Friday Frivolity: Book Anathema
Back in 2013, I wrote a short post about Book Anathemas. Put simply, people would write curses in the front of their books to make sure people returned them if they borrowed them. Well, I recently came across another:
Tag: Book
Resisting Happiness
I woke up this morning and smiled when I remembered that I didn’t have to read any of the Qur’an this morning! So, instead of reporting on another chapter of Islamic scripture, I thought I’d write a little bit about one of the books I’m reading, Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly.
I’m only about six chapters through “Resisting Happiness” so far, but since we’re at the beginning of a new year, I thought it would be a good time to share the book’s central message.
Resistance
Matthew Kelly opens the book by describing what he calls “resistance”:
It’s that sluggish feeling of not wanting to do something that you know is good for you, it’s the inclination to do something that you unabashedly know is not good for you… It’s the desire and tendency to delay something you should be doing right now.
– Resisting Happiness, Chapter 1
Hopefully it’s clear why I think this subject is appropriate to discuss. We are at that time of year when everyone makes New Year resolutions which will, unfortunately, probably not last beyond February…
As with most of Mr. Kelly’s books, I’m sure his hypersensitive critics will complain about the style of this book. It doesn’t use hefty theological terms and, at least in the opening few chapters, it doesn’t identify “resistance” as “the world, the flesh and the devil”, the three enemies of the soul which are traditionally identified in Christian theology. Even though it’s not described in these terms, Mr. Kelly makes it very clear that “resistance” is to be fought and he uses imagery which should be very familiar to most Christians:
Make no mistake, resistance is your enemy. It will not quietly go away and leave you alone. You have to slay it like a dragon, and you have to slay it anew each day
– Resisting Happiness, Chapter 1
Friday Frivolity: Christian Book Covers
Inside Room 24
I was fortunate enough to spend Christmas 2015 with my family back in England. One of the many things I enjoy about taking trips to England is the plane ride because the time spent at 30,000 feet is usually very productive! I’m not sure if it’s simply because I’m stuck in a seat for nine hours, or because people are waiting on me hand and foot, but for whatever reason I tend to get a lot of writing done. The fruits of previous transatlantic plane rides have included my series on Catholic dating, the top 11 reasons why every man should learn to dance and, one of my personal favourites, the article which explains how the He-Man cartoon teaches transubstantiation.
This last return trip to the States was a little different, however. Rather than spending my time writing, I spent it reading. Over the course of this flight, I read Room 24: Adventures of a New Evangelist by Katie Prejean from cover-to-cover. The book is available through Ave Maria Press and Amazon, and hopefully after you’ve read this review you’ll go order a copy, visit her website and follow her on Twitter.
On the return flight to America, I had the entire row of seats to myself which made for a much more comfortable flight. As I write this review, I am once again on a plane, this time from New York City, and once again I have the entire row of seats to myself. Now, I’m not promising that if you buy this book it will automatically entitle you to extra leg room, but please allow me a few minutes to explain why I enjoyed this book so much…
Getting through the New Testament in an hour
My favourite book of 2015 was New Testament Basics for Catholics by Dr. John Bergsma. So much so, in fact, that several of my friends received copies as Christmas presents!
Here is a short presentation by the book’s author on the material covered in his book:
My time with the Catholic Five
Last weekend I was a guest on The Catholic Five and had a blast. Here’s the section of the show where I got to talk about the book I’m currently writing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2zXrGwyCpY
Book Announcement!
Today I’d like to share with you something I’m going to be working on during my sabbatical. For the longest time, my bucket list has contained an entry which reads “Write a book and get it published”. I think it’s finally time to cross off that entry…
The Need and the Vision
I’ve been involved with different Bible Study groups, both in the USA and back in England, for about ten years. During this time, I’ve searched for a book to help guide me in leading these different groups. Unfortunately, that book doesn’t appear to exist! In the Protestant world, I’ve found books which help with basic Biblical exegesis and personal reading, but nothing substantial on leading a group study. In the Catholic world, there are even slimmer pickings. In light of this, over the next couple of months I’m going to be writing the book that I wish I had read a decade ago!
This book is going to lead the reader through the entire process of running a Bible Study, from beginning to end. My goal is to make this book extremely practical, coving all the nitty-gritty details of setting up and running a group. It will guide the reader through a typical Bible Study meeting, providing lots of handy hints as to how to nurture the discussion and avoid common pitfalls. In the appendices I hope to have all kinds of usual material, including a modified version of my commentary on Philippians. It is my hope that, even with no prior experience, once somebody has this book in his hands he will have everything he needs to start a successful Bible Study in his parish.
You’re Involved too!
As a reader of Restless Pilgrim, this involves you! I will be blogging about the book over the coming months and asking for your feedback. This begins today! I’m currently trying to come up with a working title for this book. Please help me choose it by voting below:
I’d also like to choose a tag line or subtitle for the book:
I’m really excited about this and I’d love to hear your thoughts! What would you look for in a book like this? Is there a particular issue related to Bible study groups which you’d particularly like to see addressed?