The Bookhound, Part 3

I usually have 3 to 5 books going at a time. There is so much to read, I can't seem to cram it all in. One of our libraries had a book sale last week and I found some terrific books. The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel (I have already read his excellent The Case for Faith); Miles Gone By, a literary biography by William F. Buckley, Jr. (Mr. Buckley recently passed away; he is best known for his keen intellect and as founder of National Review magazine and the Firing Line television show. He is also known for his massive vocabulary, which a life-long love of words will produce--I have only read a few pages of this book and I have already found several words I have never heard of and can barely pronounce, but that is the point of reading Buckley: You'll learn something). 

I also picked up Sidney Poitier's The Measure of a Man. The book is described as a "Spiritual Autobiography," and it is exactly that. I am about half way through it and it is remarkable. I know of Mr. Poitier as a brilliant actor, but I have seen only one of his movies ("Guess Who's Coming To Dinner," 1968). My knowledge of the man's work is minimal, other than "Dinner," but I have always been interested in Poitier. Reading the book will give you an interesting portrait of a man of great depth. And the fact that he is a man of color, he did not (ever!) let that get in his way of his own personal beliefs or personal progress. Throughout his life, if he could not accomplish one thing one way, he would try another and keep at it. He let nothing hold him back (The World, The Man, the blatant discrimination and racism of the 40s, 50s, 60s), he always looked for "another" way. Most interesting about Poitier is his absolute refusal to accept roles in movies which did not reflect his personal character. I'm not talking about an artist trying to "make a statement" with his work, but personal character. The things that he was made of, the things he learned from his parents and life, he would not compromise. Not with arrogance, but with simple fact. He had/has standards and he lives by them. How admirable is that? This is a man who through his art and life, has earned our respect. 

I have a backwards approach to reading biographies. I will find someone who I think is interesting, read their biography and then examine their work. I have done this with the poet Robert Lowell, author Richard Yates, and now Sidney Poitier. I knew little (or nothing) about their work before I read their biography. I like this approach. I think it gives me a deeper look into the artist and a greater and deeper understanding of the work. 

I first heard of Robert Lowell on the day he died in 1977. I was working at a radio station and the AP wire clanged away announcing an Urgent (a step below a Bulletin): "Poet Robert Lowell is dead," it said. In those days, I did a lot of writing (songs, poems), so poets were of interest to me. Later, the superb biography of Lowell by Ian Hamilton was released (1982). I bought it and read it. Lowell had an interesting life with its share of troubles (not unlike Richard Yates). Once I had an understanding of his life, I started reading his poetry. His collection called Life Studies (1959) is recognized for its autobiographical nature and is considered trendsetting in poetry for the time.

I recently finished A Tragic Honesty by Blake Bailey, an excellent biography of Richard Yates (best known for Revolutionary Road, 1961). I found this book and a collection of Yates short stories on sale at the same time. I bought them and after reading the biography, I feel I have a greater understanding of Yates stories. His work is practically word-for-word autobiography, using people in his life as characters for his stories, and actual situations from his life for story lines. Yates sadly had mental problems and was a helpless alcoholic and his work never really gained the acceptance that it should have during his life. And subsequent books after Revolutionary Road did not receive the audience(s) many believed they should have. But, Yates books can be found in stores today and there has been talk of a film adaptation of Revolutionary Road in the works with Leonardo DiCaprio. I hope so. Yates deserves better. 

I am also reading Just As I Am, the autobiography of Billy Graham (excellent!) and One Nation Under God, a History of Prayer in America by James Moore (discussed earlier in The Bookhound, Part 2). So, it is going to be a summer filled with books--can't think of anything better!

Matthew 13:43

"When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry spaces, looking for a place to rest, but it doesn't find it. So the spirit says, 'I will go back to the house I left.' When the spirit comes back, it finds the house still empty, swept clean and made neat. Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits even more evil than it is, and they go in and live there. So the person has even more trouble than before. It is the same way with the evil people who live today." --Matthew 13:43.

While browsing through my Bible last night, I found this passage of Scripture. This is the key thing that amazes and impresses me about the Bible: Everything Is In There. Everything. Whatever problem you have, question, concern, the answer is right there in those pages.

 

Look at that Scripture closely. The evil spirit looks for a place to rest. You have run it off, and now, it wants to go somewhere else. Maybe where it wanted to land, that person was able to block it, and so, it goes back to find you. But now, it sees you are 'clean.' The evil spirit cannot tolerate a clean soul, so it will gang up on you, bringing seven, SEVEN! of its pals to try to get you. If you're not ready, they just might get in. And this is the key, when we cave to our weaknesses, it is much harder, in this case Seven Times Harder, to fight it off the next time. The evil spirit sees an open door and it wants in. 

The devil, chief evil spirit that he is, is trying to find some kind of passage into us any way he can. His goal is to simply foul us up. To misplace something about our life to keep us off balance and just miss the good things of God and Faith. It is the devil's job. It is what he is here to do. To mess us up any time he can get a chance. 

Watching TV when you really should be studying for a test or loafing on the net when you should be doing something else, laundry, for instance, as un-fun as it is? There he is. But this is the point, he wants to get to you any way he can, in the simplest fashion. Keeping you from doing something simple like laundry, or picking up the back yard, is perfect for him. All he needs in an inch. Reading the wrong kind of books, magazines, websites? Bang, there is the devil trying to keep us just a few levels lower than our best. It's his job and he's good at it.

A simple turn of a few pages in the Bible and BANG! Right there in front of your eyes is exactly, exactly why it is so important to work on the awareness that the devil is waiting, waiting for just the right moment for him to strike. I can point to one particular instance, that seems really harmless on the surface, but it is an under-the-table approach that the devil will use. I was chatting with some of the guys at work and it wasn't long before it turned to talking about other people and their mistakes and failings. Sure as the world, I joined in saying 'Yeah, that's right,' and generally agreeing with them. At that moment, a sharp voice entered my head saying, 'Stop That!' Needless to say, that was God warning me not to get involved in the gossip and hearsay of others. It is not healthy for me/you to do this and it sends a negative spirit to the person you are talking about. It goes both ways. It hurts you and it sends an unhealthy spirit message to the other person. It's hard sometimes when we think about the people who have hurt us and have done us wrong. It is easy to turn up the volume and rant on about how he or she did this or that. But the negatives that are sent out are simply not worth expelling the energy. Now, this takes some strong will power to bite your tongue. This does not mean we do not defend ourselves when we are done wrong, but in so many cases, the damage falls back on us. We carry the negative spirit around and on us (yes, ON us) and if we're not careful, it will get IN us. Yes, IN US. 

It is a huge responsibility we have taken upon ourselves to walk with Christ and live in Faith. It is massive. It comes with daily twists and turns that challenges the very foundation of what we are trying to do and how we are trying to live. CS Lewis discusses this in his excellent book, Mere Christianity, saying that when we begin to walk with Christ, get ready for the ride of your life. (I discuss this more in depth in an earlier posting called The Two Phases of Faith.)

When I struggle with these evil spirits (and they can be anything, anywhere), I have a moment of acceptance that I am not alone and my struggle is the same as anyone else. When the spirit takes hold, and I fail, I immediately grab my Bible or a positive book of faith (Joel Osteen, Martin Luther, Billy Graham), open it up and start reading. When you feel good pouring out of you, get that pitcher of good and pour more in. Now. That Second. Keep pouring and eventually, the evil spirit will drown. It is immense power knowing that evil spirits are aware that one day, one moment, you may not be paying attention, and then, right then, is where it will strike.

Read Matthew 13:43. Read it again. And again. And one more time.

It is a simple, powerful truth. 

Blank.

I wonder how different our lives would be if we spoke to God before we spoke to anyone else in our life. Our very first conversation was with God. I can imagine Him presenting us with a blank sheet of paper. “What’s that?” we would ask.  And God would say, “It’s your life, your future.” “How can it be my future, there’s nothing on it?” “Well,” God would say, “What you put into your future is entirely up to you.” “But God, I don’t know how to do anything,” you say (notice how you start from the very beginning thinking you are less than you can be!) “No,” God says, “You can be anything you want. What would you like to be?” “A writer. I’d like to be a writer,” you say.  “What does it take to be a writer,” God asks (like he doesn’t know already!)  “Well, I suppose I could learn how to be a good writer by reading good writing, to begin with,” you say.  And God says, “Go on.” (notice His encouragement, here). “I think I would need to go to school and learn the craft of writing, sentence structure, good grammar, and so on.”  “Yes, that’s right,” God says.  He adds, “Now, listen to Me. You have decided what you would like to do.  Now, work hard, study hard, get into school, read everything about the writing business you can get your hands on, never quit, and most importantly, do not let any discouragement keep you from moving forward. Don’t let friends, family, teachers, anyone, keep you from being what you want to be. This is your life, your future. Plan for it, work toward it, be honest in your work and with the people you meet, and everything will work out.”  “Thank you, God,” You say.  “One other thing,” God adds, “Remember, I’m proud of you.”

 

Imagine from the very beginning, you get support, you are told that your life is yours to do anything you want. To explore, to try, to think, to hope and plan. And the best of all: God is proud of you!  Imagine how life would be, knowing this from the very start.

 

We actually start out this way. Remember when you were young, there were no limitations. If you wanted to do something, climb a tree, ride your bike in the woods, anything, you just took off. It wasn’t until later when someone, whomever they may be, started telling you, you can’t do this or that. And at some point, you started believing it.

 

At that moment, you stopped doing things you wanted to try, because deep inside of you was the root of doubt, questioning everything as not worth the time or effort, and the result would be certain failure. Somehow, at some point in our life, we stopped believing. We stopped trying, and what is worse, we stopped caring.

 

It can be seen everywhere. Talk radio is filled with people arguing simply for the sake of arguing; TV news programs are smothered in people bashing other people. Respect for opinions appear to be diminished day-by-day.  I have noticed this again and again, and as much as I like to stay informed about what is happening, it is getting increasingly difficult to watch people go after each other. Would God say He is proud of any of this? I doubt it. But we got ourselves into this mess, and we can get ourselves out.

 

It starts with a blank sheet of paper. What do you want to be?