A poetic expression of God’s gifts from a Christian ministry.
A debut anthology of blessings for personal Christian study, introspection, and worship.
Griffin, minister of North Carolina’s Wake Forest Christian Church, originally wrote most entries in this compilation in 2018 as benedictions. In the introduction, he explains his concept of what a blessing is and what it is not. It’s not an affirmation, he says, but rather a work that speaks to one’s truest self. He likens blessings to yeast, noting that just as yeast allows bread to rise when heated, people may grow when blessings are enfolded within them. He encourages readers to keep journals and offers four key questions to prompt critical and spiritual thinking. Throughout, he cites examples of blessings from the Bible and from his own life; specifically, he speaks of receiving a blessing at the completion of his studies that stuck with him and how he created this anthology in the hope that readers will have similar experiences. Many entries sound like the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, as they open with the words “blessed are….” The first blessing, for instance, begins with “Blessed are you who are beginning— / always beginning, / always beginning / within yourself.” In other parts, readers will recognize more modern turns of phrase, such as “It is crazy to believe in love. / God is love. / Blessed are the crazy.” However, although Griffin always specifies whom he’s blessing in these works, he doesn’t always make clear what they’re blessed with. Also, although all of the blessings are organized into sections based on the liturgical calendar, it must be noted that not every blessing is directly related to the section in which it’s placed. They are lyrical, however, containing imagery and symbols, and they center on universal themes of hope, love, and self. However, when read in a series, the blessings start to feel repetitive, so perhaps it’s best to only digest one per week, as the author suggests.
A poetic expression of God’s gifts from a Christian ministry.Pub Date: June 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-66530-023-0
Page Count: 230
Publisher: Mountain Arbor Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The Stoics did much better with the much shorter Enchiridion.
A follow-on to the author’s garbled but popular 48 Laws of Power, promising that readers will learn how to win friends and influence people, to say nothing of outfoxing all those “toxic types” out in the world.
Greene (Mastery, 2012, etc.) begins with a big sell, averring that his book “is designed to immerse you in all aspects of human behavior and illuminate its root causes.” To gauge by this fat compendium, human behavior is mostly rotten, a presumption that fits with the author’s neo-Machiavellian program of self-validation and eventual strategic supremacy. The author works to formula: First, state a “law,” such as “confront your dark side” or “know your limits,” the latter of which seems pale compared to the Delphic oracle’s “nothing in excess.” Next, elaborate on that law with what might seem to be as plain as day: “Losing contact with reality, we make irrational decisions. That is why our success often does not last.” One imagines there might be other reasons for the evanescence of glory, but there you go. Finally, spin out a long tutelary yarn, seemingly the longer the better, to shore up the truism—in this case, the cometary rise and fall of one-time Disney CEO Michael Eisner, with the warning, “his fate could easily be yours, albeit most likely on a smaller scale,” which ranks right up there with the fortuneteller’s “I sense that someone you know has died" in orders of probability. It’s enough to inspire a new law: Beware of those who spend too much time telling you what you already know, even when it’s dressed up in fresh-sounding terms. “Continually mix the visceral with the analytic” is the language of a consultant’s report, more important-sounding than “go with your gut but use your head, too.”
The Stoics did much better with the much shorter Enchiridion.Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-42814-5
Page Count: 580
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
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