Musings

The Poisonwood Bible

2012-02-10T08:00:00.000+10:30

The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver

This is a literary masterpiece, both of the writing and the story itself.

Written from 5 different perspectives: Orleanna Price, the wife of a Baptist missionary, and their 4 daughters, it weaves the story of their mission to the Congo in the 1950s and how it affects every aspect of their lives from that moment on.

I read it over 10 years ago and have recently read it again. Yet again, I found it incredibly moving and somewhat exhausting to read. For the last third I could only manage a chapter or two a sitting.

Kingsolver’s writing is wonderful, her turn of phrase, her insight and her intelligence shine throughout the pages. Almost every chapter had something I could have written down as a quote to keep. Her insights into religion, politics, race, Africa and America are wide-ranging and well informed.

Yet, it’s devastating. Nathan Price, the husband and father is a fierce, fiery man, preaching hell-fire and damnation to all, never showing love to his wife, daughters or the people of Africa, and thinking himself absolutely correct in all matters of faith and the bible. In many ways he is a parody, yet a disturbingly realistic one.

With the setting in the Congo, we are given a picture of Africa which many of us are uncomfortable with: rife with corruption and greed, a puppet of the west, overwhelmed with poverty and desperation.

Just as I found The Rector’s Wife hard going from a personal perspective, I found this very hard reading as I thought more broadly about mission and how it interacts with other cultures. We know many missionaries and they are nothing like Nathan Price;, they are loving, caring people, devoted to the country they live in and its people, desiring to share Jesus with them in appropriate ways. A book like this actually undoes much of that and there are many people who I hope never read it, for it would confirm in their minds already ill-conceived ideas about mission.

But as a fiction and a work of literature, it is wonderful.

For the longest time...

2012-02-08T08:00:00.000+10:30

I moved a lot as a child. Dad had a job which required a lot of international moves, so we moved every 1-3 years. When I finished school I had attended 7 schools and lived in 9* houses. By the time we got married, went to college and moved to our current house, the number of houses had risen to 14. That averaged one house for every two years of my life.

Since the end of last year we have been in our house for 7 years. This house in Adelaide, which we love and which is lovingly provided by the church G works for - is the winner: “The house that Wendy has lived in the longest”.

Having moved so much has made me realise a few things:

1. Kids are resilient. More resilient than we often given them credit for. I was a painfully shy creature, yet I coped with move after move (I know, not all children will). For me, moving lots during primary school was no real problem, it was when we got to upper high school that it got really hard.

2. I plot the events of my childhood and remember things according to where I was living (either house or city), or which school I was at. For my husband, who attended 2 schools and lived in one house, this doesn’t work for him.

3. Family are very important. The reason I coped as well as I did was because we had a very close family. The four of us were all we needed to be happy, and we were. I had an extremely close relationship with my sister, we had to be each other’s friends until we met new friends in the new school.

4. I am always planning the next move. Until very recently we kept all boxes for appliances and everything that might need to be repacked. I often think about what I will throw out when we move. Only in the last month have I thrown out a whole lot of this stuff.

5. Just this last year I have realised that when you are in a house for 7 years, it and the furniture & things in it really need a full clean every few years. You can’t just plan to do it properly when you move. Now I clean it because I want to live in it with it that clean.

I wonder how long it will take to get “the next move” out of my mind, or if it will always be part of who I am?

* to be precise, there were more than 9 houses - but these include rentals during renovations, etc.

Who is your king?

2012-02-06T08:00:00.001+10:30

A well-needed reminder came to me via yesterday's sermon:

What message is your life and your lips sending to others?

Do they know by watching your life and your speech that Jesus is your King?

Or, does it appear that your kids, your house, your job, your appearance or your personal happiness is your King?

Who is your King?

The Novel in the Viola

2012-02-03T08:00:00.000+10:30

The Novel in the Viola, Natasha Solomons

A trip to my mum’s over the holidays provided much of the fiction I am reviewing at the moment, and I’m glad it did, because otherwise I would probably not have bothered to pick up another novel by Natasha Solomons. Mr Rosenblum’s List was a nice book, but I didn’t love it. Her second novel, The Novel in the Viola, I really enjoyed.

Returning to a similar theme of Mr Rosenblum, that of European Jews fleeing to England in the 1930s, this time it is the story of Elise Landau. From a wealthy Viennese family, she is forced to become a parlour maid in an English country house, Tyneford, in order to secure a visa and escape Austria. However, war is looming, times & traditions are changing, and the ordered life of Tyneford is starting to buckle. While normally any interaction between the family and staff is forbidden, Elise and Kit, the heir to the manor, realise that love does not care for class distinctions. This is the novel I read after The Help, which left me pondering the many people who have ‘served’ the wealthy: the black Americans, the poorer English, etc. Our society contains many class distinctions.

This is a gentle novel. It is sad in many ways, and talks about times of real grief and suffering, yet it eases us into them. I enjoyed the insight into English life in the 1930s and wartime, and Solomons’ writing style is lovely - evocative and gentle. Perfect for the time in which the novel is set.

If you enjoyed Mr Solomon’s List, you will really like this one.

Just a piece of paper?

2012-02-02T08:00:00.000+10:30

Sometimes you are struck by 2 opposing opinions – one that summarises the culture that you live in and one that shows you its faults.

As you know I have been reading The Meaning of Marriage. At the same time, Geoff and I have been re-watching the ABC show SeaChange.

What struck me was a scene between Harold and Meredith talking about marriage:

“We still have what we’ve got Hal, we don’t need a silly bit of paper.”

She goes on to say:

“There are advantages to this arrangement you know Hal. I’ve got my independence and you’ve got yours. Whatever’s between us is freely given, there are no obligations, no conditions, we’re absolutely free to be ourselves.”

Contrast it with this quote from Keller on exactly the same idea that “we don’t need a piece of paper” (ie a marriage certificate).

When the Bible speaks of love, it measures it primarily not by how much you want to receive but by how much you are willing to give of yourself to someone. How much are you willing to lose for the sake of this person? How much of your freedom are you willing to forsake? How much of your precious time, emotion, and resources are you willing to invest in this person? And for that, the marriage vow is not just helpful but it is even a test. In so many cases, when one person says to another,”I love you, but let’s not ruin it by getting married,” that person really means, “I don’t love you enough to close off all my options. I don’t love you enough to give myself to you that thoroughly.” To say, “I don’t need a piece of paper to love you” is basically to say, “My love for you has not reached the marriage level.”. (p78)

I'll side with Keller on this one.

The Meaning of Marriage (Part 3 of 3)

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000+10:30

Today, we continue with the second half of The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy and Kathy Keller. (first half review here)

In Chapter 4: The Mission of Marriage, Keller seeks to answer the question: what is marriage for? He decides: it is a way for two friends to help each other continue to become the people God wants them to be. This chapter started with some excellent insights into Christian friendship, which have a much wider application than marriage. True friendship provides transparency and constancy: we are open with real friends and we stand by one another. When this friendship becomes the heart of our marriage, we stand by one another as we continue to grow in Christ.

In this view of marriage, each person says to the other, “I see all your flaws, imperfections, weaknesses, dependencies. But underneath them all I see growing the person God wants you to be.”… You want to help your spouse become the person God wants them to be. (p122-3)

On a personal note, this has put into words what Geoff and I have been trying to figure out for years. What was it that made us decide that marriage was the right decision for us? We didn’t really know what each of us would be like as a spouse or parent and in many ways we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. But we could see a clue of how God was working in each other and we decided we wanted to be a part of that.

This also provides insight for those who are seeking a marriage partner. A Christian friend is the first place to look, if friendship is there, you could then consider marriage. This is a much better way than seeking someone you are attracted to first, then checking to see whether a true friendship will follow.

Marriage is incredibly powerful and therefore it must have the priority in your life:

Marriage has the power to set the course of your life as a whole. If your marriage is strong, even if all the circumstances in your life around you are filled with trouble and weakness, it won’t matter. You will be able to move out into the world in strength. However, if our marriage is weak, even if all the circumstances in your life around you are marked by success and strength, it won’t matter. You will move out into the world in weakness. Marriage has that kind of power – the power to set the course of your whole life. (p 131, my emphasis)

In Chapter 5: Loving the Stranger, Keller follows on with this idea and presents 3 ways to help a couple on the journey of becoming the people God wants them to be: the power of truth, the power of love and the power of grace.

Marriage brings you truth – the truth about who you really are.

Marriage shows you are realistic, unflattering picture of who you are and then takes you by the scruff of the neck and forces you to pay attention to it. (p140)

At the same time, marriage also has the power of love “an unmatched power to affirm you and heal you of the deepest wounds and hurts of your life. (p146) For example, even if you have never felt you are beautiful, the affirmation of a spouse who insists you are beautiful will finally help you to believe it. Of course, there is a warning here for us all – our power as a spouse to hurt is far greater than the power of any other person:

The one person in the whole world who holds your heart in her hand, whose approval and affirmation you most long for and need, is the one who is hurt more deeply by your sins than anyone else on the planet. (p162)

We need to figure out how to balance both truth and love in a marriage, so that we address issues truthfully, but also in love and carefully. For this we need grace. Two of the most important skills in marriage are forgiveness and repentance. “Only if we are very good at forgiving and very good at repenting can truth and love be kept together” (p163). We only have this power because we follow the example of Christ and his saving death for us:

A deep experience of the grace of God knowledge that you are sinner saved by grace – will enable the power of truth and love to work together in your marriage. (p168)

This is a helpful chapter which highlights the power you hold as a spouse, and how we must use it very carefully, and for good.

In Chapter 6: Embracing the Other, Kathy Keller becomes the primary voice. Here she discusses the differences of men and women in marriage and the problem such differences can create. She goes on to explain the bible passages that point towards a complementarian view of marriage and then fleshes out some practical ways that may look in a marriage. To be honest, I tend to skim over these chapters in marriage books now, I agree with it so I don’t interact with it too closely. However, they do include a helpful appendix on Decision Making and Gender Roles. We find that most engaged and newly married couples think decision making is the main way that a marriage based on the Ephesians 5 model of headship and submission is defined. We are quick to point out that headship and submission is so much more than decision making, and in fact it is rarely about decision making. However in including the appendix, the Kellers have provided a helpful framework for couples working through this issue.

In Chapter 7: Singleness and Marriage, Keller covers singleness, bringing 1 Corinthians 7 into focus. What he says here is helpful – that Christian society should not elevate marriage to a special status when your life truly begins, but neither should we shun marriage for our careers or until we find a perfect mate – which we never will. He talks about some principles for dating and also some practical guidance for those who are single and potentially seeking marriage. Some of these I thought were helpful, they included:

there are seasons not to seek marriage – upheaval, transitions, etc
understand the gift of singleness - that is that there are some increased opportunities for ministry that singleness brings
seek marriage more seriously as you get older, and understand that others do the same. How you behave in a dating relationship is different at 18 than it is at 35.
do not allow involvement with an unbeliever (Kathy Keller summarises her main points in this recent blog post)

In the final chapter, Chapter 8: Sex and Marriage, Keller looks at the role of sex in a marriage, and finds it is a crucial part, which binds two people together:

Sex is perhaps the most powerful God-created way to help you give your entire self to another human being. Sex is God’s appointed way for two people to reciprocally say to one another, “I belong completely, permanently and exclusively to you”. You must not use sex for anything less. (p223-4)

They present a very healthy and positive view of sex within the framework of marriage. They exhort people to wait until they are married, and then to enjoy sex and all its benefits, and to continue to make sex a priority in a marriage.

I highly recommend this book. As I said on Monday, it is useful for anyone who wants to think about marriage from God’s perspective. Read it and be encouraged by the vision of how good marriage can be. Then, for those who are married, think about how this can change your marriage for the better.

The Meaning of Marriage (Part 2 of 3)

2012-01-31T08:00:00.000+10:30

After yesterday’s brief review of The Meaning of Marriage, today I will go through the first half in more detail:

In Chapter 1: The Secret of Marriage, Keller states that secret of marriage is the gospel, for the gospel helps us to understand marriage and marriage helps us to understand the gospel. It is through the gospel that we find the power and the pattern for marriage:

God’s saving love in Christ...is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. (p48)

The truth and love combined in the gospel gives us the power and the knowledge of how to be married.

It is true that marriage is hard work, but it is worth it:

Marriage is glorious but hard. It’s a burning joy and strength, and yet it is also blood, sweat, and tears, humbling defeats and exhausting victories. (p21)

Keller also deals with a very helpful misconception in this chapter: the idea that we have to find our soul mate, the perfect person to marry. No, he says, we never marry the ‘right person’. For 2 reasons: we change throughout our lives and we are sinful.

In Chapter 2: The Power for Marriage, Keller unpacks the idea that is in the Holy Spirit who helps us to have the power for marriage, working against the main enemy of marriage – the sinful self-centredness of our hearts.

Only if you have the ministry of the Spirit in your life will you be fully furnished to face the challenges of marriage in general. And only if you are filled with the Spirit will you have all you need to perform the duty of serving your spouse in particular. (p52-3)

He challenges us to look at the reasons for issues in a marriage:

When facing any problem in marriage, the first thing you look for at the base of it is, in some measure, self-centredness and an unwillingness to serve or minister to the other. (p59)

Making it a priority to know, fear and serve the Lord Jesus gives us power and strength for this type of marriage and helps us to continue to want to serve the other and let go of our self-centredness.

I found this chapter particularly helpful in thinking through where many issues in marriage come from – our desire to put ourselves first, rather than serve first.

Chapter 3: The Essence of Marriage helps us to consider what is at the centre of marriage – love. But so much more than that – a covenantal love. A love that is a promise and a commitment, a love that promises to last the future, not just the present.

When the Bible speaks of love, it measures it primarily not by how much you want to receive but by how much you are willing to give of yourself to someone. How much are you willing to lose for the sake of this person? How much of your freedom are you willing to forsake? How much of your precious time, emotion, and resources are you willing to invest in this person? (p78)

A marriage is a covenant relationship, one is that is a covenant made both between two people, but also between a person and God. In the marriage ceremony you make promises before God: “Will you take this woman to be your wife?” is not answered to the wife, but to God: “I will”. Then you make promises to each other.

[A covenant] is a relationship far more intimate and personal that a merely legal, business relationship. Yet at the same time, it is far more durable, binding and unconditional that one based on mere feeling and affection. A covenant relationship is a stunning blend of law and love. (p84, my emphasis)

Not only that but the covenant love of a marriage declares much more that a current love for one another, but a future intention to continue to love:

In a wedding you stand up before God, your family, and all the main institutions of society, and you promise to be loving, faithful and true to the other person in the future, regardless of undulating internal feelings or external circumstances. (p87)

Therefore in any marriage, there will be times when we must choose to continue to love our spouses, when it doesn’t come easily. Love at this point is action, not feeling. It is decision to follow through on the promise previously made.

Each of these chapters had helpful insights both for me and others whom we talk about marriage with. Lots to think about and lots to work on!

More coming tomorrow...

The Meaning of Marriage (Part 1)

2012-01-30T08:00:00.001+10:30

The Meaning of Marriage, Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller

Another book on marriage has entered the Christian world and it is a good one.

Timothy Keller has done his Christian audience a great service with this book. This is not another ‘how to be married book’: how to communicate, how to deal with arguments, etc. Those types of books do have great value, especially for those who are engaged or in the early years of marriage (one of our recent favourites is Now That You Are Engaged – reviewed here).

What Keller has done is to lift our vision of marriage much higher that just the husband and wife. He places God squarely at the centre of every marriage and as the creator of marriage.

He seeks to provide an answer to questions such as: What is meaning of marriage? Why does marriage exist? What does it mean to enter a covenant? What is Christian friendship, and how does it find its fullest expression in marriage? Where does the power to continue in marriage come from? How then shall we view singleness?

Keller strongly grounds this work in the word of God, and ends up providing a very helpful framework of marriage as being a relationship of Christian friendship, promised in a covenant of love, powered by the Holy Spirit.

Last year, I reviewed Married for God by Christopher Ash in some detail on in tandem. At the time I thought it filled a void in the market for marriage books: one that actually described marriage from God’s perspective. This one stands beside it well.

If would be very good for:

already married couples to raise their eyes to the purpose of their relationship
for engaged couples, to give them a solid grounding in God’s view of marriage and the importance of the relationship
for anyone wanting to think ‘theologically’ about marriage
for young people, to ensure they have a God-centred view of marriage as they approach their relationships and life choices.

I think is probably an easier read than Married for God and I found it more logical on some points. Personally, I also found it more encouraging and less dry.

All in all a very good book for anyone who wants to think about marriage theologically. Which all of us should!

Over the next two days, I will delve into this book in a bit more depth, covering Ch 1-3 tomorrow and Ch 4-8 on Wednesday. That gives me a chance to think through it more, and to whet your appetite to read it yourself!

The Help

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000+10:30

The Help, Kathryn Stockett

This is Kathryn Stockett’s debut novel. And what a debut - this is a strong, intelligent book.

It’s Jackson, Mississippi in 1962 and Miss Skeeter is home from college wanting to be a journalist, yet having failed (in her mother’s eyes) to find a husband. The woman who raised her, the coloured help Constantine, has gone with no explanation. At the same time, two other maids, Aibileen and Minny work for her friends. They raise the children, care for the home and cook for everyone, yet are expected to use separate bathrooms to their white employers.

As Skeeter starts to question the very life into which she has been born - the segregated south - she, Aibileen and Minny embark on a journey to tell the story of the ‘help’.

It’s poignant, sad, astonishing, frightening and funny. It makes you question how white people could possibly be so ignorant and racist. Then you stop to think about the history of the USA, Australia, South Africa, Europe, etc and you realise that we have been at it for many years. Having said that, next week’s book (The Novel in the Viola) reminded me that race may actually have nothing to do with it, but rather money or status - more to come on that!

This book is well worth the read, both for the wonderful piece of writing that it is, but also for the eye-opening piece of history that it offers.

The Promise

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000+10:30

The Promise

Do you have any understanding of the Arab/Israeli situation? How it all started in the late 1940s and how it looks today? I don't, never having looked into it in detail or understood the small amount I knew. Now I'm sure TV dramas don't get all details right, but I really enjoyed this and it opened my eyes into some of the complexities of the situation.

The Promise is a 4 part drama series that was screened by SBS towards the end of last year.

It combines two stories. The first is of Len, a British soldier part of the post-WWII peace-keeping force in Palestine. At the time when Jews were fleeing Europe after the horrors of WWII, those who chose to settle in Palestine often clashed with the Palestinians living there. He has sympathies for the Jews having witnessed some of the atrocities of concentration camps; yet also befriends an Arab, Mohammed and becomes involved with his family.

At the same time, we meet Claire, Len's granddaughter, who has discovered his diary of those days. Travelling to Israel on a gap year with a friend, and hosted by her rich Israeli family, she sets out to track down Mohammed's family. Travelling to the West Bank, Hebron and Gaza, her eyes are opened into the current situation in Israel today. I wouldn't have thought any 18 year old would be quite as blithely stupid as she was wandering into war zones, yet then, you never know - at 18 you do think you are invincible!

I found it very interesting, very moving and quite believable. It managed to convey both sides of the issues well, although I think in the end the Israelis ended up looking worse. I cannot comment on the accuracy, but I appreciated some of the insights.

It's no longer on the SBS website, but my guess is they will show it again in 2012. More details are on the British Channel 4 website. Look out for it on TV, or in your local library.

Jane Austen in Scarsdale

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000+10:30

Jane Austen in Scarsdale, Paula Marantz Cohen

Is it true there are very few original stories out there?

Why is there an enduring literary obsession with Jane Austen?

I must say I don't fully understand it, but sometimes I do enjoy it. Jane Austen in Scarsdale is Paula Marantz Cohen's modern version of Persuasion. Anne fell in love with Ben at 21 but her family persuaded her that he wasn't good enough. Thirteen years later she is working as a high school guidance counselor and Ben re-enters her life when his nephew enrols at the school.

For those who know the story you can, of course, predict the ending.

It is lovely, light and witty reading: a love story with astute observations about students and parents thrown in for entertainment. Perfect for a summer holiday or a lazy afternoon.

* If anyone has a copy of Jane Austen in Boca, a Pride and Prejudice rewrite, I would love to borrow it - no library near me seems to have it!

Back again

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000+10:30

Here I am again - back for another year!

We have just had a lovely few weeks of holidays and a break, with some good offline time in there too.

A quick update on what we have been up to:

Christmas was a lovely celebration with friends here in Adelaide.

Then to Sydney for holidays. Yet again we were spoilt with our accommodation, offering almost 360 deg views of the city.

When the view is that good, you have to watch the fireworks on NYE.

I managed to swim some laps at possibly the most picturesque lap pool in the world.

And we gave our dear Z a camera for Christmas, so this was our regular view of her!

It was also a lovely time seeing extended family, close friends and godchildren.

Good times all round.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T17:30:00.000+10:30

Merry Christmas to my blog readers out there. Thanks for reading this year.

I hope each of you has a chance to celebrate Jesus' birth with friends and family, to give thanks for the challenges and blessings of 2011, to rest and refresh, and to look forward to another year serving Christ in 2012.

I'll be back in a few weeks.

Front page

2011-12-21T13:38:00.002+10:30

Turns out Zoe is on the front page of the local paper this week. They interviewed 6 Reception kids at school about Christmas. I was impressed her comments were recorded (p4):

"At my church we get to play lots of games and get to go around and listen to the story of Jesus' birth"

I am glad she remembered the point of Christmas Steps!

Christmas Steps

2011-12-17T17:40:00.000+10:30

Each year our church puts on an event called Christmas Steps. It's designed for primary school kids and their families. It is a massive undertaking with a team of ~100. Church members bring the children in their extended families and many invite school friends to come along.

The main part of the event is a tour. Set in various locations around the church grounds, groups are given an insight into some part of the Christmas story. Each section had a mini play and a song attached to it, with rewrites of songs spanning ABBA and The Pretenders.

Here are some of this year's tour highlights:

Our Roman centurion leading us to Bethlehem for the census


Mary arriving in Bethlehem

Joseph and his psychiatrist after he found out Mary was pregnant

The shepherds in the shearing shed

The angels singing "I love him" (think Sister Act) to the shepherds

The wise men (camping outside Jerusalem), singing up a storm

Mary and Joseph in the stable

A blog post like this really does not do justice to the inventiveness and skill of the people involved. The tours were clever, accurate (to a point!) and entertained parents and children alike.

Of course, you want to be able to entertain people while they wait for their tour to start, so the rest of the site was set up a little like a funfair, with a Roman centurion theme.

There was:

Face painting

A petting zoo

Balloon animals


A nativity scene set up for kids to dress up in and have their photos taken. Proper copies of the photos were given out 20 mins later, with a bible verse printed on them.

Many craft activities: clay bowls, bracelets, decorations, angels - all decorated with bible verses about Jesus.

It is a wonderful event which is easy to invite other families to and it's all free!

Great work guys!

Some pre-schooler books

2011-12-16T08:00:00.000+10:30

A number of recent trips to the library have turned up some treasures in the pre-school book department.

Firstly, a new offering from the great team of Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz, Mad About Minibeasts. We love their previous books, including Rumble in the Jungle and Commotion in the Ocean.

Mad About Minibeasts opens up the world of insects to young children in their usual rhyming, colourful way.

Another new one this year is Too Hot to Hug! Rupert finds a golden egg, from which hatches a baby fire dragon. At first, Crumpet is crumpety warm, he dries the washing and keeps the family snug. But as he grows bigger and the weather gets warmer, Crumpet gets too hot to hug and starts causing problems.

A very cute story, with gorgeous expressive illustrations.

The Pencil is written by Allan Ahlberg (of Peepo fame). This very clever book starts with a solitary pencil, who begins to draw and create a boy, a dog, a cat, and then all the things they want and ask for. Colour arrives when the pencil draws a paintbrush to help him. Peace is threatened when everyone gets too demanding and he draws a rubber which only makes things worse.

This is a funny, clever book and the kids loved the ideas behind it.