2018 in the rear view mirror

Books, movies, podcasts and music challenge, teach, encourage, enrich and refresh my daily life. Following is my attempt to note those that made a difference for me in 2018. Lists are not is priority order.

BOOKS I read by the fireplace in the living room, in bed for a few minutes before falling asleep, at coffee shops, while waiting for appointments and on summer camping trips (maybe my favorite reading setting). Here are 12 that found a way to dig deeper into my skin, psyche and soul. Included is a one-sentence (and hopefully not an extreme run-on) commentary for each title. You follow my reading via Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7794273-jim

Southernmost - Silas House. I’m a sucker for a story that breathes the 

spiritual/faith/life journey from law to grace. 

There There - Tommy Orange. Native Americans on a “I can hardly breathe” quest driven by love, history, family, fear, rage and hope through urban chaos toward an unspeakable conclusion. (NYT Top 10 & Library Journal Best Books of 2018)

Hey, Kiddo - Jarrett Krosoczka. A graphic memoir reflecting on a childhood journey through emotional and physical land mines with the support of (quirky) grandparents toward a (much) better life.

Sun Does Shine: How I found Life and Freedom on Death Row – Anthony Ray Hinton. A true story (that shouldn’t need to be true) of wrongful conviction, our brutally flawed justice system and gracious, tenacious perseverance to overcome.

So You Want To Talk About Race – Ijeoma Oluo. I have a lot to learn and this book is an amazing teacher.

Not That Bad: Dispatches From Rape Culture - Roxanne Gay. First person essays that bleed and pulse raw reality through stories often hidden, avoided and ignored. 

Educated – Tara Westover. A story of growing up in a family dominated by religious excess, reactive paranoia and cultural escape to finding herself and her place in the greater world. (NYT Top 10)

The Wife Between Us – Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. Go ahead, read this book and message me every time you have it figured out…and then, let me know when you are finished.

Hang Time: My Life in Basketball - Elgin Baylor. I knew Baylor was a great player, but I didn’t know much of his life both within and beyond the game.

Disrupting Poverty: Five Powerful Classroom Practices – Kathleen Budge and William Parrett. “I love this book, it affirms my prejudices.” I have used that line as a half joke for years, no joke this time. (okay, that’s two sentences)

American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures – American Ferrera. 31 essays explore the questions of the day, “Who is American?” “What does it mean to be an American?” and much more.

Dear Girl – Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Paris Rosenthal. A perfect book for our annual camping trip of playing, laughing, sharing, learning and growing with our Granddaughters.

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MOVIES To be honest MoviePass may have enabled me to see more movies in theaters in 2018 than in the past decade. Special thanks to the Pickford Film Center for keeping independent movies thriving in Bellingham https://www.pickfordfilmcenter.org/

• Eighth Grade – I have worked with young people in some fashion for 40 plus years and this movie bridges the current realities with freshness and life.

• Won’t You Be My Neighbor – Fred Rogers wasn’t perfect, but he was better than we deserved and this film proves it.

• First Reformed – I worked much of my life in ministries making this an almost too real view of the struggles of life and systems.

• Crazy Rich Asians – Fresh, fun, warm and engaging for a great date night with Connie.

• BlacKKKlansman – Perfect Spike Lee story telling with an unforgettable punch that should be shown to every high school student in America.

• RBG – Wow, long may she live lead and serve!

• Three Identical Strangers –Complex and compelling with more questions than answers.

• Christopher Robin – “Say What You See,” has become our new favorite game while riding in the car with our Granddaughter, Kairi. 

• The Rider – Bloody, dusty, raw, true, human and transcendent.

• Hearts Beat Loud – Great father/daughter coming of age story, but, “Who is coming of age?”

• Juliet Naked – Affirms my hope that life is more about redemption than karma.

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MUSIC I have eclectic interests musically but when it comes to favorites I’m usually found in the Americana, Roots streams with merging of diverse styles. This fusion can be seen by the concerts Connie and I attended this year.

• Rosanne Cash – It was a dream come true for me to hear her, and her multi-talented husband John Leventhal, at the Mount Baker Theater playing a stripped down acoustic set.

• Bruce Cockburn – We took our sons and daughter-in-laws for a near sacred Schmotzer family memory lane evening.  

• Mavis Staples – Mavis, at 79, took us to church, no it was better than church, well maybe it was what I wish church would be.

• Taylor Swift – Shouldn’t all grandparents take their granddaughters to see Taylor at Century Link? 

• Lyle Lovett – We have cherished memories of seeing Lyle with family and friends over three decades and this, an anniversary weekend and first trip to Chateau St Michelle, did not disappoint.

• I’m With Her –When Sara Watkins began collaborating with Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan as I’m With Her I knew something special was happening and this concert proved it true, very true.

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PODCASTS

Over the years I transitioned from being a runner to jogger, to plodder and now a walker and my current work includes a daily commute. Fortunately podcast have blossomed in the same era.

• Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me – Amazing cast and quirky trivia combine for my kind of fun!

• Malcom Gladwell Revisionist History – Looking deeper into little known or rarely remembered events and situations that have continuing importance and value.

• Disgraceful – True crime stories from the world of rock and roll.

• NPR Daily Politics – Recapping the politics of the day, if you can take it (if I can take it).

• The Bible for Normal People – An attempt to explore the Bible with new eyes.

• Code Switch – Honest, and at times humorous, examination of race and identity.

• 30 for 30 – Proof that sports is about people and stories more than points and competition.

• The Axe Files – Conversations that humanize politicians and politics.

• You Make It Weird – Let’s see, scatological humor leads to stream of conscious conversation ending with honest exploration of perceptions and practices related to God.

I wish shalom for you all each new year and each new day.

I finally wrote a book today

I finally wrote a book today

You know, the one

I keep thinking about

But am afraid to talk about

For fear I’ll jinx it

The same one people

Keep telling me I should write

I’ve started plenty

Each with a different slant

Probably sounding like little more

Than a pitiful version of something

My momentary favorite author would pen

But now, it’s done

No more to haunt me

Nagging for time and affection

I finally wrote a book today

Or, at least, thought about it

Again

Making friends with books

I had something of a rocky start with books.

Sometime in the spring of my second or third year of elementary school, my Mom informed me I could go to summer reading or be held back in the fall (nobody wanted to say the flunk word). I went with the summer reading.  This involved spending mornings in a classroom with floor to ceiling windows, hot summer sun, no air conditioning and eight or ten other similarly challenged kids.  I would read stories in cardboard folders held by a machine making a grinding, whirring sound while sliding a metal plate over the page, covering words, to set my pace. After I finished the story there would be a quiz, the outcome of which would determine what story to read next.  I am uncertain of my actual accomplishments, but thankfully I was promoted to the next grade with my class in the fall.

By fifth grade I hit another wall. I was in Miss Jacobs’ reading group. She was the young teacher who wore white go-go boots and short skirts. She should have been cool but she was determined to be in charge and she was STRICT. Our assignment was to read one library book a week. Being a mature ten year old, I decided to express my concerns to her. I told her I was a slow reader and didn’t think I could keep up with the assignment. I was hoping that through negotiation we could agree on more manageable number. She told me to do the assignment or get an F. I then made the mature decision to protest and read nothing. I got an F. My parents were not impressed with my story of negotiation and civil disobedience.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the books. I was a collector and books could be collected. I loved the idea of having books, owning them. I always got my Scholastic order in on time and intended to read all I purchased. On rare occasions, I did.  By high school I had learned that if I listened well in class I could fake my way through most tests and earn passing grades without reading the books. This was a skill I carried through most of my college years.

Sometime near the end of college, or soon thereafter, I started actually reading books. And things changed. Books began to shape my ideas. Books became my friends. I marked them, shared them, talked about them and treasured them.  I believe my wife was a guide opening the world of books for me.  She devours them. Reading books always seemed to be more about “wanting to” than “having to” for her.

In my twenties and thirties, I primarily read lay theology and it fueled my passion for faith and ministry. I was hooked on almost anything from InterVarsity Press. These books became a significant part of my shift (some might say drift) from fundamentalism to a more middle-ground, mainline place of faith connections. I often said that I loved a book because it confirmed my prejudices. Thankfully that was becoming more of a joke than an ongoing reality.

By my forties, I had branched out. My reading was no longer held in the world of Christian publishing, but included novels, action stuff, biographies, sports, history and more. Choosing to no longer focus my reading on books about faith and spirituality, I shifted to a broader range of books and found food for my soul.  Baseball stories and war histories were full of the stuff of life and leadership. Biographies and novels had some of the same draw. These stories of life and living were teaching me how to live. I continue to be fascinated by Negro League Baseball and the way that racial realities are central to the American story.  I love to look for a whisper of God in biographies and novels. I think most of us are either trying to find the Holy or get as far away as possible, and I think it is very difficult to tell a story that excludes a thread of grace, whether the author wants or intends such is irrelevant.

I think it is fair to say that most of my deep friendships include connections with and through books. There are those who share a love for certain authors or genres. There is the fire of discovery or the knowing that comes from a knowing a common story.  For some fifteen years I’ve had a weekly early morning gathering with a group of men. We are close in age and have employment or significant involvement in local ministries. One member’s wife dubbed us the RATS (Readers And ThinkerS). We joke about whether we deserve the name. But in reality we frequently talk about what we are reading and occasionally will read and discuss a book together. The group has been a safe place of strength and stability for each of us at crucial life moments.

I am still a slow reader, working not to say each word mentally. I read in spurts. A book hooks me and I’m obsessed. Summer camping trips, travelling and other times are my favorites. I need to be able to concentrate to read. It is difficult when I have projects hovering or schedule pressures. I find it interesting how many of the “supposed” to read books I’ve never touched. Don’t really care. I scrutinize book recommendations very carefully. You need to sell it or be someone I highly trust and respect before I’ll commit to your suggestion.

I’m not ready for an electronic reader yet. It may be my age, and I can accept that. I still like the individuality of books. Hardback, paperback, weight of paper, new, used, typestyle. I mean, how does an author sign a tablet?  I enjoy the library, borrowing and buying used books. There are some books I know from the start I want to own. With most others I prefer to keep them moving. At times I buy a keeper copy, one for me to own, after reading one borrowed. I also have books I treasure. While I would show them to many, I’d only cautiously lend them to any. Some have author’s signatures. I have been fortunate in my work life to meet many and make friendships with a few.  

Then there’s the question of writing a book. Many have encouraged me to give it a try. For a long time, it has vacillated between being a dream and a goal. I’ve started a few and outlined many on paper and more in my head.

Let’s face it. I’ll never read all the books I want to read. I certainly won’t read all the books others expect me to read. Schlock and trash will abound. But when I find a one of those just right books, at the just right time, the reading of it, no the very living into it makes all of life something more.

May God have mercy on us all (and help us to find a few more “perfect” books along the way).

https://www.catapultmagazine.com/good-books-2/article/making-friends-with-books