One of the great pleasures that a time of sabbatical offers is the space and freedom to read. I love to spend time in book stores and can seldom leave the store without a purchase. The trouble comes in trying to find time to read them. I keep a space on my Book Shelf specifically for the books I intend to read when I get to them. I moved that pile of books home with me when I started my sabbatical (and since then have bought a few more!). I could hardly wait to get started on the pile.
On these sabbatical days it is such a gift to move from the table to the couch to pick up that book I am in the middle of and to know that I can have some uninterupted time. So I thought I would tell you about the books I have my nose in right now. My sabbatical reading is “A New Kind of Christian” by Brian McLaren. Written in 2001 it is about the spiritual journey of a minister exploring his Christian faith in the context of post-modern thought. One of his comments that I noted is: “I felt that we were potentially on the verge of a genuine spiritual awakening and that God was every bit as active as any darker forces. I saw the collapse of modernity as opening the door for fresh spiritual explorations. True, I said, the spiritual resurgence that I see brewing is unconventional and even irreverent at times, largely developing outside the boundaries of our institutional religion. But that to me says more about the rigidity of our institutions that the darkness of the current spiritual resurgence;” Interesting thought for my sabbatical reflections.
I am also keen to continue reading Michael Moss’s book, “Salt – Sugar -Fat”. I started it on the weekend. It is a book telling how the food giants efforts to maximize sales and profits do so by deliberatly enticing customers by stuffing products with salt, sugar and fat. It is both fascinating and disturbing.
Then, when by brain starts to hurt, I move to fiction and for that I am enjoying “The Headmaster’s Wager” by Vincent Lam. It is a great read and, like all good fiction, takes me far away from the cool gray days of a Muskoka spring day!
I would tell you more but I have to get back to my reading!
