Blue Like Jazz - Donald Miller

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Category: Non-fiction. Acquired: Purchased Read: December 2008 (for the 2nd time) Briefly: if being Christian isn't just about being white, middle-class and Republican, then what is it really about?

Comments: This thought-provoking book comes from my favorite Christian author, thinker and knee-jerk liberal (the latter in a refreshingly non-political sense).

In one of the most memorable chapters, Miller and a few of his friends have been looking for a way to "come out" as Christians on their ultra-liberal college campus. So, during the college's spring festival, they build a small wooden booth in the middle of campus, and label it "Confessions Here". The first student sticks his head in and says, 'so, I'm supposed to tell you all the bad things I've done this weekend?' Miller replies, 'No, as a Christian, I'm confessing to you'. He explains:

Jesus said to feed the poor and to heal the sick. I've never done very much about that. Jesus said to love those that persecute me. I tend to lash out when threatened. Jesus did not mix His spirituality with politics. I grew up doing that, and it got in the way of the central message of Christ. I know that was wrong, and I know that a lot of people will not listen to the words of Christ because people like me, who know Him, carry our own agendas into the conversation rather than just relaying the message Christ wanted to get across.

That's a recurring theme in this book - i.e. that we've linked Christianity so tightly to our narrow political and social ideologies that we're driving folks away before they even get a chance to hear His message. The world isn't rejecting Christ any more, they're rejecting our politics and our agenda.

I said earlier that Miller is a refreshingly non-political liberal. What I mean is that he points out the inconsistency between the issues that we conservatives often put our time and energy into, versus those that Christ actually spent his time talking about - poverty, hunger, injustice, etc. However, unlike many "socially conscious" Christians, Miller resists the temptation to suggest that either political party has the answer. Rather, he says, the need is for Christians on all sides of the political spectrum to take Spirit-led action individually, beginning in their own backyards.

How that happens is a lot of what this book is about. But it's not a textbook or a step-by-step guide (another reason I like it). Think of it as a glimpse into a thought process, as Miller describes his disenchantment with the shallow legalism that he grew up with, and his journey toward a deeper, more satisfying understanding of what it truly means to be a Christ-follower.

This was my second time to read the book, which means I was less rushed and more able to stop and think about certain sections. If you've read it before, try doing the same - you 'll pick up a lot you missed the first time.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith

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Category: Memoir Acquired: T&B Library. Read: December 2008 Briefly: Girl grows up in Brooklyn during the 1910's.

Comments: I picked this up because I grew up near NYC, and have always considered it one of the world's most significant and interesting cities. Even more importantly, my dad was born and raised in Brooklyn (about ten years later than the time period covered in this book), so I was interested in a glimpse of what life might have been like in that place and time.

The book paints a detailed picture of daily life in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, at least for the author and her family, who were impoverished, first-generation immigrants. It's hard to wrap one's mind around the struggles they faced - the constant uncertainty over where the next meal is coming from, the search for decent jobs, the prejudices, and the unrelenting class consciousness. But there are joys as well - the occasional few pennies earned selling junk, the family times and holidays, and, for the author, the opportunity to lose herself in her writing.

Ultimately, it's the classic story of the turn-of-the-century American immigrant. A family leaves kith and kin for the chance to start over again in the Land of Opportunity. The first generation struggles to stay afloat, with Mom and Dad sacrificing everything for the chance to give their children any head start they can. Ultimately, with hard work, education, and a bit of luck, they're able to pull ahead and establish a new generation of Americans. Then, in the 1960's, their grandkids go to Berkeley and learn that everything they've achieved came from exploiting the lower classes, so they drop out to become pot farmers.

OK, that last part wasn't in the book. Also missing from the book is how the struggling immigrants of the 1910's raised a generation of kids with strength and character, who grew up to become the Greatest Generation. However, along with that strength came an obsession that their own kids would never have to face the kinds of struggles that they did. And so it went - the next generation grew up protected and indulged, never achieved quite the same level of character, and suddenly we're a nation of people who get our current events from Comedy Central. Thanks for asking.

You may not have the family or geographic reasons I had for reading the book, but you might enjoy it nonetheless, as a peek into a part of history that doesn't seem to be taught much any more.