Desolation Mountain (Cork O’Connor, 17) William Kent Krueger. Atria Paperback (ISBN: 9781501147470) 2019.
Summary: When a U.S. senator’s plane crashes, Cork seeks the truth behind the crash and Stephen, a recurring dream.
Stephen kept having the same dream. He’s watching a boy who is and is not him. An eagle appears out of the clouds. The boy draws a bow, looses an arrow and brings down the bird. As the bird falls, an egg drops from it. Then the boy is looking at him. Or rather behind him at what he senses is an enormous, terrifying beast. He awakens as they scream together.
Stephen talks to Henry, the old mide to make sense of the dream. So far, they cannot. But Stephen somehow realizes he fears for Henry.
Then the plane crash occurs near Desolation Mountain. A U.S. Senator and her family, coming to discuss a mining project with the townspeople, die in the crash. Cork, part of a volunteer Search and Rescue team are first on the scene. Stephen joins him. Was the plane the eagle? Stephen is deeply troubled. If he’d understood, could it have been prevented?
All sorts of Federal investigators, including the FBI, show up. The site is cordoned off, and Stephen, studying the scene from the mountain is briefly held by some kind of authority figure. However, he momentarily sees another young man. Locals, including Sheriff Marsha Dross, are pulled off the case. Officially, the cause is given out as “pilot error.” They say there was no flight recorder.
But in that case, what are people looking for at the crash site? Is it the “egg” in Stephen’s dream? Then some tribal members, who were first on the crash site disappear. So Cork starts investigating. He discovers a man he’d worked with before is also in town. Bo Thorson is a former Secret Service Agent. At one point he took a bullet to save the life of the wife of the Vice president. Based on his past experience, Cork is willing to trust him and share info. Stephen and Henry intuit something different. And Thorson does save Cork at one point when Cork is set up for a “hit.” He gave Cork a bullet proof vest that saved his life. But Stephen and Henry are right. Bo is dividing his loyalties, and Cork and his family are “expendables.”
Cork recognizes his family is in danger. He and Stephen and his son-in-law Daniel were also early on the scene. So they shelter with Henry. But they make a mistake. Bo also knows where they are.
The young man in the dream is important. He is a photographer and captured a damning piece of evidence on film, that points to the people and motivations behind the crash. But will Cork close in on the truth before those who endanger him and his family close in on them?
Finally, Stephen does finally summons the courage to look at the beast at his back. But I’ll leave that for the reader to discover.
Bo Thorson is a complicated figure. I think he really wants to return Cork’s trust and sees something in the life of Cork’s family he has missed. Also, Waboo, Jenny’s adopted son also seems to have some special gift. He also sees monsters in the woods. Meanwhile, Stephen, having to fight impulses, is slowly growing into his own calling. What I do wonder is how Krueger will develop Cork further. As time goes on, he is identifying more deeply with his tribal ancestry. What is clear is that Krueger is a master at developing the sense of dark foreboding we encounter in Stephen’s dream and both Henry and Waboo’s sense of evil in the woods. It keeps one turning the pages!
We are in the midst of a heat wave with high humidity and temperatures in the mid-90’s. But the books of this past month have been like a cold glass of iced tea! Tish Harrison Warren’s newest (pictured above) was truly refreshment for the soul. I loved the writing, voice, and story of I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger, an author I stumbled upon serendipitously. Nothing Can Separate Us gave me another dose of the rich writing of Howard Thurman. Good theology always refreshes me and so Robert Letham’s in-depth study, The Eternal Son, abounded in insights on the wonder of the second person of the Trinity. Amy Peeler’s Ordinary Time was indeed timely. Then Agatha Christie and Terry Pratchett both make for some great light reads. There are twenty-one review here in all. So, I hope you might find something that is your cold glass of tea!
The Reviews
From the Outrageous to the Scandalous, Robert H. Woods Jr. and Mark Allan Steiner, eds. Integratio Press (ISBN: 9781959685333) 2025. A collection of essays reflecting on Christian scholarship 30 years after Marsden and Noll’s books. Review
Nicaea for Today, Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite. B & H Academic (ISBN: 9781430091547) 2025. The history, meaning, and contemporary significance of the Nicene Creed and how it may be used in churches today. Review
Mrs. McGinty’s Dead (Hercule Poirot, 29), Agatha Christie. William Morrow Paperbacks (ISBN: 9780063376915) 2025, first published in 1952. Superintendent Spence doesn’t think the man he helped convict in Mrs. McGinty’s murder is guilty and asks Poirot’s help. Review
What Grows in Weary Lands, Tish Harrison Warren. Convergent Books (ISBN: 9780593728840) 2026. Lessons for the weary from the desert fathers and mothers on practices that cultivate resilience and renewal. Review
Love in a Time of Climate Change (Revised edition), Sharon Delgado. Fortress Press (ISBN: 9798889837206) 2026, first edition 2017. Uses the Wesleyan Quadrilateral to discern a faithful Christian response to the realities of climate change. Review
Hard Feelings, Daniel Smith. Simon & Schuster (ISBN: 9781982103903) 2026. We are inclined to suppress negative emotions but if we listen to what they are saying about ourselves, we gain wisdom. Review
Did Jesus Really Say He Was God?, Mikel Del Rosario. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514011010) 2025. Using methods of historiography, demonstrates that Jesus opponents believed him to be claiming divinity. Review
Nothing Can Separate Us (Plough Spiritual Guides), Howard Thurman, edited by Myles Werntz, Introduction by Vincent W. Lloyd. Plough Publishing (ISBN: 9781636081731) 2026. The inner work of transformation through which God works to bring reconciliation, justice, and hope. Review
The Eternal Son, Robert Letham, foreword by Ian Hamilton. P & R Publishing (ISBN: 9781629958637) 2025. A Christology focused on Christ’s Person, his eternal sonship, and Incarnation, as clarified in councils and more recently. Review
Early Autumn, Louis Bromfield. Open Road Media (ISBN: 9781504073394) 2022, first published in 1926. Olivia Pentland, in a loveless marriage in a rich old family, faces choices as the early autumn approaches when she turns 40. Review
Story Work, GG Renee Hill. Broadleaf Books (ISBN: 9798889832652) 2025. How telling and reframing our stories in writing not only leads to self-discovery, but also to finding our voice and calling. Review
I Cheerfully Refuse, Leif Enger. Grove Press (ISBN: 9780802165190) 2025. In a dystopian America, Rainy and Lark carve out a joyful life until tragedy sends Rainy on a Lake Superior odyssey. Review
When God Seems Distant, Kyle Strobel and John Coe. Baker Books (ISBN: 9781540905321) 2026. How God’s path of growth takes us into the desert, the way it exposes our self-will, and how we abide in God’s love. Review
Heaven and Hell, Edward Donnelly. Banner of Truth. (ISBN: 9781800405325) 2025, first published 2002. A discussion of the traditional doctrines of hell and heaven that we might flee hell and embrace the hope of heaven. Review
Race, Class, and Affirmative Action, Julie J. Park, foreword by Liliana M. Garces. Harvard Education Press (ISBN: 9798895570456) 2026. The effects of SFFA v. Harvard on efforts to advance diversity in college admissions and what may be done. Review
Ordinary Time (Fullness of Time Series), Amy Peeler. InterVarsity Press | Formatio (ISBN: 9781514009680) 2026. The significance of Ordinary Time within the church calendar and how it has been practiced and what it can mean for us. Review
Remember the Sweetness, Polly Giantonio. Rootstock Publishing (ISBN: 9781578693993) 2026. A debut poetry collection capturing memories of beauty, loss, love, and family, both ordinary and profound. Review
Pyramids (Discworld, 7) Terry Pratchett. HarperCollins (ISBN: 9780063393332) 2025, first published 1989. Prince Teppic, having completed Assassins training, returns to be Pharoah of Djelibeybi, ordering the building of a huge pyramid. Review
Woven Tales of Greek Mythology (no publisher link available), Michael D. Clark. Covenant Books (ISBN: 9798894854540) 2025. A rendering of Greek mythology from creation to the odyssey with parallels to Judeo-Christian texts. Review
Power and the Pulpit (The Center for Pastor Theologians Series) edited by Gerald Hiestand and Joel Lawrence. Cascade Books (ISBN: 9798385247554) 2025. A theology of preaching grounded in God’s word and Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered preaching with humility. Review
Best Book of the Month
Tish Harrison Warren’s What Grow’s in Weary Lands addresses what it means to make it through the weary “middles” of life–those periods when the walk of faith is more a slog, and God seems distant. Along the way, she acquaints us with the wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers through her rich prose. Hands down, the best of the month.
Quote of the Month
It is really a simple comment at the beginning of Amy Peeler’s Ordinary Time:
“Jesus’ life would have included many ordinary days, days in which he was simply walking from one place to another.”
I had not thought before how much of Jesus’ life was lived in the ordinary, nor how much encouragement I can gain from that.
What I’m Reading
So, I finally landed on my America 250 reading: Jill Lepore’s We The People, which explores the history of amendments to our constitution and why we haven’t had any in over fifty years. The Red and the Green by Iris Murdoch explores the loves and passions of a connected group of people caught up in the Irish uprisings of in 1915. Then, Make Me an Instrument ofYour Peace is a wonderful reflection, phrase by phrase of the prayer attributed to St. Francis. Reading the Bible on Turtle Island is written by two indigenous North Americans, exploring what their own cultural heritage brings to the reading of the Bible. Finally, The Gospel After Christendom is an essay collection I’m just starting on cultural apologetics.
For my readers from the United States, Happy Independence Day as our country celebrates its 250th birthday.
The Month in Reviews is my monthly review summary going back to 2014!It’s a great way to browse what I’ve reviewed. The search box on this blog also works well if you are looking for a review of a particular book. So, thanks for stopping byand feel free to share this with others!
Power and the Pulpit (The Center for Pastor Theologians Series) edited by Gerald Hiestand and Joel Lawrence. Cascade Books (ISBN: 9798385247554) 2025.
Summary: A theology of preaching grounded in God’s word and Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered preaching with humility.
Over the years, I have participated in the ministry of the word as part of a preaching team in our congregation. And, for a space, I coordinated expository preaching training for college ministry staff. Both of these occasioned thought and discussion about the theology of preaching. What is our vision of what it is we do when we set forth God’s Word with God’s people? Furthermore, does it make any difference? Where does the power come from that works transformation both in us as preachers and in our hearers? Do we still believe, as the apostle Paul wrote that “preaching comes, not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4).
So, it was with great interest that I welcomed this latest collection of essays from the Center for Pastor Theologians conference in 2023. The focus was on the theology of preaching and addressed the questions mentioned above. The essays are organized under three parts: the centrality, the humility, and the practice of the pulpit.
The Centrality of the Pulpit
Jeremy Treat opens this collection discussing “Why Preaching Still Matters” in a time when this is being jettisoned in some churches. He argues that the simple answer is that God has commanded it and that God works effectually in his people as the word centered on the cross is proclaimed. He addresses concerns particular to this generation. Jason Meyer then focuses on Paul’s theology of preaching. Rather than a rhetorical performance, preaching is to be cruciform, empowered by Christ. In “Bring the Thunder!”
Douglas Sean O’Donnell return to the source of power in preaching: God’s commission, the Spirit’s empowering, prayer, and the power of the cross. Then Philip Ryken focuses in “The Ministry is the Message” on our union with Christ in his suffering and glory. Finally, Nicole Massie Martin discusses how the slain but standing Lamb of Revelation 5 is “The Answer” to all our life questions and, indeed, the center of all things.
The Humility of the Pulpit
Matthew D. Kim returns to the preacher’s identification with Christ’s suffering in “Is Your Preaching Pain-Full?” Are we conscious of our own weakness and dependent through prayer on Scripture and the Holy Spirit? And do we empathize with the sufferings of our people? Kevin Vanhoozer contrasts the bully pulpit and the “kata-pulpit,” that pulpit that is in accord with scripture. He sees preachers as curators of the Word of God. However, recent pastoral abuses have undermined, or as Laurie Norris would say “pasteurized the pastorate.” Instead of combativeness or compromise, she calls pastors to cruciformity. Then to close this section, Stephen Witmer turns to the poetry of George Herbert, the poet-pastor to speak of “Treasures from an Earthen Pot.” Following Herbert, he speaks of embodied, local, and limited preaching.
The Practice of the Pulpit
Ahmi Lee opens this section writing of “The Philanthropic Pulpit,” a meditation on Oration 14 of Gregory of Nazianzus. He emphasizes how the pulpit promotes “true human flourishing as God intended and wills.” Trygve. D. Johnson then considers “The Power and Purpose of the Pulpit.” The essay is a study of P.T. Forsyth. Jaclyn Williams focuses on the embodied, incarnational nature of preaching and the joy of being “used by God to declare eternal truths within temporal space.” Neal D. Presa draws upon Ambrose of Milan to discuss mystagogical preaching–connecting “what occurs in the context of the gathered worshiping community to God’s work in the world….” Finally, Eric Redmond discusses the importance of specific application.
Conclusion
I appreciated the call to a scripture-centered, cross-focused, and Spirit empowered preaching that ran through these essays. We’ve had enough of human charisma and self-help messages with a veneer of God. What was also delightful was to see how speakers drew not only on scripture but also great preachers through history: Gregory, Ambrose, Herbert, and Forsyth. Finally, these essays focused on the humbling, high-calling of preaching, where under God’s grace, we may, in a way, speak incarnationally. That is, where it is Christ speaking to his people through us.
These are essays to encourage the pastor, laboring week by week and wondering if it matters. And they remind us of being participants in the miracle of God’s word among God’s people.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Previous reviews of books from The Center for Pastor Theologians Conferences:
Woven Tales of Greek Mythology (no publisher link available), Michael D. Clark. Covenant Books (ISBN: 9798894854540) 2025.
Summary: A rendering of Greek mythology from creation to the odyssey with parallels to Judeo-Christian texts.
Michael D. Clark, Ed.D has undertaken a fascinating project in this book. He seeks to offer a chronological and continuous rendering of Greek mythology from the creation through Heracles and Jason and the Argonauts up through the events of the Iliad and the Odyssey. The lefthand pages of the book render Greek mythology while the right hand pages draw parallels between the episode and Judeo-Christian scripture, and apocryphal and other ancient texts. The text is enhanced by drawings rendering some of the mythological events, often placed on pages with no biblical parallel. He also includes a very helpful glossary of characters in Greek mythology.
There is quite an extensive scholarship comparing biblical and other ancient near east texts. This is the first instance I’ve come across (though I am by no means a scholar in this field!) of looking at parallels between Judeo-Christian texts and Greek mythology. But given the interaction between Greek philosophy and Christian theology, there might be warrant in this work.
And indeed, Clark explores a number of interesting parallels. For example, he opens with the Greek paradise myth of Pelasgus, comparing it with the Adam story. Likewise, the Deucalion flood myth obviously has parallels with the biblical and extra-biblical flood accounts. Then there is the story of the Cyclops, Polyphemous, blinded in the eye in the middle of his forehead, paralleling the stone striking down Goliath.
Sometimes the parallels underscore the differences. For example, I see the contrast between the extraordinary training in martial arts of Heracles and the more normal youth of Jesus, punctuated with his discussions with religious leaders at age twelve.
There is an extended section paralleling the labors of Heracles with the final challenges Jesus faced with the religious leaders before his crucifixion. But here, I found the parallels often superficial. For example, in the ninth labor, he parallels the golden belt of Hippolyte to the Romain coin used in the discussion of paying tribute. Yes, there were objects of monetary value. Yes, deceitful behavior is part of the story. But I felt this a stretch at best.
Perhaps more far-fetched was the likening of Medusa’s lifeless head, carried in the backpack of Perseus to the carrying of tablets of the law in the ark, and the idea that “Medusa represented the law found in the commandments.” The only parallel I see are containers carrying objects.
I felt part of the challenge was in finding parallels with a narrative of all the Greek myths. Some are of genuine interest like creation, flood, or resurrection stories. Likewise, definite moral parallels also abound. But some parallels are little more than linguistically similar or seem a bit of a reach. Would a more modest goal of, say, ten of the most significant parallels discussed in greater depth be more effective?
In saying this, I want to recognize the author’s effort. However, I felt this could have benefited from review by other scholars of Greek mythology and Judeo-Christian literature. Likewise, a more focused treatment might have enhanced “the weave.”
_____________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author for review.
In recent years, humanities programs in many universities excoriated “the Western Canon,” the classic works that had provided a common vocabulary for generations of educated persons. More recently, there has been a resurgence of the classics among home schoolers, and private schools. Recently, states like Texas have prescribed curricula incorporating a number of classic works. While many of these lean conservative, there are other exponents of reading the classics. Ted Gioia has created a 52-week classics reading program. Classical philosopher Zena Hitz, a tutor at St. John’s College has launched a program called the Catherine Project.
A few of my thoughts about this:
Firstly, I have a broad definition of classics including the ancient Greek and Latin writers, great works of philosophy and theology, and great works of literature spanning the gamut from Homer, to Dante, to Austen, Melville, Steinbeck, and Morrison and many more. Classics are works that have endured and are part of our ongoing civilizational conversation.
Secondly, I won’t say one ought to read the classics. Rather, the question is, how important to you is that civilizational conversation. I’ve come to appreciate reading the stories and ideas that form our cultural fabric.
Thirdly, I recognize these are human works that range from our noblest ideals to baser ones. We do need to read critically. Often that occurs in the conversation.
Fourthly, I also want to read diversely. Given our global village, I don’t just want to understand the western enclave, even though that is where I live. And I wouldn’t want to miss the explorations of human nature in mysteries, and of the future in science fiction.
Finally, I’ve discovered that there were some “great books” I read too soon. More life has brought deeper engagement with many of the ideas and stories of which I was oblivious in high school.
I say read these works not because you must but because you may. So many free or inexpensive editions exist. As for lists, I won’t prescribe any–I’m too profligate a reader for that!
Five Articles Worth Reading
Speaking of lists. A number of book critics were asked about the essential works of American literature in our first 250 years. Publishers Weekly published the results in “15 Essential Works of American Literature.”
“Diversity” is a bad word in some quarters. But in “How Babel Thrives,” David Sugarman reviews a book that studies one of the world’s most diverse communities, Queens, New York. It argues that by allowing diverse communities to live side by side without erasing differences, they’ve managed to forge a robust pluralism.
At one time, figures like Reinhold Niebuhr and Billy Graham appeared on the covers of Time. But no longer, as Ed Simon notes in “Where Have All the Protestants Gone?“
Helen Lewis, in “Paradise Revisited” re-traces Charles Darwin’s journey in the Galapagos. The essay is punctuated with gorgeous photographs and videos. In addition, Lewis gives the lie to Darwin’s brief journey being the time when he figured out natural selection, which came only on subsequent reflection.
Pearl S. Buck, who was born June 26, 1892, pithily summarizes the case for studying the past:
“If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday.”
Miscellaneous Musings
I featured Theo of Golden by Allen Levi on my Facebook page. I have never had so many positive reactions to a book, especially from friends I respect for their reading judgment. That only whets my appetite to read it.
I’m starting Jill Lepore’s We The People as my America’s 250th reading. However, I don’t think I’ll finish it by July 4. The book is a history of our Constitution, an imperfect but amazing document, as crucial as ever to our national life.
Daniel Silliman’s Reading Evangelicals is an interesting study of the fiction Christians were reading over about a twenty-five year period from the mid-1980’s to the late 2000’s. I’m interested to see how he thinks those books, only one of which I read, shaped evangelical identity.
Next Week’s Reviews
Monday: Michael D. Clark, Woven Tales of Greek Mythology
Tuesday: Gerald Hiestand & Joel Lawrence, Power and the Pulpit
Wednesday: William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain
Thursday: Hannah King Miller, Feasting on Hope
Friday: Daniel Silliman, Reading Evangelicals
So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for June 21-27.
Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.
Pyramids (Discworld, 7) Terry Pratchett. HarperCollins (ISBN: 9780063393332) 2025, first published 1989.
Summary: Prince Teppic, having completed Assassins training, returns to be Pharoah of Djelibeybi, ordering the building of a huge pyramid.
Rather than cool his heels in Djelibeybi (pronounced like Jelly Baby), Prince Teppic goes to Ankh-Morpork to enroll in assassins training in the Assassins Guild. It’s a seven-year course few survived but if he did, he could bring a lucrative income into an impoverished kingdom that spent all its money on pyramids to house it’s dead kings. It was a practice that had drained the kingdom of money and, as readers will learn, of other things as well. Once it was a great kingdom. But now it is a narrow buffer along a river valley, serving as a buffer between two rival nations.
Just as he survives and passes his final exam, Teppic senses his father, the Pharoah had died. Indeed that is the case. On returning, Teppic suddenly finds himself a Pharoah and a god, responsible for the sunrise each day. New to all this, he is advised by the venerable high priest, Dios. However, he soon discovers that Dios really runs the show, when Dios twists all his novel ideas into the established traditions.
Nowhere is this more true than in the burial of his father. He has to be entombed in a pyramid. Teppic happens to know this is not what his father would have wanted (as the old king’s spirit tries to make known). In frustration, Teppic finally orders them to build the biggest pyramid ever, double the usual size.
Little does he realize the forces he has unleashed. Pyramids are objects of power. The others flared every night. No one has ever tried to build one this big. When Ptaclusp and his sons, the pyramid builders try to do this, they discover that workers and money and materials are the least of their problems as strange forces build up to a cataclysm.
But before that happens, Teppic, Ptraci, the old king’s handmaiden, and a camel with hidden powers, escape. Looking back, they see the kingdom vanish into a mere crack in the ground. Suddenly, nothing stands between the rival kingdoms which prepare to go to war.
Meanwhile, Djelibeybi still exists, just in another dimension. But all kind of craziness has ensued, beyond even Dios’ powers, which in fact are considerable. The dead kings walk the realm, as do the gods whose existence they usually ignored and disbelieved.
Will Teppic act to save his kingdom? Or will he take the opportunity to ride off with the pretty and scantily clad handmaiden into the sunset? I’ll leave it to you to find out.
Once again, this is a Terry Pratchett romp between fantasy and satire, showing religion at its silliest while making us ask, what would happen if the gods really showed up? And all those pyramids? Pratchett leaves us to wonder if the real Pharaohs would equally have hated the idea. And perhaps it all was just a poke at the silliness of “pyramid power”!
Remember the Sweetness, Polly Giantonio. Rootstock Publishing (ISBN: 9781578693993) 2026.
Summary: A debut poetry collection capturing memories of beauty, loss, love, and family, both ordinary and profound.
When one thinks of “debuts” one often thinks of a budding young artist. However, what one encounters in this debut collection of poems are the reflections of one who has lived with life’s joys and vicissitudes. This allows Polly Giantonio to remember young love, view paintings in a gallery, or glimpse the seeming commonplaces of rural Vermont life with a richness of lived experience.
The collection opens with “The Praying Mantis.” We see with her the greenness of the “emerald queen,” hands cupped like “a baby sleeping” who is yet part of the “mystics in meditation.” We go blueberry picking with her. And we remember with her being toddlers with blue stains on our cheeks gobbling palmfuls of blueberries.
Other poems are memories of youth. “Surprise” reminds us of being sick at home when a parent brought something special. “The Dandelion” traces an arc from childhood to her own motherhood and the challenge of releasing a child.
She remembers in “Beyond” launching out in life, parting from Mom to go to art school. She discovers the adult challenge of halting “the ticker tape of life’s chatter.” Paintings figures in several poems, one by Bouguereau, another by Hopper, and a third by Rodin, The Kiss. While the mother notices the man’s hand on the woman’s hip, the child is focused on a caterpillar!
The most poignant of the poems describe moments as Giantonio walks with both parents and her brother toward their deaths. Presence with each of them recalls the past, whether her “teenage shitshow” with her father or her first smoke with her brother, dying of “damaged lungs.” Most striking is the moment shared at her mother’s vanity bench. Her mother gives her a string of pearls, a gift from Polly and her father. Then she looks at her “head of chemo fuzz,” decides she needs some red lipstick, and then asks Polly to use this for her viewing.
Some poems capture the contemporary realities we face. What climate change will mean for our grandchildren. Isolating together during Covid. In another, we hear the virus’ chilling prophecy: I am a virus that will mutate and survive.
Yet life’s harsh realities fail to overshadow the everyday wonders of owls, “October’s Confetti,” “Winter Thaw,” and the “Peony.” Giantonio captures the preciousness of our lives including our rebellions and mistakes, the hard and sacred work of accompanying the dying, and the appearances of beauty that points to “something more” in our lives. This debut collection features the mature insight of one who reflects deeply on her life, her family, and her place.
_____________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers Program.
Ordinary Time (Fullness of Time Series), Amy Peeler. InterVarsity Press | Formatio (ISBN: 9781514009680) 2026.
Summary: The significance of Ordinary Time within the church calendar and how it has been practiced and what it can mean for us.
“Jesus’ life would have included many ordinary days, days in which he was simply walking from one place to another.”
Amy Peeler, having visited the Holy Land, came to this realization. We tend to think of the big, redemptive events in Jesus’ life. But so much of life for him, as for us, was ordinary. There were days where Jesus, asked about what he did that day, may well have said, “Nothing.” And perhaps that is good. We need time to reflect upon the extraordinary, to allow it to work deep into the marrow of our lives.
In the development of the church’s liturgical year, the largest portion of time is apportioned to “ordinary time.” This includes the time between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday and from Pentecost to Advent. In this book, Amy Peeler explores the significance of Ordinary Time, and that it can be a different season of growth, quieter and deeper, amid the quotidian events of “normal life.” She observes that the weekly prayers (Propers) remind us of God’s provision in the challenged of life. And, positioned between the celebrations of Christ’s birth, and his death and resurrection, the lectionary frames our own progress through life within that of Christ’s.
After introducing the idea of Ordinary Time, Peeler uses seven words or phrases to capture the richness of this season.
Green. It’s the liturgical color of this season. Green signifies growth and reminds us of God’s work in us from baptism on in forming us to be more like Christ. We learn increasingly to walk in freedom rather than in slavery to sinful desires, patiently, day by day.
Bold. Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, the Visitation, falls within Ordinary Time. But what was bold about this visit? It’s not in the women’s status, which is humble. Rather it is in Mary’s “Magnificat” that boldly proclaims God’s sovereignty that topples the powerful and exalts the humble. And not only that, it is the prayer used daily in evening prayers. The church joins in the bold proclamation of the greatness of our Lord.
Triune. The first Sunday after Pentecost, the first of Ordinary Time is Trinity Sunday. The doctrine is complex. But our worship reminds us that our call is not to master this doctrine but to celebrate the Three in One. Peeler then reflects how the Ordinary Season is laced with affirmations of the being and activity of the Triune God, culminating in weekly Eucharistic prayers.
Feast. Peeler reflects on her move from Baptist to Anglican churches. Far from weekly celebrations of the Eucharist being perfunctory, she walks through the service, and describes her own awe in officiating.
Image of God. This chapter and the next two consider the Genesis accounts of Abraham. Not only do Abraham and Sarah and Hagar see God, but God sees them. He sees his chosen, created in his image. And thus, these stories challenge us to affirm God’s image in others and ourselves.
Trust. While God promises a child to Abraham and Sarah, they act in untrusting and unseemly ways with Hagar and Ishmael. Yet God works in what seems a tragic situation to teach each of them to trust him. Then Peeler invites us to consider how we are learning to trust God.
Gratitude. So, how do we come to gratitude in the test in which Abraham obeys the command of God to sacrifice Isaac, only for God to restrain him and direct him to a ram? For Peeler, the answer is in how it previews the work of Christ. God does what he prevents Abraham from doing. While that is indeed cause for thanksgiving, I wonder about other elements of Peeler’s account. At very least, there is a question of whether Isaac returned with Abraham and his servants. Genesis 22:19 mentions only Abraham returning to the servants. In Genesis 24:62, he is living in the Negev, separate from Abraham. I still wonder if Isaac was the willing victim, or whether there was a struggle. The text is silent, but I note that afterwards, Isaac separates from Abraham.
Peeler concludes with Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday before Advent. The feast reminds us, amidst the kingdoms of the world, of Christ’s coming rule, toward which we live every day.
This book is a marvelous guide to Ordinary Time. It is not time when nothing is happening, where we mark the days until Advent or Lent. Rather it is the time we grow quietly in our identity as God’s image bearers. It is a time to grow more like Christ in trust and thanksgiving as we regularly partake of Christ. We learn to see the Trinity woven through the church’s life and to boldly hope and witness to the work of the sovereign King.
_____________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Summary: The effects of SFFA v. Harvard on efforts to advance diversity in college admissions and what may be done.
Race-conscious admission, in which an applicant’s race is one of the numerous considerations in admissions, has been one way colleges have recruited racially diverse student classes. In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled to restrict race-conscious admissions in two landmark cases. These were Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard and SFFA v. the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill. The impact was immediate and dramatic with huge drops in the enrollment of underrepresented minority (URM) students at many schools.
Julie J. Park, who has studied race-conscious admissions efforts over 20 years wrote this book to address the admissions landscape, the scope and impact of the SFFA rulings, and the tools universities still have to advance diverse admissions. To begin with, it is important to understand how Park uses the term “race-conscious admissions.” She writes:
“In conventional race-conscious admissions, an admissions reader could view a student’s self-identified racial/ethnic identification as listed on the application. However, one’s race/ethnicity did not provide the applicant with any sort of automatic advantage in the admissions process. Instead, the reader had direct knowledge of a student’s race/ethnicity and could use it to contextualize a student’s experiences, enhancing understanding of how a student might contribute to the diversity of a student body. Contrary to popular opinion, being a URM student did not result in automatic admissions” (pp. 6-7).
This is very important to keep in mind for Park’s discussion of the SFFA rulings.
But first, Park addresses some of the ways the admissions system was broken even prior to the ruling, most of this not related to race-conscious admissions but impacting racial diversity on campus. This includes legacy admissions, out-of-state enrollments at state schools, early application and admissions, enrollment management programs, and the lack of diversity among admissions professionals.
Then Park turns to the ruling. What is key here is to distinguish the actual ruling from the hype around it. Specifically, Park notes that demographic data cannot be use in consideration of an applicant. However, Justice Roberts allowed that “nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.” In other words, readers can consider what applicants write about their racial experience but not demographic data. Likewise, counselors and teachers can talk about a student’s race in their recommendations. Also, despite policies extending this to other aspects of campus life, the ruling only addresses admissions. And universities may still collect racial data, important to Title VI reporting. They simply can’t use that in admissions.
Park discusses other implications as well, but the key takeaway for me was the narrowness of the ruling. However, the challenge is that both legal counsel and administrators will often obey laws that don’t exist, especially in a climate where state and federal governments are actively oppose diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Park notes that it takes courage leadership to do otherwise.
Park goes on in the remaining chapters to discuss the tools that universities still have (at present). She assesses efforts to focus on economic factors and other “race-neutral” approaches. She commends the model of the UC Davis School of Medicine, a multi-faceted approach. Park considers a number of incremental changes including outreach, contextualized GPAs, “push-out” financial aid offers, or even free tuition programs.
Then she turns to the debate over standardized testing. It’s complicated, but Park teases out evidence that test-optional or test-free admissions do result in increased applications from URM students. While standardized test takers with high scores tend to have higher GPAs, test-optional or test-free students evaluated on other factors do nearly as well. Intriguingly, in test-free situations, readers tend to make a more holistic assessment.
Park also considers the inequalities that must be allowed for in other aspect of the admissions process. These range for extra-curricular activities for which URM students may have less opportunity, to the attention given to recommendations from public versus elite high school teachers and counselors.
Park has focused her research on the effects of changes in diversity on student experience. So it makes sense for her to include a chapter in this book discussing how diversity affects student experience. Notably, she also advocates for diversity in faculty hiring, not addressed in the ruling. She advocates for the structures that support student diversity including cultural centers, living-learning programs and student organizations.
As she closes, passionately arguing, “we won’t go back,” it struck me that one of the most important arguments she makes is for a mindset of abundance. While there are only so many slots at a Harvard, this country has a plethora of schools where a student can obtain a high quality education. State schools could prioritize in-state students as opposed to chasing tuition lucrative out-of-state enrollments. She highlights the investment Mackenzie Scott has made in HBCUs. Surely, if we believe in sustaining our national greatness, expanding the opportunities for all our citizens should go without saying.
One of the backstops Park refers to for pursuing racial diversity is Title VI enforcement. I wonder what the implications of shifting enforcement from the Department of Education to the Department of Justice will be in our current politicized climate. This is a development since the book’s publication.
One of the most useful aspects of this book is to parse out what exactly the SFFA ruling does and doesn’t prohibit. We don’t want to obey laws that don’t exist. While the effect of SFFA was chilling, Park shows that schools still have many options available to them. My sense is that we can take none of these for granted. And we may have to fight for many of them.
I also appreciate that Park, combines evidence-based research with a passion for racially diverse campuses. Likewise, rather, than using the abbreviation DEI, throughout the text she spells out diversity, equity, and inclusion, emphasizing that this is what race-conscious efforts strive for and that this is a good thing. We can afford to be generous and expansive as a nation in the education of all our citizens. Park is right: we can’t go back.
_____________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Heaven and Hell, Edward Donnelly. Banner of Truth. (ISBN: 9781800405325) 2025, first published 2002.
Summary: A discussion of the traditional doctrines of hell and heaven that we might flee hell and embrace the hope of heaven.
For many of us who believe in some form of existence after death, we hope it will be in some form of “heaven.” And in many cases, we don’t want to think of the “other place,” unless it is for the truly evil like Hitler or Pol Pot. Many struggle to reconcile the idea of a loving and saving God with a place of everlasting punishment. In this book, Edward Donnelly helps us to “think about the unthinkable” as well as bring clarity to what we know of heaven, how we might be sure of going there, and how truly glorious such a future hope is.
The first half of the book is about hell. He begins by addressing why think of the unthinkable. In addition to the massive weight of biblical testimony, he argues that we need to weigh the sober content of the doctrine, that it concerns us directly, and there is a clear way of escape available for all. He also argues for this study because of the massive unbelief in hell, even among supposed “evangelical” Christians. Underlying all of this is our self-centeredness that denies the reality of sin and the holiness of God.
Then, Donnelly turns to examine the biblical evidence, showing that it is a real place created by God and a place of just and everlasting punishment. It is for the devil, his angels, and for those who do not believe. He shows that it is not Satan but God who rules over hell. But isn’t everlasting punishment too severe? The ultimate argument is that without hell, the cross makes no sense. If sin were a trivial matter, the sacrifice of the cross makes no sense. Likewise, he addresses the contention that a loving God wouldn’t create hell. He observes that God is holy as well as loving. and also that love doesn’t overlook evil. And finally, a merciful remedy exists by which no one need go to hell. Rather, than torment us, scripture warns us of hell that we might embrace the remedy!
Furthermore, the destruction is everlasting, the same word use to speak of everlasting life. He describes bluntly what it is like to be utterly separated from God, from all the goodness even those who do not believe now experience. and he discusses what those in hell suffer. While scripture uses imagery (flames, darkness), the reality is still a real experience of pain, even if not never ending fire. But what are the implications for those who believe? First it encourages us to put sin to death. Then, it means we live with contentment in all circumstances. Third, it calls us to a serious, though not gloomy approach, realizing we live among those headed toward a Christless eternity. Fourthly, it fosters a deeper appreciation of Christ. Fifthly, it lends urgency to our witness.
A couple comments. One is that it seems this book assumes those who have never heard are headed to hell, as far as I can tell. I would argue that scripture is silent on this other than to urge us to reach the unreached. I would leave their final fate to God’s just judgement. The other is I would have liked to see more of a case against annihilation, which is only mentioned to dismiss it as an example of evangelicals who argue against everlasting conscious punishment. While I would agree on the basis of biblical texts, not least of which are the statements of Jesus, that there are good reasons to affirm traditional view, those like John Stott have advanced biblical arguments for annihilation, that I would like to have seen addressed thoughtfully.
That said, this part of the book offers one of the clearest modern statements on the biblical teaching on hell and judgment. Furthermore, it makes the case for why we do well to flee to Christ and for the urgency of our witness.
Then Donnelly turns to heaven. He begins by observing that while many believe in heaven, we find those beliefs are often superficial. He explores both the reasons for our neglect and why the glorious hope of heaven matters. Again, he presents the biblical teaching about heaven. Donnelly emphasizes that heaven exists first of all for God’s glory, that both heaven and earth were created for God’s glory. But human rebellion diminished that glory. God has worked to restore that glory through calling a people, redeemed through Christ. Then he proceeds to show how Christ is the heart of heaven’s blessings. He is the Lamb who was slain and has conquered death.
Donnelly goes on to speak of how we will be like Christ. He makes us perfect, sinless, raises us bodily, in glory and power. Above all, he delights in us. Finally, he speaks of our fullness of joy. We, who are new creations, dwell in a renewed creation, even more beautiful than earth’s greatest beauties. We enjoy family relations with all God’s people–a large, varied, united, attractive, and satisfying family. And we will enjoy both rest and service in worshiping God with all our being and gifts.
I suspect some will object to Donnelly’s unapologetic statement of the doctrine of hell. Yet there are many unpleasant things in life we are better off knowing about. By knowing we can avoid them. Also, setting hell and heaven side by side points up the incredible gift Christ has made possible at great cost. It makes clear both the fearsome reality of hell, and that none of us need go there. God has made available a remedy offering a far better future. If true, we’d have to be crazy to neglect it.
_____________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
