The Blessing by John Trent and Gary Smalley

Non-Fiction. Paperback from Thomas Nelson Publishers. Published in 1993. Purchased at The Mustard Seed in Banbury, Oxfordshire, UK.

We don't often just stumble across Christian book shops, so when I saw The Mustard Seed I dragged Steve in. It was a small shop and though they had a decent selection, I have most of the books they had that I might be interested in. But, in an effort to support them I looked around to find something to buy. I settled on this book. It was not a difficult read, at least not in the sense of being hard to understand. It was difficult to think about how a lack of affirmation can unintentionally hurt our loved ones. Included in the book are stories of how different people were affected by the "blessing" (or lack of it); steps to follow in blessing your loved ones; as well as the address of a web site with more support and information about blessing. (The web site has some additional articles you can download, but really seems to be mostly stalled. Even the description of the book on the start up page is wonky. The book summary seems to be of a different book - unless I just completely missed several chapters or something.)

Publisher's summary (not from The Blessing web site):
Our emotional and psychological makeup is such that we all need what the Bible calls "the blessing"--the knowledge that someone in this world loves and accepts us unconditionally. The Blessing teaches the remarkably simple, logical process, touching both inner spirit and physical body, of being a blessing, and how to pass that life-changing blessing on to your parents, spouse, children, and friends.

To buy from amazon.co.uk, click here: The Blessing
from amazon.com, click here: The Blessing

From the bookshelf: Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House by Cheryl Mendelson

Non-fiction. Hardcover from Scribner. Published in 1999. Purchased from Amazon.com.

I suppose it might not be very cool to think this book is neat. But, I really do. The first time I became aware of it was at the Cascade Library (in Grand Rapids). After checking it out and renewing it, I decided it was worth buying. I was fascinated by the chapter on wine glasses - who knew there were different types of glasses for different types of wine? Not me. (Maybe this is common knowledge to some, but I was raised in a household that did not drink alcohol.) I also like the idea of having two different types of kitchen towels. One kind being designated for just dishes, the other for just hands. There is even a chapter on how to repair books! Ideas and information about running a household abound on every page. This is helpful to me because I spend most of my time attempting to keep our household functioning at a reasonable level.

Publisher's summary:
Home Comforts is something new. For the first time in nearly a century, a sole author has written a comprehensive book about housekeeping. This is not a dry how-to manual, nor a collection of odd tips and hints, a cleaning book, a history book, or an arid encyclopedia compiled by a committee or an institute. Home Comforts is a readable explanation for both beginners and experts of all the domestic arts -- choosing fabrics, keeping the piano in tune, caring for books, making a good fire in the fireplace and avoiding chimney fires, ironing and folding, setting up a good reading light, keeping surfaces free of food pathogens, and everything else that modern people might want to do for themselves in their homes. But this reliable and thorough book on the practicalities of housekeeping is also an argument for the importance of private life and the comforts offered by housekeeping.

Cheryl Mendelson is a philosopher, lawyer, sometime professor, and a homemaker, wife, and mother. Home Comforts is based on her domestic education, which she acquired while growing up on a farm in the hills of Greene County, in southwestern Pennsylvania, from her grandmothers, aunts, and mother. Learning from the distinct domestic styles of her native Appalachian relatives and her Italian immigrant relatives, she appreciated early on how important domestic customs are to a sense of comfort and identity in life. She writes out of love and respect for her subject, and hopes to inspire others to develop the affection and respect for home life and housework she was fortunate to have learned.

Mendelson addresses the meanings as well as the methods of housekeeping with a keen sense of the history and values involved. The result is a warm, good-humored, engagingly written book with a message and a point of view, one that is overflowing with useful reflections and information. The clarity, breadth, and depth of the information collected here are unparalleled. You can read Home Comforts for thoughtful entertainment or use its ample index to help you find the answers to practical domestic questions. There is nothing quite like it.

To buy from amazon.co.uk, click here: Home Comforts: the Art and Science of Keeping House
from amazon.com, click here: Home Comforts : The Art and Science of Keeping House

Rumours of Another World by Philip Yancey

Non-Fiction. Hardback from Zondervan. Published in 2003. On loan from the Windsor Public Library. (And overdue.)

Philip Yancey has long been one of my favourite authors. The Windsor library does not have a large selection of Christian books, so I was pleased to run across one of Yancey's books that I had not read. I was not really sure what it was about when I started reading it and was interested to see that he wrote the book for those who live in the "borderlands of belief", skeptical about church and religion. Throughout the book he offers indications of the other world and encourages the readers to remember the spiritual world and to let it be foremost in our minds.

Thomas Merton is quoted as saying: "Everything in modern city life is calculated to keep man from entering into himself and thinking about spiritual things." Certainly worth thinking on - if I can get around all the distractions my modern city life presents me with.

Publisher's summary:
In Rumours of Another World, Philip Yancey asks, "Is the visible world around us all there is?" and "What rumours of another world might it convey?" He then examines the apparent contridictions. If this is God's world, why doesn't it look more like it? Why is this planet so messed up? Finally, the book considers how two worlds – the visible and the invisible, natural and supernatural - might interact and affect our daily lives. Throughout, Yancey invites readers to explore the difference the answers make in coming to grips with our lives.

Rumours reads like a conversation, inviting those skeptical of religion and turned off by the church to consider the possibility of an unseen, supernatural world of beauty and purpose coexisting with our visible world. Rumours of another world are just that, rumours and not proofs, Yancey reminds us. "A thin membrane of belief separates the natural from the supernatural. We experience the highest realities through the lowest, and we must learn to pay attention to notice the difference".

To buy from amazon.co.uk, click here: Rumours of Another World: What on Earth are We Missing?
from amazon.com, click here: Rumors of Another World: What on Earth Are We Missing?