra for worship leaders, and ministry leaders in general. The way that we structure prayers, music, Communion, and gatherings in general not only says something to the outside world about what we believe, but it shapes the way our communities understand God, themselves, and their relationships with each other. In this lens, the order of our worship becomes important not only for encouragement and fellowship, but for instruction and spiritual formation. Whether or not we allow space for silence, for lament, and for the confession of sins forms the life of the individual believer and how they will handle the difficulties of life. (This is not to say that this is the only place that believers learn how to deal with the awful parts of life, but it is one place, and a powerful and habit forming place at that.) Cosper's book does a great job of not only explaining the theories and concepts behind liturgy in current church models, but gives hands on examples - in the form of possible next steps at the end of several chapters, as well as model service orders at the end of the book. All in all, I really enjoyed it. Not a bad way to spend a work week, not at all.
As evidenced by the list below, I've also checked two other books off the list this week - Beauty by Robin McKinley and Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. I'll attempt to be brief, but I do want to talk a little about both of them, if you'll indulge me.
Beauty is a book I read a long time ago, probably when I was eleven or twelve. I've read several of McKinley's books, and loved them all. She writes in one of my favorite sub genres - darker or more realistic re-tellings of classic fairy tales. Beauty, predictably, is her re-imagining of Beauty and the Beast. In this version of the story - which aligns more closely with the German version than Disney's - Beauty is the youngest of three sisters, and whose given name Honour was replaced with the nickname Beauty before she matured into what she considers a rather unpleasant looking young woman. The general flow of the story is peaceful, told from Beauty's practical, no-nonsense perspective. Her family is gentle and loving, making the most of one terrible situation after another. This is one of the things which endears the book to me. Rather than making the two eldest sisters vain and petty because of their beauty, they are beautiful inside and out. They have their silly moments in the first first chapters, but they grow and mature brilliantly through the course of the story. I quite like Beauty, and her practicality. Her heart is easily controlled by her head, and she isn't swayed by much - a refreshing departure from so many depictions of the "princess" characters of my childhood. Her love for the Beast grows naturally and slowly, un-coerced by her sense of gratitude or duty. If I have any critique of the story it is this - it ends abruptly. After the Beat transforms, there is a brief explanation of his curse, a description of her family coming to join them in the castle, and the story ends. I wished to know at least a little more, although I can't exactly tell you what. Despite the abrupt ending, its a refreshing story, and a nice primer to McKinley's other works, which are longer and darker.
Till We Have Faces. I struggle for words to describe this story. I can tell even now, having just finished it yesterday, its a book I will return to again and again throughout my life. Till We Have Faces is Lewis' version of the story of Cupid and Psyche, which I admit, I'm not particularly familiar with. The short version of the original tale is this: Psyche is the youngest of three princesses, and the most beautiful. The goddess Aphrodite is jealous of her beauty, and sends misfortune on the land, demanding Psyche be sacrificed to save her kingdom. The king concedes, and ties Psyche to a tree at the top of the mountain to be eaten by the gods. Aphrodite sends her son Cupid to destroy Psyche, but Cupid is struck by her beauty and cannot kill her. Instead, he hides her away in a palace and visits her only in the dark of night, so his mother will not find out what he is doing. Psyche's sisters visit her on the mountain, and are jealous of her comfort and wealth. They tell her she must see her husband, even though he has forbid Psyche from seeing his face. Unwillingly, Psyche concedes, and lights a lamp to see the god while he is sleeping. A drop of oil from the lantern wakes him, and he is enraged by Psyche's disobedience. Psyche is cursed to wander until she completes three tasks, which will restore her to the good graces of Aphrodite. In the end, Psyche is victorious, marries Cupid, and is made a goddess.
Lewis was perplexed by the sisters of this story. His version is told from the perspective of the eldest sister, as her book against the gods for taking her sister away. It's difficult for me to explain, but I think what I can say is this: Lewis tells a story of love; not primarily between the god Cupid and the would-be goddess Psyche, but first the love of Orual, the eldest sister. He builds characters who are complicated and terribly flawed. In their brokenness and imperfection, they love imperfectly. Orual's love for her sister is deep and true, but in her own blindness, she is the cause of her sister's pain. Orual loves a man she cannot have, and in loving him the only way she can, she loses him. Orual loves her mentor, but not enough (or too much?) to let him go. Even the middle sister, Redival, is driven by love that has become twisted and vengeful. All the characters in this story are driven by love, but love imperfectly shown. Till We Have Faces is a story that deserves multiple readings, and really creates a desire for them. I just put it down a few hours ago, and I already want to read it again, realizing the questions I have and the details I missed. Of the three books I read this week, this is the one I recommend most highly.
Wow, if you made it through all of that, I commend you, and thank you!
780 down - 4,222 to go.
theList//
Spiritual Leadership: Henry and Richard Blackaby
Reaching Out: Henry Nouwen
Unceasing Worship: Harold Best
The Dangerous Act of Worship: Mark Labberton
Silence: Shucaku Endo
Christ Centered Worship: Bryan Chapell
Mere Christianity: CS Lewis
Culture Making: Andy Crouch
Works of Love: Soren Kierkegaard
Awake: Noel Brewer Yeats
Fahrenheit 451: Ray Bradbury
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Betty Smith
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Blue Like Jazz: Donald Miller
Click: Various Authors
The Last Little Blue Envelope: Maureen Johnson
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