Books I’m reading and why I take so long
I’m currently in the middle of two different books. I had throught three, and really my fingers are placed in several more, but I’m only pursuing two with any fervor at the moment. These books are:
Out Of the Silent Planet – by CS Lewis
To date, this is one of my favorite CS Lewis and Sci-Fi books. This will be my third time through it, and I always enjoy it. It involves a standard man, Ransom, who is kidnapped and hauled to another world by two nefarious gentlemen who intend to sell him to the natives in trade for precious metal mining and colonization. The story follows Ransom as he escapes, meets the natives, and learns more about his own world through the people of Malacandra. The interesting part of this book is the way he explores the people in a world with less gravity and multiple sentient species, as well as the theological themes he conveys through a people untouched by the ‘bent’ ness. Time spent on this book: a month and counting.
Emerging Worship – by Dan Kimball
As an overview of Emerging Gatherings, Dan Kimball does not get into the philosophy behind the Emerging movement (at least not as far as I’ve gotten so far), but rather explains the fundamental princples behind a gathering of ‘emergent’ people. His focus is on meeting the cultural shift between generations and using that, rather than fighting it. It’s an interesting perspective both on church as we know it, and church as we may very well see it in the future. Time spent on this book: no idea, but probably near a year. It’s been on my shelf waiting for several before that.
As interesting as both of these books are, I don’t find myself with the urge to read often enough. I love to read, but I apparently hate change, and would rather fall into my routine of ‘Star Trek’ and ‘The Pretender’ as down time activities rather than pick up a book. It’s a flaw. I do find myself using down time at work to read through a chapter, and that’s been great. I like books; I like having books around; reading feels like a slow process.