31 Days of Missionary Stories: Gracia Burham and God’s Grace in Captivity

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Barbara Harper

Several years ago I had heard of Gracia Burnham’s In the Presence of My Enemies and somewhere read an excerpt from it, but I avoided reading it. I couldn’t face it. I’m not sure why: maybe because it was too fresh, maybe because the people responsible for the Burnham’s captivity were still alive (maybe not the specific people, but the extremist Islamic groups are still active), maybe because in the portion that I read, Gracia was having to deal with something that I struggle with. But the youth pastor at the church we were attending saw a DVD presentation of Gracia sharing her testimony at another church where he was ministering and recommended it to me. I ordered it, watched it, and was so touched on so many levels. I then felt that I had to read the book. (Sadly, the DVD does not seem to be available any more – I couldn’t find it after searching the Web for a while.)

For those who might not be aware, Martin and Gracia Burnham were missionaries with New Tribes Mission in the Philippines: he was a missionary pilot who reminded me a lot of one of my former church’s missionaries who also pilots a small plane. They had gone for a quick weekend get-away to celebrate their anniversary at a resort. They didn’t usually go to the “touristy” areas, but decided to go this once. During their stay, an Islamic extremist group stormed the resort and took guests and a few staff members hostage. Several of the hostages were able to arrange for ransom and were released after a few months. Some were killed along the way. The Burnhams were held for over a year. Martin was killed in a rescue attempt by the Philippine military and Gracia was wounded.

I don’t want to take away from what she shares in the book, so I won’t go into the details of the story here. I do want to mention just a couple of impressions, though.

As the Burnhams struggled with negative thoughts and attitudes toward their captors, I kept finding myself thinking at first, “But they had a right to feel that way!” I knew better, but that was the thought that kept coming. They had to put into practice the Bible’s teaching about loving their enemies, praying for those who were despitefully using them, in a very real way and only by God’s grace.

I also was grieved that I did not pray for them more. Often when I hear reports of stories like theirs on the news, I try at least to pray right then in the midst of whatever I am doing. I may have prayed for them in that way, but I don’t remember. The scripture came to mind to remember those in bonds as if bound with them, and I failed to do that for the Burnhams, but this caused me to determine not to neglect that ministry again.

I was also struck by the Muslim group’s twisted sense of logic. They wanted Islam to rule the world so it would be ruled by “righteousness.” They advocated the cutting off of someone’s hand for stealing — but excused their own stealing because they “needed” the stolen items for their cause. When people died in the course of what they did, it was “their destiny.” They had a strong sense of “justice” but saw mercy as a weakness. When discussing that last point with one of their captors, Martin said, “You know, I hope my children don’t take up the attitude you have. I hope they don’t ever shoot some Muslims because of what you have done to us.” The man to whom they were speaking looked shocked. “Done to you? What is my sin against you? I have never done anything to you.” Martin and Gracia could only look at each other incredulously.

Gracia tells of her very human struggles, like depression, anger, and resentment over their situation and the realization that not only was her attitude not helping, but it was hurting. She writes, “I knew that I had a choice. I could give in to my resentment and allow it to dig me into a deeper and deeper hole both psychologically and emotionally, or I could choose to believe what God’s Word says to be true whether I felt it was or not.” That was a turning point for her as she chose to believe God and handed over her pain and anger to Him. I thought how often we get tripped up over pain, resentment, and anger over much lesser things.

She shares also how the Lord provided for them in unexpected ways, how she and Martin encouraged each other, how they had to battle a captive’s mindset, how they were able to talk about the Lord with their captors and other hostages, as well as the details of how she and Martin originally came together as a couple and what happened in the aftermath of her captivity.

A few years later Gracia wrote To Fly Again: Surviving the Tailspins of Life (linked to my review), which includes an update of how she and her children were doing after all that had happened to them, her recovery from the trauma, and encouragement to others who have gone through any kind of traumatic event.

I found this video on YouTube, and I think some of the footage is from the original DVD:

I also found this report of Gracia’s going back to testify against her captors.

God’s Word is true no matter what, and thankfully He doesn’t see fit to put all of us through that kind of experience, but when someone who has been through what she has speaks of God’s goodness and faithfulness, the truth of God’s Word and the reality of His Presence….it rings true. There is an authenticity about that person’s testimony. Their faith, their beliefs have been tried in the fires of testing. Gracia’s testimony touched me deeply. I don’t know if I could have gone through what she did – in fact, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t. But God gives His grace for various trials when we need it. Though I hope I never have to face that particular kind of trial, we will all face trials of some kind, and we can trust He will see us through them as he promised.

I Peter 1:6-8:

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory…

(You can see other posts in the 31 Days of Missionary Stories here.)

(This will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

31 Days of Missionary Stories: Darlene Deibler Rose, Missionary POW

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Barbara Harper

Evidence Not Seen: A Woman’s Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II tells the story of a few eventful years in the life of Darlene Deibler Rose, who became a POW during WWII while she ministered in New Guinea. She and her new husband, Russell Deibler, left to minister in the field of New Guinea in 1938. They were pioneer missionaries in a quite rugged area.

On one of Russell’s survey visits, the chieftain he was talking with said he believed Russell and the others with him were spirits because they were all men. “Who gave birth to you?” he asked. Russell explained that he did have a wife, but his “chieftain” said she could not come because the trail was so dangerous that many men had died. The chieftain replied, “Your wife would have made it. Wherever we go, the women follow and carry the loads.” He said if she were so weak she could not make it, he would send men to help her. Meanwhile, others of the tribe decided to test whether some of the men were spirits or human by shooting arrows at them to see whether the arrows passed through or killed them, and, unfortunately, some of the tribe members were killed when the government officials who were along shot them in self-defense. On reading this in a letter from Russell, Darlene prayed, “Lord, if those people are ever to believe and understand about you, women are going to have to go there.” Immediately she felt an assurance that she was supposed to go. She dashed out to find their mission leader, who said he had a letter from Russell giving his consent for her to go.

At her first meeting with the people, they shoved her sleeve up to see if her arms were white “all the way up” and wanted to pinch her flesh to see if it was real. The chieftain did not believe she was a woman until she took off her hat and took the pins out of her heir, letting her hair fall over her shoulders. From the first moment she felt that these were her people, and she approached them and the living conditions with grace, courage, and humor.

By May of 1940, they heard that Nazis had invaded Holland; it fell within five days. Soon word came from government officials that their post must be evacuated, though they begged to stay.

They moved to another area, and within five months learned that their post was to be reopened. But then Russell was appointed assistant field chairman by a unanimous vote of the other missionaries. Russell and Darlene were both grief-stricken, but felt it was the Lord’s will, and reminding themselves that they had been willing to go anywhere, remained in Macassar.

Meanwhile, they heard news of war increasing until finally Pearl Harbor was attacked. They sought the Lord’s counsel as they continued to work and hear news reports of the Japanese taking islands near to them. One day a Dutch policeman came and told the missionaries that they had a ship on the coast and wanted to evacuate all foreigners as well as Dutch women and children. Their field chairman, Dr. Jaffray, encouraged them all to take time to pray about whether the Lord would have them stay or go so that they would have His assurance, whatever happened, that they were right where He wanted them to be. None felt led to leave. Three days later they learned that the ship had been torpedoed and sunk with no survivors.

By March 8, 1942, their island had been taken by the Japanese. They let them stay together for a while, until one day they suddenly came to take the men. Russell’s last words to Darlene were, “Remember one thing, dear: God said that he would never leave us nor forsake us.” She never saw him again.

The women were eventually taken to a prison camp, where the bulk of the book takes place. There is not space here to tell of many of the experiences, but God proved Himself faithful many times over, protecting, assuring of His Presence, answering prayer.

The camp commander, Mr. Yamaji, was notoriously cruel. Yet God gave Darlene some measure of favor in his eyes. When news came that Russell had died, Mr. Yamaji called Darlene to his office to try to encourage her somewhat. God gave her grace to tell him she did not hate him, that she was there because God loved her…and God loved him, and perhaps He allowed her to be there to tell him. She shared with him the plan of salvation, and Mr. Yamaji broke into tears and left the room. Yet from then on she felt he trusted her, and years later she heard a report of him that seemed to indicate he had trusted the Lord.

Some time later, Darlene was arrested by the secret police and taken to another prison for “questioning.” The conditions were horrible, to say the least, and Darlene also suffered from dysentery, cerebral malaria, and beriberi. She asked the Lord to heal her of dysentery — and He healed her of all three ailments. One day she saw out of her window someone secretly passing along some bananas to one of the other women. She was in solitary confinement and knew she would never receive one, but she began to crave bananas: though she had been healed, she was still starving. Then, Mr. Yamaji came to the prison to see how she was doing and to tell the secret police that she was not a spy, and after he left he had ninety-two bananas delivered to her! Days later, when she ate the last banana, she was returned to the prison camp.

The book goes on to tell of the end of the war, an opportunity to visit Russell’s grave and speak to some of the men who knew him, the process of getting back to America, rediscovering such “luxuries” as showers, fear upon arriving back in America and not knowing what to do or how to contact her family, the Lord’s provision for that as well. She recuperated at home for a long while, and eventually remarried and went back to New Guinea as a missionary.

Darlene’s story is a marvelous one of the grace of God and her courage, faith, and endurance in the midst of the most trying of circumstances.

(You can see other posts in the 31 Days of Missionary Stories here.)

(This will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

31 Days of Missionary Stories: John Paton, Missionary to Cannibals

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Barbara Harper

John Paton is the source of one of my all-time favorite missionary quotes. After a struggle, “dreadfully afraid of mistaking my own emotions for the will of God,” he offered himself and was accepted as a missionary to the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu). Most, including his pastor, were dead set against his “throwing his life away among the cannibals.” In a classic exchange, one “dear old Christian gentleman repeatedly exhorted me, ‘The cannibals! You will be eaten by cannibals!’ At last I replied, ‘Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is to soon be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms. I confess to you that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms. And in the great day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.’”

John and his wife, Mary Ann , arrived on the island of Tanna in 1858. The Tannese were curious about them and the Patons had to learn to communicate by gesture and trial and error until they learned the language. They found the people scantily clad, friendly but deceptive, thieving, glorying “in bloodshed, war, and cannibalism,” superstitious, and worshiping nearly everything. When the Patons began to teach them that God wanted them to ”throw away their idols and stop their wrongdoing,” persecution began.

Mrs. Paton and their baby boy died in the same month in 1859. “But for Jesus, and the fellowship He gave me there, I would certainly have gone mad and died beside that lonely grave.”

After a time some men came, like Nicodemus, at night to talk to John. A few believed, but persecution was the norm. John was in danger of his life many times. Sometimes he was led to hide somewhere, but other times, while men were facing him with spears, he kept on about his work as if he didn’t notice them, and God restrained their hands. Once he even directly challenged them to go through their rituals by which they curse people by making incantations over a piece of food from which that person has eaten, to prove that his God was greater than theirs, and God prevailed. He did have to leave the island eventually, escaping for his life. He went to Australia and Scotland to report to churches there. He came back with a wife and many new missionaries. The islanders were amazed that missionaries would return after the way they had been treated, and said, “If your God makes you do that, we may yet worship Him too.”

John and his new wife settled on the island of Aniwa. Though they faced some of the same problems as in Tanna, the Lord did bless them with a fruitful harvest there. Amazingly “the sinking of a well broke the back of dark religion on Aniwa.” The island did not receive much rain and much of the drinking water was not good. John decided to try to sink a well; the islanders thought he was mad. “Rain comes only from above. How could you expect our island to send us showers of rain from below?” The chief was afraid that Paton’s “wild talk” would cause the people to never listen to his word or believe him again. They were also concerned that he would die in the hole he was digging, and then the next English ship that came by would hold them accountable. He was able to persuade them to help him by offering fishing hooks for labor. They gladly labored, though they still thought he was going mad, until one side of the well caved in; then they were afraid and worried and would help no longer.

John was able to shore up the side of the well and take precautions against another cave-in. He had prayed about the location of the well and struggled with the fear that they might find salty water rather than fresh.

Finally the day came that he broke through and found good, fresh water. He filled a jug, climbed out of the well, and called the people over to taste it. They were amazed at the water he found and grateful that he would share the well with them. They offered to help him finish it in earnest. Later the islanders tried to sink several wells in various villages, but they either came to coral rock they could not penetrate or to salt water.

Chief Namakei asked if he could “preach” one Sunday. The book records one of the most beautiful sermons I have ever read. The essence of it was that, though they laughed and disbelieved when “Missi” (teacher) said he would find “rain coming up through the earth,” yet Jehovah God answered his prayers. “No God of Aniwa has ever answered prayers as the Missi’s God has done….The gods of Aniwa cannot hear, cannot help us like the God of Missi.” He felt that since what the Missi had said about the invisible water under the earth was true, then what he said about the invisible God was true, too, and he would worship Him. “He (Jehovah) will give us all we need for He sent His Son Jesus to die for us and bring us to heaven. This is what the Missi has been telling us every day since he landed on Aniwa. We laughed at him, but now we believe him.”

There followed a great burning of idols of many of the islanders and many were converted. They began to come to the church services and were baptized. John wrote, after a communion service, “At the moment when I put the bread and wine into those hands, once stained with the blood of cannibalism, now stretched out to Jesus, I had a foretaste of the joy of heaven that almost burst my heart in pieces. I will never taste a deeper bliss till I gaze on the glorified face of Jesus Himself.”

John wrote his autobiography in three parts at three different times in his life. Benjamin Unseth used about one-fifth of the material in the three parts written by Mr. Paton to form a shorter biography simply titled John Paton, part of the Men of Faith Series published by Bethany House.

(You can see other posts in the 31 Days of Missionary Stories here.)

(This will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

31 Days of Missionary Stories: Adoniram Judson, America’s First Missionary

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Barbara Harper

I reviewed To The Golden Shore by Courtney Anderson about the life of Adoniram Judson a few years ago, but I can’t not include it in a month of missionary stories. It’s a missionary classic and compelling reading. So I hope those of you who have seen it before don’t mind the repost.

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Imagine feeling so convicted and burdened by God’s command to go and share the gospel with every creature and so moved by the state of the lost in other countries that have never heard the gospel that you feel you must go yourself and tell them.

Now imagine doing so when you live in a country where no one has ever done so before.

To The Golden Shore by Courtney Anderson is a classic missionary biography of Adoniram Judson, America’s first missionary. I had read it years ago but felt an urge to revisit it.

Every missionary has to have dedication and has to be willing to make sacrifices, even in our day. But the amount of dedication and sacrifice and willingness to step into the unknown displayed by Adoniram and his wife and the small group who stepped out with them just amazes me. His wife, Ann Hassletine (also called Nancy) is one of the bravest women I have ever read of, going into the great unknown as she did and facing all that she did in later years. The letter Adoniram wrote to ask her father for her hand in marriage is an atypical proposal, but frank:

I have not to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next Spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of Him who left His heavenly home and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing immortal souls, for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God?

He was not being melodramatic: he was being realistic. It says a lot about Nancy that she accepted such a proposal.

There are several short biographies of Adoniram online, so I don’t want to retell his life story, but I just want to touch on a few highlights that stood out to me from the book.

I wrote before of his remarkable conversion. His innate intelligence, keen mind, and his own struggles coming to faith uniquely fitted him for the philosophical discussions with the Burmese that were preliminary to their understanding the gospel, and that same mind and the facility he developed with the language uniquely fitted him to translate the Bible into Burmese and to create a Burmese-English dictionary and grammar that were the standard for decades.

He had a stalwart, determined character. That could come across as stubborness in some instances, but when convinced as to the will of God, he was firm. During Adoniram’s studies over the long sea voyage, he became convinced that the Baptist mode of baptism, by immersion after a profession of salvation, was the Biblical way. That put him in a difficult position as a Congregationalist missionary. The subject was discussed and debated amongst the missionary candidates on board, but once Adoniram was convinced of the Scriptural position, he felt he had no choice but to resign as a Congregationalist missionary and seek support from the Baptists. Thankfully, in the providence of God, the situation was handled with grace, and God brought him into contact with Baptist men who took on his support. You may or may not agree about modes of baptism, but what stands out to me here was the character it took to act on what he believed even though it was going to cause difficulties.

The Burmese were open to discussion, but it was six long years before the first one believed. Progress was very slow: there was, of course, not the openness to a variety of religions as we take for granted today. Adoniram was careful not to impinge on their culture — he wasn’t trying to create an American church, but a Christian one. But slowly the gospel took root and grew. Oddly, at the time of greatest oppression by the imperialist Burmese king, when the Judsons feared they would have to leave, they had several inquirers. Some of the Burmese converts came forth as gold in the trials they faced where professing Christ cost something.

When war broke out between Burma and England in 1824, the Judsons thought that they would be safe as Americans. However, the Burmese did not understand the Western system of banking: because the Judsons’ checks were cashed through a British merchant, they were thought to be in league with the British, and Adoniram was imprisoned for twenty-one of the most grueling months of his life. A fastidious man, he dealt with filthy quarters and having his feet in fetters raised up toward the ceiling every night while his weight rested on his shoulders on the floor. Nancy daily sought help and favor for him everywhere she could: she even followed him and the rest of the prisoners on a tortuous march to another prison. As authorities searched their home, she hid what she could, especially the manuscript of the Burmese translation of the Bible over which Adoniram had been working so diligently. She hid it in a pillow and took it to Adoniram in prison. The jailer took a liking to the pillow and confiscated it for himself: Nancy made a nicer one, and Adoniram successfully offered it to the jailer in exchange.

As the war began to grind to an end, Adoniram was called on as a translator between the Burmese and British. Lack of nutrition, ill health, and extenuating circumstances all took their toll on Nancy, and she died, followed soon by their baby. None of their other children had lived.

Adoniram entered into the darkest period of his life. He threw himself into translation and missionary work, but wrestled with losses and grief: not only Nancy and all his children, but several missionary colleagues had died as well as his father back in America. Oddly, he felt guilty over his grief. He withdrew into a kind of asceticism for a while. He dug an open grave and spent long periods of time just staring into it. He requested at this time that his letters to others be destroyed, so we don’t know for sure what all he was thinking during this period. Several shorter biographies bypass this section of his life, but I think it is important to note that in his humanness, the losses he had sustained and the time in prison all had their effect on him, understandably, and it took him about three years to recover.

He eventually married Sarah Boardman, the widow of one of his colleagues, and had several more children. They had a happy eleven-year long marriage before she passed away on his only return trip to America, taken originally to try to help improve her health. God granted him another happy marriage to writer Emily Chubbuck for a few years before his own health failed in 1850 at the age of 61.

His legacies are the souls won to Christ in Burma and the churches started there, the Burmese Bible he translated, the Burmese-English dictionary and grammar, and the stirring testimony and influence of a life of character used by God.

(You can see other posts in the 31 Days of Missionary Stories here.)

(This will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

What’s On Your Nightstand: September 2013

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Barbara Harper

The folks at 5 Minutes For Books host What’s On Your Nightstand? the fourth Tuesday of each month in which we can share about the books we have been reading and/or plan to read.

Though there are a few days left in September, it is time for the monthly Nightstand post. I think I have a fairly eclectic list this time.

Since last time I have completed:

Daniel Deronda by George Eliot for Carrie’s Reading to Know Book Club for August, reviewed here. My first Eliot book, and I enjoyed it quite a lot.

The Fruitful Wife: Cultivating a Love Only God Can Produce by Hayley DiMarco, read twice! A study of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, applied to marriage, reviewed here. Excellent.

On Distant Shores by Sarah Sundin, second in the Wings of the Nightingale series, Christian fiction about WWII flight nurses, reviewed here. Very good.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, secular fiction set in WWII, about two boys who meet on opposite sides of a fence of a prison camp. Sweet, touching, sad and disturbing, reviewed here.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, audiobook, an interesting take on the Cinderella story, reviewed here. Very enjoyable.

Overcoming Overeating by Lisa Morrone, reviewed here. I disagreed with her basic premise but got a lot from the rest of the book. 😀

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, audiobook, reviewed here.

I’m currently reading:

A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. I had finished the audiobook of this a few months ago, but there was too much to grasp, so I am going through the Kindle edition.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart, audiobook.

Next up:

Lost and Found by Ginny Yttrup

Jennifer: An O’Malley Love Story by Dee Henderson

If I finish all of those, I should probably work on my backlog of downloaded Kindle books. 🙂

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Fahrenheit 451

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Barbara Harper

Fahrenheit 451 is, as far as I can remember, the first book I have read by Ray Bradbury. It has the same feel as the old Twilight Zone series, but it was published a few years before.

The story takes place in a future version of America where most books are illegal. Fireman, instead of putting fires out, now start them by burning books and the houses of those caught with books. Society had lost its taste for deep thinking, preferring instead sporting events, fast driving, endless entertainment via earpieces they listen to and parlour walls that act as an expanded TV and directly involve the viewer. Concurrently, books were shortened, and then books that made people think fell out of favor and then were deemed upsetting to the peace and happiness of society, as different groups would protest what different books said, so they were banned. As a fire captain later explained, “We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal . . . A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man’s mind.” It is interesting, and scary, that what passes for tolerance today is this idea of making everyone equal and unobjectionable to each other rather than a willingness to let others have their differences.

Guy Montag is a fireman who likes his job, until he meets a different, free-spirited teen-age neighbor named Clarisse. Though I don’t think they ever talk about books specifically, her unconventional approach to life and way of thinking spark something in him, a questioning, a wondering if there is more to life. Several things fan this spark into flame: his vapid wife overdoses on sleeping pills and has to have her stomach pumped, but remembers nothing about it the next day; Clarisse and her family disappear; and a woman whose house Guy and his crew are supposed to torch chooses to die with her books. What can there be in books that someone would die for them? Guy has secretly taken a few of them and intends to find out. But he can’t make sense of them himself, so he goes to an old professor named Faber for help.

I’ll leave the plot there so as not to spoil it for those who haven’t read it. Though it was written during the McCarthy era, when there was an increased sensitivity to anyone having the remotest possibility of a tie to Communism, and Bradbury was concerned about censorship, he “usually claimed that the real messages of Fahrenheit 451 were about the dangers of an illiterate society infatuated with mass media and the threat of minority and special interest groups to books,” according to Wikipedia. He has an interesting afterward that tells how he came to write the book and something of the history of it. He also tells of one publisher wanting to publish one of his stories in an anthology with 450 others, including some from Twain and Shakespeare, all shortened, seeming a fulfilling of his predictions in the book. The book itself has been banned at times in the past due to language (many “damns,” “hells,” and taking of the Lord’s name in vain), its mention of one woman’s abortion, and its depiction of firemen. There were valid reasons for the mention of abortion and the firemen. The language I could have done without. I am not shocked by it: my father spoke that way, and I know people do, but I don’t want to fill my brain with it, so I usually avoid books with much of it. I have mixed emotions about censorship. I don’t think I believe in it at the government level, but I have no problem with reserving certain books from student’s required reading. There are some books and magazines that are just pure filthiness and at least shouldn’t be right out there next to Good Housekeeping and such. I would have no problem with censoring those, personally, but then other people would have no problem censoring some books I like: some parents protest their children having to read anything religious. Thus we have the problem Bradbury depicted: if everything can be banned that anyone would have some objection to, we’re left with nothing. As Christians, the best way to deal with the situation, I think, is not to necessarily to seek to ban everything objectionable, though there are times to protest certain actions (like one library I heard of that had the “adult” section next to the children’s section, or a required book for a student that a parent objects to, or unnecessary foul language and sex scenes in books I review): rather, if we concentrate on doing what Jesus told us to do – share the gospel and make disciples – people’s hearts will be changed and they won’t want the bad stuff. That’s not the main reason to share the gospel, but it is one side effect.

The book has a great many more layers to it than there would appear to be at first glance. SparkNotes helped me catch some of that that I missed at first and caused me to appreciate Bradbury’s skill as a writer. The book is one of those classics I had heard of for years and always wanted to get to someday: I am glad that now I have.

(This will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

Book Review: Overcoming Overeating

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Barbara Harper

The subtitle to Overcoming Overeating by Lisa Morrone is It’s Not What You Eat, It’s What’s Eating You!, and therefore the thrust of the book is dealing with the underlying emotional reasons for overeating. I got the book either free or at a low cost as a Kindle deal, and I must have overlooked the subtitle at first: it actually made me angry, not that the book addressed emotional issues but that it seemed to deemphasize other related issues. In fact, several times she seems to ridicule or at least disbelieve people’s protestations that they overeat because they like food. But to just dismiss this with an “I know what your problem really is” attitude is to do people a disservice. When I am about to have my 6th cookie of the day or a third helping of lasagna, I am not thinking about any underlying emotions: I am thinking “This tastes good and therefore I want more!” I have never read a weight-loss book that adequately addressed that part of the problem, and that’s the problem that derails all the good intentions, all the knowledge about what is good and bad and best for you, etc.

But I gave the book another run-through after my first reading, and I did glean more helpful tips than I did the first time.

I don’t deny that people overeat for emotional reasons: even healthy people at a normal weight have their comfort foods. Lisa acknowledges that “everyone eats for emotional reasons at one time or another,” but for some – about 75%, by one statistic – “emotional eating has become chronic.” Chemicals like cannabinoids (same family as marijuana) and serotonin are produced by the digestion of some common “comfort foods” (potato chips, french fries, chocolate, cheeseburgers, to name a few), making the feel-good indulgence of those foods not just emotional but physical and chemical. She does do a great job addressing how to deal with those underlying emotional issues. She describes an emotional cycle leading to overeating and a couple of places from which to step off the cycle.

I especially appreciated her distinction between different kinds of guilt: there is a good, God-given guilt designed to lead one to repentance, and there is a destructive guilt that just furthers the emotional tailspin into more over-eating.

I really liked her treatment of controlling our thoughts and distinguishing what is true between the good and bad ones. A negative thought isn’t necessarily a bad one. For instance, “I shouldn’t have yelled at my son” is negative, but it is true, and therefore we can confess it, apologize, seek forgiveness and seek for better ways to respond. But “I’m so stupid, I never do anything right” is negative and destructive and needs to be corrected. Similarly, a positive, pleasing thought can be deceptive or it can be inspirational.

She also does address that there are other “triggers” to overeating: certain foods that are especially tempting or hard for us to control, family gatherings, social situations, convenience. etc. And she does address other practical tips: reading labels, wise shopping, getting used to adequate portions, etc. She addresses the problem that we seem to celebrate everything with food, and suggests other ways to celebrate: she also cautions against ever eating to feel better when down or disappointed, frustrated, angry, etc., because that is just setting one up for food addiction and hurts rather than helps whatever the underlying problem is.

In-between the chapters are testimonies from different individuals who have lost weight, and it was in one of those that I found a helpful response for the problem I mentioned at first, that of wanting to eat more just because it tastes so good: one woman mentioned that God gave her “a new understanding that living for the satisfaction of only one part of my body (my mouth) was unholy,” and when faced with temptations for unhealthy foods or amounts, she seemed to “sense Him saying to [her], ‘I will still love you if you choose that, but will it get you what you want?'”Something that Morrone said helps here, too: “Too much of a good thing can become a bad thing.” In another testimonial, a woman said, “God loves me so much He does not want me to damage the body He has given to me. He showed me that food was just a fleeting enjoyment, but a healthy body was so much more.”

Morrone concedes that food is intended for pleasure – otherwise God would not have given us many taste buds designed to gain the maximum enjoyment from what we eat – but she advises to think that food=fuel, and there are different “grades” of food just as there are different grades of gasoline. “Most everything ‘quick and easy’ you bring home is filled with nutritional shortcuts. Be good to yourself and your family: eat quality fuel.” The goal is “to become a truly well-balanced person, one who can enjoy food without guilt and who has so many interests and goals that food only holds its rightful place in the day – that of nourishment and pleasure, not a tranquilizer, Band-aid, or time-filler” (emphasis mine). She compares a healthy relationship with food to a healthy friendship: if one member harmed the other, it would not be a healthy relationship. We need to find foods that promote health rather than jeopardizing it.

I really liked the section dealing with inevitable setbacks as well. “Each year the winning team of the Super Bowl loses some ground (yardage) throughout the game. Yet they always keep their minds fixed on the goal, push through the opposition, and, as a result, advance to victory in the end.” She gives a variety of tips for dealing with setbacks and getting back on track.

Though I am usually wary of books and weight loss programs that promote self-love, Morrone has, I believe, the best definition of it: “We can humbly appreciate who we are and who we’ve been created to be, and honor ourselves (and our Creator) by being devoted to the care and well-being of our physical bodies.”

I’m glad I gave this book another chance. I benefited from it. Some of what Lisa says about emotional overeating has been distilled into this document on her web site, but of course it is expanded on and fleshed out in the book. If you’ve not yet guessed, the book is written from a Christian vantage point and discusses the Biblical foundation and many Biblical principles of good health, but she also addresses the non-believer with principles he could relate to while encouraging him to look at the Bible’s point of view as well.

(This will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

Book Review: Ella Enchanted

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Barbara Harper

When I first heard of Ella being “cursed” with the gift of obedience by her fairy godmother, I was a little suspect. But I watched and enjoyed the film starring Anne Hathaway and Hugh Dancy. Then I discovered and just listened to the audiobook Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, and it is almost completely different from the film. I had really liked the film, but now that I’ve read the book, I’m really disappointed that the film veered so far from it.

The book Ella Enchanted is a clever retelling of Cinderella. When Ella is first born, her fairy godmother bestows what she feels is a wonderful gift: the gift of obedience. But the gift seems more of a curse, as Ella is at the mercy of anyone who gives her an order. And she still finds ways not to quite do what she has been told, or to add to it, and she confesses at one point that there is a difference between being obedient and being good.

She hides her “condition” well, until Dame Olga and her two daughters come into her life. The older daughter, Hattie, doesn’t know about the curse but does figure out quickly that Ella obeys direct orders, and Hattie uses that knowledge in multitudes of ways, especially when the girls are all sent to finishing school. Olive catches on soon as well, and Ella is at their mercy, until she runs away from school to try to find her fairy godmother to ask her to lift the curse, which she refuses to do. Then she discovers that her father is going to marry Dame Olga, and her doom is sealed.

Earlier in the book Ella had met Prince Char at her mother’s funeral. His attempts to comfort her began a friendship which grows until they are old enough to realize they love each other. Ella’s initial joy turns into sorrow, however, when she realizes that she can’t marry the prince while she is cursed: any enemy could use her against the prince to do him harm. So she refuses him, but can’t resist going to the balls thrown in his honor just to see him and be near him again.

This book has delightful fairy tale elements and characters – giants and ogres and elves and gnomes (even a baby gnome with a beard!) The glass slippers and pumpkin coach are there are well as a different kind of a fairy tale book.

Some see it as a feminist version of Cinderella, with strong characters who take action rather than sitting in a castle with no will of one’s own while waiting to be rescued by a prince. I do not know if that is the author’s intent. I am no feminist, and I would disagree that meekness equals passivity, but I think this can be enjoyed as a fun story as is without bringing political correctness or ideologies into it.

This was a nicely-written, lighter read after some of the heavier subject material I’ve been into lately.

(This will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

Book Review: On Distant Shores

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Barbara Harper

On Distant Shores by Sarah Sundin is the second in her Wings of the Nightingale series about flight nurses during WWII, the first being With Every Letter, but it could be read as a stand-alone book.

Georgie Taylor followed her best friend, Rose, into flight nurse training, but doesn’t really have confidence in herself. Her tendency to panic in a crisis causes her to wonder if maybe her fiance and family are right, that this life is too much for her, that she should resign and come back home to Virgina where it’s safe. Coddled by both her family and fiance, she is usually reliant on them to make decisions for her, but she questions whether she should push herself to grow and develop in her current situation.

Her friends seem to think she can grow into a great flight nurse, and a new friend, Hutch, encourages her to step out of her comfort zone. Sgt. John Hutchinson, or Hutch, is a pharmacist looking forward to becoming an officer some day. His father is working on the development of a Pharmacy Corps, but in the meantime, Hutch has to work under an officer who knows nothing about pharmacy and coworkers who have only had three months of training. Hutch chafes under the lack of respect for his profession and position, but he feels that once he becomes an officer, everything can be set to rights. Letters from his fiancee tend to upset him rather than encourage him, though, due to her rampant jealousy and worry.

As Hutch and Georgie cross paths on throughout Europe, their friendships grows, but as they find themselves becoming attracted to each other, they make an effort to step back. Meanwhile each faces crises of their own, involving grief, hurt, and betrayal, both at home and overseas.

Sundin’s characters are always likeable but realistically flawed, and part of their journey is how they have to come to grips with their flaws and seek change. Georgie has to learn to stand on her own two feet, among other things; Hutch has to learn humility and contentment.

Sundin also weaves interesting history and detail in her stories. She and her husband are both pharmacists, and at the end she shares where some of the inspiration and facts came from for this story.

My only tiny quibble is that Georgie’s “Southern Charm” is a little thick sometimes. I consider myself a Southerner, but I cringe when people “Sugar” and “Honey” everybody. On the other hand, some people do do that, so it’s not unrealistic, and it’s not overwhelming here.

On Distant Shores is another great WWII-era read from Sarah Sundin that I am happy to recommend.

(This will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)