books, books, and more books

Blogging hasn't been consistent for me for some time now (2013, what happened?) While I'm not sure if things will change significantly for 2014, I do think it is worth it to blog periodically about some books that I'm reading.

So, here's a good one that's worth a read (a little dense, yes, but so worth it): Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America by Michael Emerson and Christian Smith.
The book introduction begins with this:

This book is a story of how well-intentioned people, their values, and their institutions actually recreate racial divisions and inequalities they ostensibly oppose. It is a narrative of how some of America's core values and assumptions and its reliance on market principles contradict and work against other esteemed values. To tell this tale of paradox, we explore the connection between two of the most dynamic, controversial, long-standing, and unique aspects of American life--evangelical religion and black-white relations. (1-2)

And that's exactly what the book does -- it explores how "well-intentioned people" (white Evangelical Christians) recreate racial divisions and inequalities. The first few chapters of the book take a look at the  history of slavery and how many Christian groups believed this was biblical and were afraid of changing the status quo for fear of chaos (fear, there it comes up again...), as well as the Civil Rights Movement and Evangelical attitudes during this time. The authors are fair in their assessment of Evangelical perspectives on race attitudes throughout history -- there were many Evangelicals opposed to slavery and many who fought for African Americans' civil rights -- but I wouldn't say that they were usually the majority.

The larger problem that the book addresses in understanding how Evangelicals often perpetuate racial divisions is their misunderstanding of structural and institutional racism. For the majority of Evangelicals in the US, their understanding of racism is individual -- if you are kind to the black man/woman on the street, everything is fine and there is no "problem of race" in society. The oversimplification of racism to individual interactions is plaguing larger comprehension of racial injustices.

I learned a lot about institutional and structural racism in a sociology class in college and it reshaped the way I think about racial issues in the US. What's been interesting to continue to learn post-grad is how structural racism affects the church, and this I find even more depressing and disheartening.

What I took away the most from this book, however, wasn't the discussion of Evangelical Christians' misunderstanding of structural racism, but rather the last chapters that discussed how like-minded groups bond together and what this means for bridging the divide between races within the church. It's easy to demonize modern day church in America as being intentionally divided, but I think there are reasons for why we are divided that are worth considering.

"Birds of a feather flock together" Simple, yet true. We like being with people who are similar to us. In one aspect, church is a place that we go to pursue a relationship with God in a community of people that we like and who share a common understanding of faith and life practice. In the US, we have significant freedom in choosing the faith community we wish to be a part of (a major point made by the authors) and we like to be with people who understand and are similar to us (totally natural and understandable). The authors helped me to better understand why the Church is so divided -- and that it's not necessarily malicious intent.

Evangelical Christianity is in my blood and is a part of who I am. Having said that, the reality of Evangelical Christian attitudes towards race is really upsetting to me. I'm also not naive to the desire for community, relationships with people who are like me and who "get" me. I think one of the biggest desires in all human beings is for connection and love between one another. With that in mind, I believe bridging racial divisions within our society and churches is going to be really hard work. In my own limited experience of being a part of church communities and cross cultural relationships, I see messy-ness and misunderstanding and confusion and chaos: words I usually try to run as far away from as possible. It's funny to me that those are the words I think we're supposed to be more familiar with (messy, chaotic, misunderstanding and then re-understanding). Those are the words that will draw us into community with people who come from different backgrounds and share unique circumstances. If church wasn't a little messy and chaotic, something might be missing.

I'm thankful for this book as it helped give me context for better understanding racial divisions within the church in America. The challenge the authors give at the end of their work is for readers to think about how we can change the reality of this division (quite a big question). Maybe they'll write a "part II" with their suggestions?

life-long learning

i walked up to her office door on the third floor of frost, clutching the computer where i had just typed quotes that shook me, and the book (whose quotes i had typed furiously) sitting on top. i walked into her office and i just started to talk -- i don't ever seem to have hesitancy in that arena. when i'm that invested in something words just seem to pour out.

"dr. george, i don't know what to think about this. this is changing the way i think! the way i think about singleness and marriage and femininity and masculinity and my value as a woman and who i am and what society thinks of me and, and, and ..." the words bubble over.

and she looked at me in her chair and said words to me in her beautiful British accent. she nodded and told me stories and lessons about culture and society and this thing called paradigm shifts.

i'm scared of losing the love for books, for ideas that make me stay up late at night, for conversations that make me smile wide.

but i guess i shouldn't be fearing that. you see, i found that book (the one i took up to my professor's office) at a small bookstore in boston. my friend and i were purusing the book shelves and i stumbled upon it, flipped through a few pages and was fascinated by the author's frank discussion about weddings and bachelorette parties and what being a bride and groom signifies. so i bought it and read it and haven't stopped talking about it since.

i'm not a college student anymore, but i hope to always be a student in some capacity. and maybe one day, i can be a teacher too. i can have a bedroom or office where people come to me bursting with confusion and eagerness about books and ideas. and we can be confused and eager together. i can look in their eyes and smile and say "me too! i'm excited too!" and we can drink coffee or tea and share stories and ideas and lessons.

i hope to always discover things - the big and small. i hope to always leave crazy voice mail messages on my friends' phones that go like this "LISA THIS BOOK IS BLOWING MY MIND! YOU HAVE TO READ THIS! IT'S SO INCREDIBLY GOOD!" and i hope to always sit at the dinner table with my dad and talk about the newspaper and those articles he clipped out and places in his basket next to the computer.

i'm hoping school is closer than it feels. and i'm hoping to always be a life-long learner, no matter if i'm taking 16 credits or zero.

because i'm limited

time is running out.

that's what i feel like saying to myself as i think about the papers that need to be written and the places in boston i want to see and the friends i want to spend time with and the plans i need to make and the responsibilities i need to take care of. may 19th (aka graduation) is just around the corner and with that comes a whole new world of decisions and questions and transitions and so many things i'm just not prepared nor ready to face.

a wise mentor recommended i read a book called The Wisdom of Stability: Rooting Faith in a Mobile Culture by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. WOWZA. the book is short (a mere 146 pages) and says things that are very counter-cultural and provocative. he [wislon-hartgrove] asks questions that i am not used to asking myself (especially as a westerner)...but questions i must ask myself.

i remember talking to a friend before she moved over seas for an internship and she talked about how limited we are as human beings and the miracle that Jesus became limited (in human form) to meet us on earth. i had never thought of it that way before: Jesus could have done a bazillion things at once - like miracle here miracle there, evaporate to egypt then hit up turkey to save as many people as possible. but he didn't. he WALKED. he let people wash his feet. he hung out in a desert for 40 days, he slept on a boat.
Jesus lived within limits ... do we? do i??


as westerners i don't think we understand limits -- we think we can do it all and do it all well. this is one of wilson-hartgrove's biggest themes. the way he describes limits is thinking about a tree and how it grows within a specific circumference and gets the nutrients it needs through its "drip line." it's the extent of those roots that allows the tree to quench its thirst -- and only within the extent of those roots.
the book has a lot of themes i would love to talk about - but that's for another post. as for now, i am thinking about how i am a limited person, and being okay with this at a time in my life where i wish i could do everything and be everywhere, especially as i prepare for goodbyes and leaving people and places i have come to love so much.

so i must enter this phase, (every phase for that matter!!), of my life recognizing my limitations -- recognizing that i can't get it all done, i can't spend every hour of my day relishing the sunsets and eating ice cream with a friend or walking along the beach, or writing a brilliant paper for every class (that doesn't mean i shouldn't try to write well, though!!). some days i will have to spend 6 hours in the library, some days i'll have to go to bed early, and some days i just will simply need to sit on my bed and read a book even though my day's ambitions are anything but that.

i'm convinced that the way Jesus lived his life is a way i need to model, a way i need to try, however imperfectly to model in my own life. if there is anyone on this earth who had a reason to live frantically and stressfully, it was him. but he didn't. he lived gracefully and peacefully and fully. i want to learn to do likewise.

christian leadership

i had never read henri nouwen before until i was given his small book, In the Name of Jesus. I have heard him quoted often, but i was blessed by reading one of his works, which explores the necessity of being humble in christian leadership.

"Here we touch the most important quality of Christian leadership in the future. It is not a leadership of power and control, but a leadership of powerlessness and humility in which the suffering servant of God, Jesus Christ, is made manifest...I am speaking of a leadership in which power is constantly abandoned in favor of love. It is a true spiritual discipline. Powerlessness and humility in the spiritual life do not refer to people who have no spine and who let everyone else make decisions for them. They refer to people who are so deeply in love with Jesus that they are ready to follow him wherever he guides them, always trusting that, with him, they will find life and find it abundantly" (82-84)

Thank you for the inspiration Mr. Nouwen .. the challenge for me now is living this out: powerless and humble, deeply in love with Jesus. i have a long way to go :)