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SHAME AND GRACE

Name: SHAME AND GRACE
Author: Lewis B. Smedes
ISBN: 0-06-067521-7

HEALING THE SHAME WE DON'T DESERVE

by Lewis B. Smedes ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1993

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Another compassionate, down-to-earth bit of religious self-help from Smedes (Psychology/Fuller Theological Seminary; A Pretty Good Person, 1990, etc.). The basic message couldn't be simpler: Shame can be healthy or unhealthy; when shame is unhealthy, the cure is God's grace. Smedes begins by distinguishing shame from guilt: We feel guilty for what we do, but we feel shame for what we are. Shame is a ``very heavy feeling,'' a sense that we are failures in life, unfit, unworthy. Candidates for shame include those who compulsively seek approval, compare themselves to others, get trapped by unreal ideals. Shame isn't always wrong, however: It may be a ``call from our true selves,'' an opportunity to improve our lives. Or it may be an illness that comes from listening to our ``false self.'' We may magnify our faults, or feel rejection from a group, or be wrongly shamed by secular or religious teachings. Whatever the cause, we need a radical cure: to lower our expectations or improve our behavior just won't cut the mustard. The only solution, says Smedes—who buttresses his view with many anecdotes, some of remarkable poignancy—is to surrender to God's love, to receive ``the gift of being accepted before we become acceptable.'' Grace will be experienced as pardon from our wrongs, gratitude for life, a new ability to know God. And where can grace be found? In friends, warm memories, a loving community. In time, deeper changes will occur: We will live life more lightly, identify ourselves with Christ (the earthly manifestation of God), know the real meaning of joy. Smedes closes with two lists: a 12-part ``creed'' that readers may use as a model to fashion their own creed, and suggestions for further reading, with some surprises (Sartre) mixed in with the expected (Bonhoeffer). Succinct, unpatronizing advice, sure to be of help to some of those who need it.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1993

ISBN: 0-06-067521-7

Page Count: 165

Publisher: Zondervan

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.