What does that look like, I wondered??I am an Christian environmentalist with a heart for people and creation. I was intrigued by the title and topic of this book. Especially since I have written about similar issues in my book, The Light Way.
I sat down, excited to dig into what the author had to say, but was disappointed by the flowery writing style and run-on sentences. Imagine reading textbook level information with citations that is written in the flowery language of poetry and metaphors. I think the two styles separately work great, but combined it was hard to follow and the concepts were not conveyed effectively. I will dare to say the author, James W. Perkinson is a outstanding poet, as it mentions in his bio, but that talent does not lend itself well to theological essay writing. I waded through as much of the book as I could, desiring to understand the concepts Mr. Perkinson wanted to communicate. I enjoy learning from elders of the faith. Unfortunately, I was again disappointed by his Biblical perspective. After reading, I would guess Perkinson to be more a Unitarian believing all spiritual roads lead to heaven, than a Christian. He gave equal weight to all beliefs discussed instead of wrestling with his concerns of his heritage in the Christian faith. I was also disappointed by the factual explanations given for the many mysteries in the Bible. I disagree with his simplified explanation that a shift to agrarian lifestyles and the increased consumption of carbohydrates is the reason that child birth became painful after the fall of Adam and Eve. Explaining away the mysteries of the Bible cheapens God to simply a scientist changing the variables of His lab experiment. I hoped to read about solutions to the many issues that humanity faces, but all I got was a confusing theoretical discussion. As Kingdom builders, we need to come with solutions instead of fancy rhetoric. #PoliticalSpiritualityInAnAgeOfEcoApocalypse Political Spirituality in an Age of Eco-Apocalypse on Amazon Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Speakeasy. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
0 Comments
The beautiful Word Bible is A feast for the SoulAre you in the market for a new bible? Do you enjoy beautiful things? The Updated NIV Beautiful Word Bible is the perfect combination of the two. It is seriously the most beautiful bible I have ever seen. I love the pictures and verses written out in color. It brings the scriptures to life in a new way and allows me to sit and meditate on them differently than just type font. Throughout the book there are verses written in the page margins as well as full page colored verses. On the pages without the colored verses there are lines for writing notes. (Which is a serious upgrade from the bible I had been reading without any margin room for note taking). The cover is a fabric covered hard board that gives the exterior of the book a wonderful texture to enjoy as you are holding it. And it comes with colored tabs you can insert at the beginning of books for easy bible navigation and the standard ribon pageholder. I look forward to years of reading in this bible. It is the first bible change I have made since I inherited my father's bible over 17 years ago.
While there is still a strong emotional attachment to my father's bible, I know I am entering a new season of life. With each new season, I feel like getting a new bible to journey with is a great investment. It provides clean space to document the fresh revelation for the new season. There is no better book to purchase than the Word of God! If you would like to purchase The Beautiful Word Bible for yourself, you can find it for sale on Amazon. #NIVBeautifulWordBible Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Speakeasy. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Stress is real...But it doesn't have to rule your life.
There are some tricks to overcoming stress and activating peace in your life. And it starts with a holiday name that we are celebrating this week in the United States... Did you guess it? Thanksgiving! That is right. The path to activiting peace begins with thanksgiving. Interesting huh!? The opposite of peace is worry, stress, axiety; things that are all too common in our world today. Can you relate? Well, those states are what happens to us when we let our focus become fixated on a problem and forget to look at the bigger picture. If we look at the bigger picture often the problem shrinks in perspective. When we look at the bigger picture we also see all the blessings we have to be thankful for. This is the mindset that will start activating peace. Philippians 4:6-7 says: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." We are to come to God in prayer with thankful hearts and minds, asking for Him to move in the problem. It is the thankful heart and mind that unlocks God's peace. Physically when we pray we activate our parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic state allows our bodies to rest, digest and heal. This is the most important state for our bodies to be in. When we are in the parasympathetic state our minds can think clearly, we have lowered blood pressure and all the systems of our body can function optimally. If you struggle with stress, anxiety and worry and can only dream of being in a state of peace, I have good news! Being thankful is like a muscle that gets stronger the more you use it. Start by making a list of just ten things that you are thankful for. They can be as simple as a good cup of coffe in the morning, or a well fitting pair of jeans, or something, anything that makes you happy. When you are praying, start with this list of ten things and thank God specifically for each one. This will position your heart and mind to ask God to move on your problem and to recieve His peace. It is a simple exercise that will eventually become second nature as your thanksgiving muscle gets stronger. And interestingly enough, the more we practice being thanful the more we see there is to be thankful for. It becomes this beautiful positive feedback loop. So... This unprecedented holiday season when everything we generally hold dear as tradition is being modified or cancelled altogether, if you find yourself needing some peace in our chaotic world... Remember... Thanksgiving activates peace. Give it a try! Happy Thanksgivings! |
Details
AuthorJessica Mutunga is passionate about good simple living that focuses on relationships, food and creating a supportive healthy environment. She is The Light Way Coach. Archives
May 2022
Categories |