A lucid, unapologetic collection.
A book of wide-ranging religious poems by a Christian couple.
The Franklins explore themes of faith, resilience, identity, and inner strength in these spiritual poems that often use images from the natural world. The opener uses the metaphor of a tree in the desert, standing strong against the winds of adversity thanks to its steadfast faith. The authors encourage authenticity, reminding readers, “If you wear a mask long enough, you forget it’s on. / If you wear a mask long enough, your own face becomes unknown.” The work criticizes “part-time servants,” whom they compare to “paper plates-used for soup, / not equipped to hold or contain the word of truth,” and they highlight the hypocrisy of “church folks.” “Why Me” celebrates the God-given gift of true love, while “All Good” warns against the evils of capitalism, asking, “What good is a love that is defined by things?” “Doing It Wrong” may provide comfort to empty nesters: “Admitting your / faults and swallowing your pride, knowing it’s your time to live your best / life; no longer doing wrong but doing it ALL right!” “The Ugly Truth” grapples with temptation in straightforward couplets; “In my spirit I feel conflicted, / because the flesh feels so good, but restricted,” the poets write. Each entry includes an introduction that cites Bible verses, and the authors create effective metaphors for faith that have their own undeniable logic: “You can’t plant an apple seed and expect oranges; / and you can’t plant the unholy in the holy and expect to reap a harvest.” The vehement delivery might alienate readers looking for a more subtle exploration of spirituality, but the title makes the tone of the content clear. Slang is sprinkled among the religious language, such as “Whatever, bro” and “My bad!” which may attract readers who find other religious poetic works too fusty.
A lucid, unapologetic collection.Pub Date: May 1, 2024
ISBN: 9798891277083
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Co.
Review Posted Online: Aug. 23, 2024
A small gem of medical philosophy.
In his second book on medical ethics, philosopher Gorovitz (Syracuse Univ.) reports on his seven weeks in 1985 as "Authorized Snoop and Irritant-at-Large" at Boston's renowned Beth Israel Hospital.
As in Doctor's Dilemmas (1982), here Gorovitz tackles some tough topics: abortion, "do-not-resuscitate" orders, transplantations, and other issues circling around the question of "where to draw the line." His judicious investigations will not please hard-liners on either side. For instance, while supporting most fetal-tissue research, he opposes interspecies transplants; he restages the abortion debate on high moral ground, exploring prevailing community standards and such vexing questions as what happens when an aborted fetus survives the operation, in the process forging a middle path between abortion-on-demand and no-abortions-ever. Hospital advertisements, medical expenses, surrogate motherhood, and doctor-patient relations are among other issues explored with characteristic care. This all may sound dry, but in fact it's captivating, thanks to Gorovitz's decision to confront issues as they naturally arise in the course of day-to-day hospital operations. This grounds his difficult, sometimes abstruse themes in real-life, flesh-and-blood struggles, giving his conclusions added authority.
A small gem of medical philosophy.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1990
ISBN: 19-504428-2
Page Count: -
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
What curmudgeon would argue?
Once there was a parablist named Joshua and at times his fresh new parables were received with open minds by reviewers (Joshua in the Holy Land, 1992) as Joshua brought peace to the strife-torn Middle East. Yet in still later sheaves, as Joshua set about reforming sin-laden New York City, reviewers felt an encroaching blandness wash over them (Joshua and the City, 1995).
Clearly one cannot read all of Joshua’s parables at one sitting, particularly when one may not share Joshua’s views that God awaits all at journey’s end and will judge the righteous and the unrighteous and that heaven is a shining city to be sought under the guidance of the church while God counts (and recounts) votes for or against us with His mind as open as a left-wing liberal’s while perhaps weighing our interest in the social security of our offspring and the need for enforcing or cutting the death tax and measuring our decision to back or not back legal executions for capital offenses. Why not, a Republican might ask, embrace the wealthy just as warmly as we do the poor and spiritually disenfranchised? But Joshua’s latest parables fearlessly take on the hardhearted businessman, obsessed by the ever-rising value of his stocks, and in no way support Big Money. He takes on moviemakers focused on massacres. He dispenses wisdom about marriage in the parable in which Satan seduces the devoted wife, and in the parable of the ants shows how the peaceful and cooperative ant builds a healthy home life that husbands and wives should look to—though he fails to note the rages between rival ant colonies. To one synagogue he describes God as a Supreme Artist whose masterpiece includes the most far-flung matter in the Universe and whose Artistic Genius is not to be understood quickly, although He has a tender heart, witness our taste buds and eyes and ears for experiencing the ecstasy of His creation.
What curmudgeon would argue?Pub Date: March 20, 2001
ISBN: 0-385-49511-0
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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