 SEPTEMBER, 2001 |
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ELEMENTS FOR TRANSFORMATION
by Jim Loftus |
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The template for the first book reviewed this month is that of blessings. This word is so grand and broad that it embraces every good thing, all the way from courage and kindness and gratitude to the great yet simple mystery of who and what we are. The second book is a novel about the always beguiling topic, relationships that continue into other lifetimes.
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MY GRANDFATHER'S BLESSINGS by Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. (author of Kitchen Table Wisdom) first came to us in the year 2000 and since then it has gained wings, appearing on bestseller lists. Dr. Remen, a steller storyteller, relates many tales, each in very few pages, that have to do with blessings-- how to discern them, to receive them, and what it takes to become one. Remen shares her own growth as she counsels those she writes about. Grouped here are stories of finding strength, taking refuge and discovering belonging. In one of six sections, she writes of challenges in the midst of which someone has opened their eyes, minds and hearts to the difference between mystery and Mystery. These are themes that most of us unconsciously or with purpose seek from time to time to maintain a tranquil spirit.
Those of you who have taken note of what Dr. Remen has had to say on TV or radio talk shows know her as a woman of great heart. Her rabbi grandfather, before he died when she was only a little girl, made an everlasting impression on her with his actions and words of loving kindness; Dr. Remen's attentiveness to human nature is born as well from her many years as a caring doctor -- first as a pediatrician and in later years as a counselor for those who are burdened with cancer.
For over the past third of a year, I have read My Grandfather's Blessings and reveled in the words Dr. Remen uses that express inner meanings of self that I hadn't yet quite grasped without this helping hand. ...Blessings can open a sense of connection between you and those she tells you about, enhancing your own relationships and pointing the way to finding words for what's going on inside your own life.
What makes this book outstanding is that sense of connection with the holy seeker within each of us, that which searches out deeper, simpler meanings. If you pick up this book as clergy, counselor, friend, or as a seeker on the path, you'll find yourself reading every word of every simple story for the promise of discovery that it holds. I have a strong sense that Dr. Remen did not write My Grandfather's Blessings alone ... each person she writes about added to her own storehouse of wisdom just as their experiences may add to yours. Her book has become a friend that I'm sad to close the covers on. (Softcover, approximately 377 pages, $14, Riverhead Books.)
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by Jeanne Spiro
The interesting title, FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM by Stephen Hawley Martin, comes from the Bible, Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Steven Hawley Martin is also the author of The Mount Pelee Redemption (Hampton Roads Publishing).
The story begins with cocky bomber pilot Lieutenant Rick Medlock awakening from a near death experience during World War II after a bomb attack on an airstrip in Corsica. Believing himself to be dead, he's surprised to find that his "angel" is really nurse Carol Tinker, who comments that one of his eyes is green and the other blue. He falls for her, but she is reluctant to become serious since she's been down this road before; having lost loved ones to the war. Early in the book the two of them die in each other's arms during another bombing.
Carol's next life opens as the 25-year-old Carol Manchester tends her grandmother, now on her deathbed, at the family home, Live Oaks. Her new job is at an advertising agency run by Rick Delmonte, who has one green eye and one blue ... a tip-off to the reader. They are, of course, drawn to each other. The book is a fast-paced suspense/love story that follows the couple as they deal with the threat of losing an inheritance, people who know things but won't tell, car chases and shoot-outs. It also examines past lives, karma, morality and the purpose of one's life. You might enjoy For the Good of Those Who Love Him; I did.
I like books of visionary fiction and read most of the ones we receive. I read non-fiction growth-type books too, but I enjoy having good information wrapped up in story form. One drawback authors have in writing them, though, is the challenge of presenting truth without being obvious or preachy. Martin does a good job but in a very few instances he has Rick acting superior; feeling he has to be patient with Carol, who lags behind him in experience. On the whole, though, it's a quick read, it's enjoyable and it has enough meat to get one thinking. (Trade paperback, 320 pages, $14.95, Oaklea Press.)
June Rouse is a published author and poet, free lance editor and rewriter, writing class and workshop facilitator, and the editor of The Monthly Aspectarian.
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