Snow Days' Reading

All these snow days have been good for getting a lot of reading done.  And I have really been enjoying the books I've selected.  Most of the time I have two or three books going at one time.  Some people can't imagine that, but most of my reading is non-fiction and doesn't have a real plot line to keep up with.  Here's the run-down of my snow day reading list.

I've discovered the writings of Frederick Buechner (pronounced Beekner).  If you do much religious reading you're bound to come across quotes from him.  A couple of years ago Kathryn gave me a book by him and since then I've read several of his works.  I've been reading his memoirs in the two books below, and I have been greatly impressed by his writing.  He describes several people in his life with just the right tone and humor; it made me want to be able to talk about people in my own life in such a way.  He says, "God speaks to you through your life," and then he describes details of moments and words and thoughts from his life and connects them in a meaningful way.  Great writing!

The next book I'm reading is actually a novel by Wendell Berry called Jayber Crow.  Berry is such an interesting person who has strong opinions on many topics, from pacifism to the environment to farming.  I am slow at reading this book because it is on my iPad, and I just don't like reading on a device as much as I like holding a book.  That being said, this is a beautiful story about a man in the small Kentucky town of Port William.  He is the observer of life in his community, and has deep feelings for a girl in his town, but she is a girl he will never have.  I'll have to give more complete information when I finish the book.  Phil really loved this book.

Finally, I'm reading Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey.  Brand was a doctor and a leading authority on leprosy.  He spent most of his life working with lepers in India as a missionary doctor.  Dr. Brand uses his medical background to make profound analogies between the human body and the body of Christ.  He likens the skeleton to the framework of doctrine that we build our faith upon, then later reminds us that, unlike an animal like a crawfish, we have our skeletons on the inside.  The crawfish's exoskeleton protects, but is a cold and hard exterior to present to the world.  Humans have their skeletons encased in skin and muscle that makes us have a soft, warm exterior.  Brand says that when we allow legalism to rule our lives and to be the way we represent ourselves to the world, we may feel protected, but we will be thought of as hard and cold, and may cause others to reject the gospel of Christ.  Very insightful!

A Death Defying Hike: The Full Account

On a cold but sunny afternoon this week, Mary and I took a hike up the side of the mountain behind her house.  We started up a trail at first, but she had warned me that we would be spending a lot of time off the path.  We climbed up and up until we were just outside what we thought was Vicky's house on the bluff.  From there we went south a ways and came to the place we had been looking for... a stream coming down off the slope.  Mary wanted us to follow the creek all the way back down the mountain.

We could see the creek, but we were above high above it and the slope going down to the creek was too steep to attempt to go down.  We followed along this ridge for a while until we came to a place where we thought we could climb down.  The slope looked like it had a sort of flat path across the middle of it, and so after some discussion we decided to give it a try.

I lost my footing on my first move and started to slide down the slope, but I easily put my foot on a small tree.  Now I was several feet below Mary, and I wasn't sure I could get back up.  Mary came down beside me and started to cut across the slope.  The ledge we thought we might be able to put our feet on ended up just being leaves piled up, so there was really nothing to put our feet on.  We had to sit  down and dig footholds in with our heels.  Fortunately, we had brought some walking poles and I had to use mine to dig in and have something to put my feet against.

I was saying, "O, Lord... O, Lord,"  praying that I was going to make it through this.  Most of the time I was just looking at my feet or the pole in the ground.  Once I looked beyond to how far down I could fall, and I quickly knew I couldn't do that again.  More than once I said to Mary, "I don't think I can do this."  But there was nothing else to do but keep going.

Both of us felt our legs and feet get really fatigued.  Mary made it across first.  I would not have made it if she had not been there to help me get to the end.  She was able to pull herself up to a safer spot, but she had to get hold of my arm and pull me out of this terrible situation.

We were both really shaken when we got to a more level place.  Mary said, "If we had slid down the hill, I don't think we would have died." I had to agree, but we would have been beaten up pretty badly.

It was an adventure, but not one either of us want to repeat it.  And I can't think of anyone I'd rather have with me for such an adventure than Mary Reid.