What I've Done

"Let mercy come and wash away what I've done..." Lincoln Park

Endgame

I spent a chunk of my morning time working through this documentary on the war in Iraq put out by Frontline called Endgame. It was helpful for me as it summarized and created a better understanding in what has been going on over there these past years. This is the fifth installment in a series of films to watch and I plan to invest more time in the rest of them at a later date.

The Leopard Shows its Spots

I am a Mac Girl. I love Apples...what can I say? Here is a great review of the new Leopard coming out in October. Just in time for my birthday!

Brain Fitness

I have been interested in brain development and brain health for years. I especially love games that improve cognitive ability. My new favorite game for the brain is found here. You can take a "brightness" rating test and then play the thirty day program free for a limited time while they finish developing the site.

The Fluent Church

A few days ago, I started searching to see if there was an emergent church in my area. Alas, there were none. I started digging around a bit to find out that the closest ones are in Western Michigan and even there, only a few.

Also, I have learned how broad the term emergent church can actually be. What I consider it to be is a group of people in the pursuit of truth, working at bringing social justice back to the forefront of Christianity; people who want to talk, grow and learn together, in a community filled with mutual respect for one another's differences; a people longing to honor God in an authentic way. At least that is what I imagine the vision to be...I am sure there are better descriptions to be found in other places. There is a good description of the emerging church along with background information found here.

Being a reading teacher, I think of the term emergent as one of the beginning stages of development. The first stage of reading is the pre-emergent stage. Here is where children learn their abc's, develop phonemic awareness and become exposed to lots and lots of literacy experiences. (i.e. being read to, singing songs, hearing and reciting poetry, etc.). I think that the pre-emergent stage in church terms are the seeker churches. These are the churches where people are putting a toe in the water and learning a little about scripture, about God, about worship and community.

The emergent stage of reading is where students are truly beginning to put the letters and sounds together and make meaning out of everything. They are building skills one of top of another. They take a step forward and a step back as they approximate, learn and grow. This emerging church is a bit like that. They are growing together, stumbling, talking, not forgetting what they learned at the previous stages of their growth but building from the rich traditions of the past and continuing on in the journey.

I am surprised at how much criticism there is being thrown at the emerging church. I was shocked to read this. People who grew up in the Christian subculture might not be as surprised. People can be so easily threatened.

My hope is that eventually we will reach the later stages of growth- fluency. A fluent reader is naturally living the life of a reader. They have moved into automaticity. They are going through the process of reading without thinking about all the little minor things. They have moved on to maturity and can spend their time understanding what they read, digging deep into character study, plot lines, themes, and comparing and contrasting it to other texts they have previously absorbed. They have a critical eye to examine closely everything they add to their memory, and it is more mature. The childish things are put away. I can hope this for the church too. More acceptance, more active moments of being the church, caring for the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, visiting the prisoners, clothing the needy. More love, more forgiveness, less bickering, less jealousy, envy and strife. More worship and more moments filled with gratefulness and peace.

A fluent person also spends more time in silence. Thinking.

Why do so many people want to be told what to think? I am currently reading a biography about Einstein and he despised nothing more than people who did not think for themselves! Annie Dillard's character, Lou, in her new novel The Maytrees, spent a large portion of her life in silence, because she did not want to miss an original thought of her own, if it ever came along.

The emergent church is a place where lots of conversation is being had and that is great, as long as we are not all just merely echoing one another. I do not want to follow Brain McLaren, Tony Jones or Phyllis Tickle's way of thinking just because it is the latest fad. I feel my own spirit truly agreeing with much of what they have to say. I understand much of what they are saying. I get excited; like I've found a home when I read their work. However, I test what I hear them say, against my own beliefs, my own background and my own ideas.

I look forward to continuing the journey and hope one day we may all become the fluent church.

Summer's Finally Here!!!!!!

Here are my gigantic plans so far:
On My Balcony - Flunk

If Everyone Cared

One person can make a difference. This video is worth watching.

An Impressive Speech

I do not know who I am voting for in 08', but I do really like this speech.

One Step at a Time

"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say."
-J. R. R. Tolkien

Oscar Wilde Quote

"A man who does not think for himself does not think at all. It is grossly selfish to require of one's neighbour that he should think in the same way, and hold the same opinions. Why should he? If he can think, he will probably think differently. If he cannot think, it is monstrous to require thought of any kind from him."
-Oscar Wilde, The soul of man under Socialism (essay), 1891

I love Dorothy Day

"The only thing we can do for others is to love them." Dorothy Day

Just as I am

Sacred Space once again reaches my spirit and draws me to a peaceful place.

In the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius writes: “I will stand for the space of an Our Father, a step or two before the place where I am to meditate or contemplate, and with my mind raised on high, consider that God our Lord beholds me. Then I will make an act of reverence or humility” This is a beautiful and simple way of entering sacred space. I am not alone with my thoughts and feelings. God is here with me. So I can say to him, ‘Here I am, Lord’. Let me repeat this inwardly several times. Here I am, Lord. Here I am, in this place, for this day. Here I am, Lord, as I am, just as I am, not as I feel I ought to be. No, here I am, just as I am, with all my real thoughts, real feelings, real worries and concerns, and also my deeper wishes and desires. I come before you Lord just as I am.

It is Mother's Day and I am grateful that my own Mom is alive and I am so Blessed to have her in my life. She has been a source of strength and wisdom and my prayer is that I would not be focused on my own deep wounds today but full of grace and adoration for my Mom. It is a day to honor those who have brought a life into this world and I very much want to do that with a heart of peace.

The memories of my Mom go back to childhood. I have a memory of her lying in a hammock we used to have in our backyard where she would lay in the summertime enjoying the sun. I always thought she was so beautiful and still do. I can picture her raking leaves in the fall and shoveling snow in the winter with energy and beauty. She has such a comforting way about her and I remember how she would tickle my arm during church and I would snuggle in to listen to the sermon on Sundays up in the balcony of First United Methodist.

We went on so many wonderful walks during my teenage years and would often stop at the village doughnut shop to share a treat together. She would occasionally take me to breakfast before school at the restaurant by our house and we would chat and enjoy our time together a great deal. She was a wonderful listener and would let me talk about anything and everything. She helped me in so many ways. One time she even reached into a toilet to pull out my notecards that I had dropped by accident for the speech contest I was participating in!

It is a time today for me to remember the good and wonderful quailties that my Mom has. No one is perfect but love overlooks so many things. The love between a Mother and a Child can sometimes be like that.

I believe that God also knows me as I am and accepts me for who I am. My hope rests in Him. I am blessed that He gave me a Mom who taught me so much and she has shown me God's love through her concern and care.

Sacred Space

Sacred Space is a place of prayer maintained by the Irish Jesuits. One can go through the various stages of meditation at whatever pace one prefers. I go there to quiet my soul. Life gets so incredibly hectic and here is a place of rest. At the beginning of each week there is a new reflection to think about before entering the prayer.

"In one of the gospel parables, the rich man is mulling over his treasures, and plans to build even bigger barns to store all his crops. He relishes his security: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come. Jesus reflects: A man’s life is not made secure by what he owns. As we grow quiet in prayer, our hearts can be invaded in the same way by false securities. In the measure that my heart is in past treasures, I am fossilised and dead, for life is only in the present. So to each of these past treasures I am grateful yet I say goodbye, explaining that, grateful though I am that it came into my life, it must move out, or my heart will never learn to love the present."

How true. It is so hard to balance the holding on and letting go. To treasure our lives by holding with an open hand, never grasping and always being willing to let go is not an easy feat for us humans to have within our feeble hearts. We long for solid ground underneath us, sometimes even if that ground is a pile of rubble or a complete illusion. Help me Lord to know that my only security and my only constant in this life is You and help me to be at peace with that truth.

Muhammad

I recently read Muhammad: A Prophet for our Time by Karen Armstrong. This book was revealing for me because it gave a brief overview of his life and I came to this story with no prior knowledge about him. I have been around several conversations lately with people criticizing Muslims. I believe much of these conversations are based in a lack of knowledge and misunderstanding about the majority of practicing Muslims. My hope was to find a book that would start to educate me about this faith and have more to offer a discussion than simply an intuition and uncomfortable feeling that many Westerners have an opinion way off base and out of line with the teachings of Jesus on peace and forgiveness and how to treat people of different beliefs. What better place to start learning about this than with Muhammad?

Karen Armstrong originally wrote this book after the fatwah was issued against Salman Rushdie for writing The Satanic Verses, where he speaks of Muhammad in a blasphemous way. She wanted to shed truth on the religion of Islam in light of the misconceptions about this faith. After September 11th, she felt the need to re-write the book to guide others to a more honest, intelligent dialogue. (Interestingly enough, I was just about ready to start an on-line book discussion of The Satanic Verses when I came across Karen Armstrong's book and I have since found Rushdie's book much more rich and readable as a result of her biography.)

There was very little known about Muhammod until about the age of forty. He grew up an orphan, married an elite woman named Khadijah whom he loved very much and was a merchant. One day he was in a cave sleeping on a mountain outside of Mecca and heard the command to recite and although he protested, new scripture came to him. He brought scripture to the Arabs for twenty-three years thereafter and those revelations became the Qur'an. This does not sound like something he wanted to do or a role that he had prepared himself for or expected. Much like Moses, he did not feel qualified for the job of a prophet.

He once said: "Never once did I receive a revelation without thinking that my soul had been torn away from me."

Muhammad preached for a few years to a few people, but then was instructed to give his message to his whole tribe, which caused him great trepidation. He believed in practicing works of justice, wanted man and woman to be treated equally and worked to cultivate in people a spirit of thankfulness and humbleness, rather than pride. The richer leaders of Mecca were not interested in his message and he ended up spending more time among the poor. He instructed people to develop hilm, a traditional Arab virtue, meaning to be patient and merciful. This was opposite of the culture of the time.

Eventually, he led the Muslim people of Mecca to migrate (hijrah) and leave their tribe and protection. He originally wanted to end violence but did go to war for a time trying to achieve a lasting peace. During the times of battle one can see Muhammad moving he and his people towards an attitude of mercy, forgiveness and peace. He was certainly a man and an imperfect one at that. He had weaknesses and made mistakes, but the sense of repentance and redemption resonate through the story of his life. An example is the story behind the satanic verses in the Qur'an, where it appears Muhammad tried to create peace between those who worshipped other gods in addition to Allah. In an attempt for peace he chanted scriptures about the three daughters of God and later attempted to fix his error. Shortly after, it became clear that Allah was the only deity and there were not multiple gods and that Islam was truly different from the other religious cultures of that time.

After Khadijah died he married multiple wives. One thing very interesting was his stance on polygamy. This practice was actually beneficial to helping woman in his day keep their inheritance, establish rights and have a legal status. He wanted men and woman to be treated equally. Karen Armstrong also speaks of the hijab verses that are now used to justify women wearing veils. It is fascinating to read them in context, where it appears that the scriptures were in reference to his wives and the orders were given to protect them from harassment.

After Muhammad's death, he wanted to make it clear that he was not to be worshipped, because only God is to be worshipped. The Islam faith is a monotheistic faith, just like Jewish and Christian faith. Their roots are with Abraham and they are the descendents of Hager and Abraham. I have much more to learn, but have enjoyed learning the narrative of this part of history a great deal and hope to learn more that will help to create understanding and peace between the East and the West.

Pan's Labyrinth

I saw a dark, breathtaking movie tonight. It was written and directed by Guillermo del Toro.

Pan's Labyrinth took me out of this world and into the world of Spain in 1944. This is a foreign film with Spanish sub-titles that I really hardly noticed due to being so lost in the beauty of the film. The main character is a young girl who has lost her father and is coming to live with her mother's new husband, a cruel captain of the Spanish army at the end of World War Two. The girl loves to read fairy tales and her mother comments that she is getting too old to be reading such things. Their carriage has to stop due to the Mother's difficult pregnancy with her new husband's child and the girl sees a unique dragonfly that she identifies as a fairy. Indeed, it transforms into one after following the girl home. The fairy entices the girl to go into a Labyrinth by her new surroundings in the Spanish countryside and her adventure begins. She is given a magical book and three tasks to complete in order to become a princess; forever immortal.

Throughout the movie one goes back and forth between the harsh world of war and life with her stepfather and sick mother, coupled with the magical world where she works on her difficult tasks and meets otherworldly creatures. The story also revolved around several members of the Spanish resistance and what they were experiencing throughout this time.

There were certain parallels to the world of Narnia; historically, the setting is similar, albeit with a different, gothic feel to it. There was even a faun, although a very different sort of faun then dear Mr. Tumnus. However, there was something quite dark about this girl being alone, compared to the Pevensie children having one another and there was much more time spent in the cold realistic world of Spain and the war; as compared to the story of Narnia taking place mostly in Narnia and not in England on the battlefield.

I loved this film. It was heartwrenching and bitter and violent and unsettling. The official site labels this film as a fairy tale for grown-ups and that is what it is. The characters had choices to make and things to sort out and they struggled with their hardships and carried their burdens in different ways. The theme of obedience echoed throughout the film and we see how that looks through the eyes and actions of others.

Fairy tales traditionally have happy endings and whether this one had one or not each viewer will have to decide for themselves...

N.T. Wright

Last week I had the joy of going to Calvin College to see N.T. Wright speak as part of their January Series. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to meet him and listen to him live, as he discussed his book Simply Christian. I am about halfway through the book and glad to be currently reading it, since that was the focus of his talk. He wrote Simply Christian to guide people to a deeper orthodoxy. Here is a man from across the pond that I have wanted to meet and he arrives a mere two and a half hours from my front door!

N.T. Wright talked about how we seem as Paul said in scripture "haunted by the shadow of death". We hear echoes of a voice in the form of justice, spirituality, relationship and beauty. He talked about the three views of God in the world. The pantheist thinks that everything is divine; the dualist or deist thinks that the world is separate from God and the Jewish/Christian believes that heaven and earth overlap or interlock. He says the Gospels are the conclusion of the Old Testament and the Holy Spirit helps to continue the job of New Creation.

As Christians we should be like "angled mirrors"; a recreated image bearing the love of Jesus. When grasped by the story you will be drawn into the Kingdom project...and become an agent of New Creation. We can reflect this image through worship, prayer, reading the Bible, the church and implementing the works of Jesus.

I enjoyed his talk. He spoke of God with intelligence and yet seemed to also carry a deep love, respect and passion for God and Jesus. They go so elegantly hand in hand. He is passionate about God, and digging deep into the truth of theology and scriptures is at the core of that love. How refreshing and uplifting; like a breath of fresh air.

I now have a first edition book autographed by Tom Wright himself. As uncomfortable as I feel meeting people I deeply respect for one quick moment in time, it is still occasionally worth it for the experience of seeing that person face to face. I feel uneasy in that situation because they do not know me at all and I know many things about them if I have read their books, listened to them speak or heard their music. It is impossible to thank them sincerely enough in that one moment for all they have done to influence or touch my world. Saying "thank you" is all I can usually manage to mumble and they have no idea what is behind that simple phrase.

New Year's Eve

W.H.Auden put it well: "I want to approach the future as a friend, without a wardrobe of excuses."

Amen.

This year has worn right out and it is time to put it to bed and ring in 2007. I do not want to spend too much time looking back; regrets are a complete waste of time. All possiblities lie in the present moment and beyond. Nothing can bring back the last 365 days. Nor would I want them to be handed back to me. I have wonderful memories to cherish from the year and accomplishments I am happy with, as well as countless things I did not do and wish I had. Both categories in no way have to shape my future. If I do look to the future as a friend, I can also approach the past that way as well.

I found great pleasure in the books I read in 2006, particularly the books written by Mary Doria Russell. I am proud of the efforts I made in learning to play the guitar and the work done in my career this year. I spent more time cultivating my friendships and finally started writing regularly in my blog! I spent a lot of time in nature, walking, relaxing, dreaming, thinking and being. I saw Tom Waits, Indigo Girls and Bob Dylan this year for the first time.

The year can be summarized in such a brief paragraph but there are layers of joys that each day held for me.

In the New Year I am still one of those people that get giddy about the possibilities. I make resolutions and have the childlike innocence to believe that indeed things can change; the world can be a better place. I love the opporunity handed to me to start over, fresh, new, clean. If I look back oftentimes, resolutions do not stick. However, I do see small changes overtime and if the resolutions are not made; perhaps I wouldn't have a clear picture of how I want my life to look. How do I want to be in the world? What do I want to spend my short time on earth doing?

Come on in 2007. I can hardly wait to meet you. You will not be perfect. No year ever is. There will be joy and pain, peace and sorrow, adventure and the mundane. New life will be born; death for some is certain. Nothing will stop this passing of time and yet it is the space in between the living and dying that makes it all worthwhile. Breathe and look around for the New Year too, will pass on by all too quickly.

Today in Literature

One of my favorite stops on the web each day is to a site called Today in Literature. It is there I learn what famous author was born or died on this date, what famous works were first published on this date, or anything of significance to today. It is a little snippet of information each morning that I dearly appreciate reading and over time I pick up amazing amounts of content about authors and the works that have touched both myself and the world in such a profound way.

Here is an example from the site, written by Steve King.

"On this day in 1922 T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land was published -- making something of a benchmark for modern literature, given that Joyce's Ulysses and Woolf's Jacob's Room were also published that year. The Waste Land had in fact appeared in two literary magazines in the previous two months (first Criterion and then The Dial), but this Boni & Liveright publication was the first in book form, and the first with Eliot's famous "Explanatory Notes" included to help out.

Even before book publication Eliot said that he had grown beyond The Waste Land; when everyone began calling it and him the voice of a generation, or of the Age, he began to regard the poem as an albatross. But running from the label and the attention was to no avail, and as the poem and the poet were placed on an ever-higher pedestal, so each became a larger target for gossip and parody.

The consensus among Eliot's contemporaries seems to be that he was an odd case -- certainly Conrad Aiken was referring not to the poetry but the man when he said, "Eliot cries out for analysis." Siegfried Sassoon thought he had "cold-storaged humanity," and Ottoline Morrell called him "the undertaker." Virginia Woolf, one familiar with the type, saw a nervous neurotic; nor was she the only acquaintance to notice Eliot's use of pale green face powder, sometimes with lipstick. But she has also written in her diary of listening rapt to Eliot's after-dinner reading of The Waste Land: "He sang it & chanted it & rhymed it. It has great beauty and force of phrase; symmetry; & tensity. What connects it together, I'm not so sure...." One modern biographer, getting to the bottom of things, finds nascent or latent homosexuality in Eliot; this caused not only his breakdown in 1921, while writing The Waste Land, but a lifelong "aboulie and emotional derangement."

More helpful might be V. S. Pritchett's description of Eliot as "a company of actors inside one suit, each twitting the others." Eliot's manuscript title for the poem was "He Do the Police in Different Voices," taken from Dickens's Our Mutual Friend, where the orphan Sloppy is so praised for his dramatic abilities when reading out the crime news. When the book publication included Eliot's "Explanatory Notes," adding the voice of the pedant-critic to the voices in the poem, it was all too much for Robert Frost: he subtitled his New Hampshire poems, published in 1923, "A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes," and then merely listed as his "notes" for the long title-poem all the titles of the other "explanatory poems" in the colleciton.

James Joyce seems to have had more fun with his shot at The Waste Land. These are the beginning lines of a poem he included in a letter written in 1925, after spending a rainy few days at a Rouen hotel:
Rouen is the rainiest place getting
Inside all impermeables, wetting
Damp marrow in drenched bones.
Midwinter soused us coming over Le Mans
Our inn at Niort was the Grape of Burgundy

But the winepress of the Lord thundered over that
grape of Burgundy
And we left in a hurgundy.
(Hurry up, Joyce, it's time!)...."

(via Today in Literature)

Meekness and Rest

A.W. Tozer wrote a chapter about meekness and rest in his book The Pursuit of God. He discussed how we burden ourselves with interior heartaches such as the burden of pride, pretense and artificiality.

He says, "Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you...the heart's fierce effort to protect itself from every slight, to shield its touchy honor from the bad opinion of friend and enemy, will never let the mind have rest. The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort...the rest of meekness is the blessed relief which comes when we accept ourselves for what we are and cease to pretend."

I desire to grow in wisdom and as the years go by I am slowly grasping these concepts. The heart and all the emotions it carries inside will often have the first say, but a thinking mind can counteract and allow true rest to enter by being authentic. There is so much upset, emotion, insecurity and desire for acceptance in the world and the only way to get the burden off our backs is to be who we are; we are created to be no other. Fear of rejection is so debilitating that we can lose sight of our dreams, goals and intentions trying to run around impressing people, staying ahead of the pack or pleasing everyone.

Keeping in check with the status quo can be exhausting. Keeping in line with using our talents, spending time in rewarding work, pursuing creative endeavors and finding true love for others borne not out of competition but out of the pure pleasure of another soul to commune with is invigorating, inviting, exciting and something to look forward to each new day.

"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5)

A New Phrase: Dialogic Perspectivism and Walter Bruggeman

I just finished listening to a teaching series by Walter Bruggeman which I enjoyed listening to over a several day period. He focused on the Old Testament. I have always loved these beautiful stories in the Bible and I appreciated how he brought them to life. He touched on the themes from several of the books and has incredible knowledge and insight which he communicates with clarity and depth.

He began the series by starting with the premise that we are a generation that lives in fear. In light of that premise, what does scripture say about that?

His anecdote for fear is to be actively involved in the interpretive process. He states, "Lively faithful people are always in the process of renegotiation that lets us be fully ourselves in the presence of God." He is not advocating relativism (anything goes) or absolutism (saying our conviction loudly)- oh for some reason that makes me giggle because that is such a true definition for that term. Bruggeman is advocating "dialogic perspectivism". It is in our dialogue that the growth process takes place. Wisdom grows out of the critical reflection of our experiences and much of that happens in community.

He says each one of us is interpreting and seeing our faith through different lenses and everyone needs to be part of the discussion. When we ask the question "what does this mean?", we all interpret differently. He believes in using the "zone of imagination" and believes the Bible is much more than just a history lesson.

I believe we all have a story, we all have something to contribute to the discussion. This process all began for me as a child.

One of my first memories of the Bible are with my Grandmother Jilbert. When my parents would have her "babysit" my sister and I, she would read from this large, holy looking Bible that had the most beautiful pictures in it. This is where my first stirrings of love for God, curiosity and yes, lots of imagining began. I would cuddle in close to Grandma as she read in her beautiful voice. We would talk about the stories.

I remember buying my first Bible in Toronto on a vacation. It was a one-year Bible. I was going to read the Bible in a year- I was in eighth grade and pretty excited about it. I did read the Bible that year and I became mesmorized by all the incredible, beautiful stories. I would have wonderful discussions with my parents and grandparents on Sundays during this time as I was experiencing all the excitement of reading so many amazing passages; some for the very first time.

My Dad gave me the Living Bible, a couple years later, which I also read through and enjoyed the simple language. I was understanding in further depth, things I was unable to the first time. Again the conversations continued. My Grandpa loved the King James rendition and you could not tell him otherwise. When we would study the scriptures on Sunday I would love to have two or three versions in front of me and he would laugh and tease me as he had his large black Oral Roberts King James...(I know deep down he was proud of this in me, my love of the text). The freedom to debate, ask questions and discuss was part of the negotiation.

Then there were the Bible challenges he gave me. He being a Sunday School Teacher at First United Methodist for so many years, he nudged that teaching gift out of me by having me "teach" on different passages for him. I would work so hard preparing and then present to him and the family in the cozy living room on Markle Street. I wanted to be accurate and looking back I see his goal was to motivate me and to help guide me along; to help me become part of the conversation. He was teaching me critical reflection. There were so many stories he shared with me about his spiritual life. What awe I would be in when he would discuss his walk with the Lord! I am so grateful that he would talk about his life and love for God so openly.

Each stage of my experience with the Bible has brought new and different insights. I am currently enjoying Eugene Peterson's The Message Bible and I am still renegotiating much of what I read as I grow in wisdom, as my experiences change and as I continue to have discussions in community.

I am looking forward to studying more of Bruggeman and reading his books. The themes he touched on such as God providing in times of scarcity, the contrast between judgement and homecoming, right living and civil justice, and particularly how he compares the differences between the themes of Proverbs and Job sparks me to study the scriptures yet again and look at them in new light, with new insights. One can become too used to the stories and scriputures and forget about the magic and excitement in them, the lessons to be learned, the opportunities for discussion and most of all, reading with joy, awe and childlike wonder.