Book-It

Did anybody else have the book-it program when they were in elementary school? It was the program where you had to read so many books and if you did it, you got a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut...Plus there was a spiffy pin that you could put stickers on and everything! I can't remember how many books that you had to read, something like 5 or 6 maybe? Now, the reading program is based on minutes rather than books and if you read 600 minutes, you get a ticket into Great America...

Now, why are we encouraging minutes rather than books? Is it because kids are slower readers now or have books gotten bigger? Is it a boost of self-esteem for some to have read 600 minutes, but only say 3 books? And the prizes have gotten bigger too! Which is good to hear that larger corporations are more interested in getting kids to read! But, what is the rationale behind it all? If there are any who know the answer, please let me know!

Anyway, my original thought with this was that I wish the book-it program was for adults too! That would be pretty sweet! I'm so excited now that I get to read books that I really want to read rather than the books assigned to me. Now, don't misunderstand me, I read some incredible books in seminary and I know that I will use at least parts of most of them throughout my entire career! But, there were some that were real duds and there were some that I just didn't want to read at that time! Now, again I recognize the classics and I know that it's important to read the classic theologians, those who have helped to form the Church: Luther, Barth, Wesley, etc...But, what about those more recent who are speaking loudly and some would call the next Luther, Barth, or Wesley? At no point in my seminary career did a faculty member ever suggest I read a book by Brian McClaren, Donald Miller, or Rob Bell...Those names were never suggested! Yet, I know their names and I have been confiscating some of their materials...It felt shameful to be buying these books and looking at them so forlorn on the shelf because they were never opened...
Well, they have been opened now! I've decided that I'm only going to read one book at a time, so that I can truly relish in what's been written and savor every word...So far, I've loved what I've read and I wonder how in the world these have slipped by! Why don't more academics suggest these books???
I've finished reading the book, Nickle and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America...Fabulous book! It's the journey of an auther who took only minimum wage jobs to see if you can actually survive in America...Her finding was that you could not, even if you had two or three minimum wage jobs...While her book was not a "religious" or "Christian" book, there was a chunk of a chapter dedicated to her attending a revival...At this revival, her comment was, that Jesus was not invited in the tent, but rather left on the cross to be dead...There was nothing of mention of his ministry with the poor or oppressed...Amen, sister, Amen...This book would be an amazing book for an ethics class or a class dealing with mission/evangelism or just social justice! I'm going to e-mail a former prof and tell him that too...

I'm also in the midst of reading Bishop Joe Sprague's book Affirmations of a Dissenter...This book was written a few years ago from my former bishop (funny story about how one time I, as a teen, told him that he was wrong and that he had lied to our congregation...I'll tell in full sometime!)...Anyway, he lists some things in this book that he believes in and where he think that the Church is wrong...Some things he blantantly disagrees with the United Methodist Church about...That's why there was much controversy in my conference about the book...Many of my congregation members are still talking about it! Well, it's another one that has been sitting on my shelf for quite some time, but I've not read it until now...Yes, there are things in the book that I don't agree with...But overall, I think that it is very "post-modern" and certainly relatable to today! It's most definitely a "liberal" bent, so I can see why many people were upset...(ps-- he calls conservatives hypocrites and liars and from his evidence, he's not all that far off base...)But, this is another book that was never mentioned...Now, maybe it was at the token seminary in my conference, but still...This is a UM bishop who is speaking out against some of the beliefs of the United Methodist Church! Shouldn't some of this be discussed in seminaries??? Maybe it is elsewhere...Anyway, this is an excellent book and now when people ask me what I think about it, I can be able to give an informed opinion on it (once I'm finished)...

All this is to say that I am continuing my education in the way that I want to continue it...I am reading books that are relevant to modern culture as well as relevant to the specific place that I am in ministry...It's an awesome feeling to read something and go, "Oh, I see that happening here!" or "Oh, they believe that here!" There are still many books in my pile of what to read, so I'm no where near being finished...Nor is there a pile too big that I can't ask for more suggestions! If there is a book that you think that I should be reading, please tell me! Fiction, non-fiction, religious, political, etc...I'm open to EVERYTHING!!!

So...where's my free pizza?