Saturday, February 8, 2020

Re-Reads

Over the last month or so, I have re-read three books...two for my book groups and one for Bible Study.  I have already posted blogs on two of these books, so I will just refer you to the dates of the postings.

1) The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead.  I wrote about this book on 8/15/19.

2) The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis.  I wrote about this one on 10/10/19.

I enjoyed re-reading both these books.  They each made for good discussion for the book groups and were well-liked.

It appears that I never posted a blog about the third book I re-read. It was Help, Thanks, Wow:The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott.  We used this book for our Bible Study for a few weeks and all thought it was a great book and a good use for our prayer lives.  I love this book.  Ms. Lamott is a great writer, and her spirituality is hers alone and I love that!

Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers

I'll give you my favorite parts of each chapter:

Prelude:
"God can handle honesty, and prayer begins an honest conversation.  My belief is that when you're telling the truth, you're close to God." 

Help:
"I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, with  no proof, that my grandfather prayed for all of us kids.  And as it turns out if one person is praying for you, buckle up.  Things can happen." 
Thanks:
"The movement of grace toward gratitude brings us from the package of self-obsessed madness to a spiritual awakening.  Gratitude is peace."

Wow:
"Love falls to earth, rises from the ground, pools around the afflicted.  Love pulls people back to their feet.  Bodies and souls are fed.  Bones and lives heal.  New blades of grass grow from charred soil.  The sun rises." 

And then the book ends with a chapter called "Amen".  It was actually my favorite chapter of the book (and I loved all of the book):

"So it is, when we do the best we can, and we leave the results in God's good hands. Amen."
Great book...I recommend it highly!

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