May Reading Log

As a reader, I often adopt my own version of actors' famous "one for them, one for me" rule, alternating between books that are intellectually stimulating and "important" works with those that are pure entertainment. So, with last month's reading heavily focused on the lengthy classic Les Misérables, and with another long historical classic on deck for next month (stay tuned!), I gave this month over to lighter fare. Take a look!



BRAVING THE TRUTH by Rachel Held Evans, edited by Sarah Bessey

One of evangelical Christianity's most important and most eloquent writers in the 21st century so far has been Rachel Held Evans, whose blog and subsequent books made her one of the earliest and most prominent voices of what would become known as the "deconstruction" movement. Rachel spoke for millions of young adults who, after growing up in the warm cocoon of evangelicalism, started asking existential questions and found their religious authorities' answers—or, more commonly, non-answers—unsatisfactory. She never stopped loving Jesus, but she had quite a few bones to pick with his church.

Rachel's story came to a sudden and tragic end in 2019 when she was placed into a medically induced coma following an allergic reaction to medication she was taking for an infection. She died a few weeks later at the age of 37, leaving behind a husband, two small children, and thousands (millions?) of devastated friends and readers. I count myself as one of those readers; I vividly remember the gut punch I felt upon learning of her death.

Braving the Truth is her final offering to the church, a posthumous collection of her blog posts compiled by friends and family and interspersed with their reflections on Rachel. The writings included span the topics Rachel most commonly covered, from the hypocrisies of the religious right to her embrace of LGBTQ+ advocacy to her journey out of evagecalism and into mainline Christianity. As with all of her writings, they are both passionate and compassionate, articulating a vision of the church where nobody is left behind and all are welcome. 

This is a sad book for those of us who felt like we knew Rachel and who miss her voice. As was always the case when I was reading her contemporarily, I don't agree with all of her conclusions, but I never question the heart behind them or her love for the Lord. At both a spiritual and an emotional level, this is a challenging book, and one I am grateful her loved ones gave us.

 

MUSIC IS HISTORY by Questlove
HIP-HOP IS HISTORY by Questlove

These books have intrigued me ever since I first saw them on the shelves at Barnes & Noble, so when the public library had both available at once, I knew it was time to pick them up. Written by Questlove, founding member of the Roots and musical director for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the books purport to be a walk through recent American history as told through the lens of popular music and his own experiences within its industry. Neither, in my mind, quite lives up to that mission statement, but one is superior to the other.

Music Is History is the more rambling of the two, a book I always enjoyed but never quite knew how to explain. With each chapter representing a year, beginning in the early 1970s, Questlove offers readers a sense of what that year was about for him, specifically as it relates to R&B and hip-hop music. Part memoir, part sociology, part music history, it relies heavily on the contagiousness of its author's excitement and expertise to carry you along. Mostly that's enough (I did finish it, after all), but there were admittedly times I'd complete a half hour reading session and think, "What did I just read?"

Hip-Hop Is History, by contrast, takes a more disciplined approach, operating as a history of the genre as told by someone who started as a fan, became a star, and has now grown into an elder statesman. While it maintains Questlove's distinctive and discursive voice, I appreciated that this one was easier to grasp. Taking readers from the origins of the genre in the Bronx up to today (and then, in a weird predictive epilogue, into 2073), it's not fact-heavy enough to be a reference work, but teaches you plenty along the way.

These were both light reads, but I'm glad I was able to finish them in 2 weeks instead of needing a whole month. By the time I finished, I was ready for something a little more concrete. Fun books for music lovers, but definitely the kind I'd check out from the library rather than buy.

BIG FAN by Michael Schur and Joe Posnanski

Every two weeks or so, Joe Posnanski, my favorite sportswriter, and Michael Schur, writer and showrunner for iconic TV shows like Parks and Recreation and The Good Place, get together to record the Poscast, their podcast about sports and nonsense. It is not, and I cannot emphasize this enough, a professional production. There is little to no planning done beforehand. There are ads clumsily jammed in by their editor, but no slick reads by the hosts. For many years, the only equipment they used was the microphones on their laptops. Most importantly, they don't engage in their conversations as professional sports commentators, but as fans—there is no attempt at objectivity, a total absence of the "no cheering in the press box" mentality.

Big Fan exists as an extension of that podcast and their friendship. Conceived by Schur and instantly agreed to by Posnanski, the book is an exploration of what it means to be a fan, undertaken through a series of varied trips around the world to fan-centric events. Roughly half of those are sporting events of some kind, but there are also trips to a magic show, the warehouse of a baseball card collector, and a darts tournament. Their overaching goal is to explain why being a fan of something is so fulfilling and how it brings people together.

That higher purpose aside, this book is mostly about the laughs. One chapter sees Schur forcing Posnanski, a tennis fanatic and pickleball hater, to participate in a weekend-long pickleball tournament. Another sees Posnanski returning the favor by making Schur attend Wrestlemania accompanied by a Grateful Dead concert. The last chapter describes the two of them winding their way through the Los Angeles Dodgers' PR staff in pursuit of a private meeting with Mookie Betts, all so they could determine for themselves whether or not he is a good hugger.

If sports make you smile, so will this book. I won't pretend it's Posnanski's most important work, but I suspect it may have been the most fun he ever had writing a book. You will certainly have fun reading it. And isn't that what being a fan is all about?

 
 

MARCH: BOOKS ONE, TWO, AND THREE by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
RUN: BOOK ONE by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, L. Fury, and Nate Powell

When activist and congressman John Lewis suggested to one of his staffers that he should write an autobiographical graphic novel about his role in the Civil Rights Movement, it wasn't an immediate yes. Nevertheless Lewis, inspired by the success many years earlier of 1958's Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story comic book, persisted. The result was a trilogy of award-winning graphic novels and a posthumously published sequel that introduced Lewis's story to a new generation.

March is essentially an autobiography, taking readers from Lewis' boyhood up through the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and focusing intently on the Civil Rights Movement and Lewis's role in its major events, including the Nashville Student Movement, the Freedom Rides, and the march from Selma to Montgomery. Structurally, the story is told by Lewis on the occasion of Barack Obama's 2009 presidentiaul inauguration, offering readers a modern perspective even as they are immersed in history.

Illustrated in black-and-white by Nate Powell, the art achieves the perfect balance of realism and cartooning. His style somehow makes the story feel both true to life and mythic, especially in the most tragic moments of the movement, such as the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. Shadow-heavy and high-contrast, Powell's work is excellent for a historical graphic novel like this.

Run, perhaps appropriately, feels unfinished by comparison as it continues Lewis's and the movement's stories. It's clear that Lewis here wanted to highlight more key figures from the time period (the index of names at the back runs 30+ pages), and this volume is clearly heavily researched. It does bring on a second artist, L. Fury, and I thought that change was for the worse when compared to Powell's singular vision for March. Nevertheless, anyone who reads March should spend the extra hour it will take to read this follow-up.

March is a celebration of one of the 20th century's greatest heroes and a memorial to what I consider American Christianity's finest hour, when a Black Baptist preacher stirred the soul of his nation through nonviolent self-sacrifice. Last month the Supreme Court gutted that movement's crowning achievement, the Voting Rights Acts that John Lewis bled on the Edmund Pettis Bridge to win. Maybe if enough people read these books we'll eventually be inspired to get back to the work of forming a more perfect union.



THE COMIC BOOK HISTORY OF BASEBALL by Alexander C. Irvine, Tomm Coker, and C.P. Smith

When I saw this book at Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix a couple years ago on my annual pilgrimage to MLB spring training, it was an instant impulse buy. The Comic Book History of Baseball? This was made for me!

This is exactly what it sounds like, a linear walk through the story of our national pastime, from its earliest days as an offshoot of British games like cricket and rounders to the long-awaited triumph of the Chicago Cubs in the 2016 World Series. Interspersed throughout are one-page biographies of notable figures, overviews of key events, and the occasional off-the-wall story. At a mere 176 pages, it understandably takes a 30,000 foot view of the game's history—don't expect to see every single World Series champion or league MVP highlighted—but each page is dense with information.

The art is an appropriate style for a book of this nature, using an "illustrated photo" technique that is neither hyperrealistic (which gets distracting when depicting famous faces) nor cartoony. While not especially dynamic from a stylistic standpoint, it fits the book's format well, giving things a documentary feel.

If I have one complaint, it is that the book's storytelling feels choppy and disjointed, owing mostly to those one-page discursions mentioned earlier. It's hard enough to try and tell a sport's story as though it is unitary, since there are at least 30 little stories happening at once on any given day. Interrupting that linear story every few pages with an unrelated splash page makes this feel at times less like a graphic novel than a bound collection of loosely related pages.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed reliving some of the biggest moments in baseball history in comic book format. This is a reference book I'll certainly hang onto for years to come, and a worthy read for any fan of our national pastime.

The Simple and the Sublime (Friday Devotional)

Whatever task you must do, work as if your soul depends on it, as for the Lord and not for humans, since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ.

- Colossians 3:23-24

I love to go camping, and like many people who do, I tend to romanticize it. I savor the smoky taste of food cooked over a fire. I revel in the beauty of nature—the glory of a sunrise, the sounds of birds chirping, the chill of the night air. I boast in the feeling of “roughing it” (albeit in my REI tent and sleeping bag), abandoning the creature comforts of modern society for a weekend in the woods.

But for all that romanticism, even the most devoted outdoorsman must admit that much of camping is a drag. Constantly swatting at bugs gets old. Sleeping on the ground makes you feel rugged, but it also makes you feel sore. And as for when nature calls, well, the less said about state park bathrooms, the better.

But the reason so many, myself included, still enjoy camping is because of those moments when the little aggravations are overwhelmed by something glorious you never could have experienced back home. Camping is, as a recent New Yorker article puts it, “full of rain, mosquitos, and, intermittently, the sublime.”

It occurs to me that the same is true of life in Christ. There are many who, upon giving their lives to the Lord, find themselves chasing spiritual highs: emotional worship experiences, life-changing mission trips, etc. They want for every day with Jesus to be a thrill, every step of obedience to feel life-changing.

But the truth is, some days Paul just made tents. While we are drawn to big moments and key sermons and turning points, we should also remember that even the greatest of the apostles knew the drudgery of a hard day’s work and the inconveniences that come with it. Not every day was a mountaintop experience.

The key—for the titans of the early church and for ordinary believers today—is to remain faithful when you’re not making headlines, to give the Lord everything you have even when you’re not yet seeing the fruit. Don’t make the mistake of thinking there is nothing spiritual in your day-to-day life, because God is found there too.

Rather, devote your drudgery to the Lord, seeing even the most ordinary tasks as opportunities to give God glory and find his blessings. For it is in the simple, common things of life that you sometimes stumble upon the sublime.

Commencement (Friday Devotional)

For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part, but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

- 1 Corinthians 13:9-12

It is officially commencement season in America. I spent Wednesday morning watching my daughter graduate from kindergarten, yesterday witnessed my son “cross over” from 3rd grade to 4th, and this Sunday our church will honor high school and university graduates during the worship services. Caps and gowns are being pulled out of closets across the nation. Dr. Seuss’s Oh, The Places You’ll Go! is seeing its sales numbers rocket for the umpteenth May in a row. “Pomp and Circumstance” is playing on a loop in parents’ heads.

Graduation ceremonies themselves are strange things, because almost nobody is fully present during them, fully attentive to the words being spoken or the traditions being passed down. Those on stage are running through their speeches in their minds. The graduates themselves are silently fretting that they will trip on their robe or that a heel will break when they cross the stage. And as for the families in the bleachers, their brains are alternating between the tedium of the moment (how many more minutes? where did we park? boy are these seats uncomfortable!) and a mental film reel of their graduate’s life.

Nevertheless, when the final commencement speaker congratulates the graduates and the hats fly up in the air, everybody understands that a milestone has been reached. Students have crossed the bridge from one stage of life to the next. As the valedictorian inevitably said in his or her speech, “we did it!”

The Bible promises such a moment of achievement for believers as well, when faith becomes sight and we know God fully, even as we are fully known. In that long-awaited moment when “the complete comes,” when Christ returns and makes all things new, we will set aside who we used to be—fallen, frail, but faithful people—for the fullness the Lord died to ensure us. Setting aside “childish ways,” we will step into new life…and the reward will be far greater than a diploma.

As we eagerly anticipate that day, we are called to train for it, even as students learn and are tested in preparation for commencement. While for now we exist in the interim between Christ’s first coming and his second, our salvation secured but not yet seen, we are called to live as citizens of the kingdom of God even as we are residents of this world. Worship today is preparation for heaven. Discipleship today trains us to follow Jesus for eternity. Sacrificial love today anticipates the love that will cover the earth.

Someday we will all cross the stage from here into paradise, graduating from this life into the next. But for now, there is still work to do and preparations to be made. And so, future graduate, keep learning and growing—-your heavenly commencement awaits, and you want to be ready.

Growing Together (Friday Devotional)

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 

- Ephesians 4:11-13

Periodically, Facebook will automatically generate a post from the “Memories” section at the top of my feed, ensuring that I see an old post from 2, 5, even 10 years ago. And given that a sizable majority of my posts feature family photos, that means the algorithm is usually reminding me of that unavoidable parental reality: my kids are getting older.

Faces once defined by chubby cheeks have thinned. Newborn and 18 month outfits have been donated or stored in the attic. My babies became toddlers, then became kids. And before I know it, they’ll be teenagers. That, as I often remind Lindsey when she despairs at how big they’re getting, is how time works.

Growth is a part of life—as nice as it might seem to remain in one stage of development, you have to progress to the next. And hopefully with age and its accompanying experiences comes maturity as well, growth that is spiritual, emotional, and intellectual, not just physical.

What is true for a person is true for the church too—a body of believers is intended to grow together in faith, in unity, and in knowledge of the Lord. When you worship, serve, evangelize, pray, and read the Bible with your fellow Christians, you are changed by the experience. As individuals and as one body, you mature in your faith together.

There’s a nostalgia that we all feel about certain stages of development, whether we’re looking at family photos or church directories. But even as we remember the good ol’ days with fondness, we can also rejoice at the ways we have grown. You’re more mature today than you were yesterday—and by the grace of God, you’ll be even better tomorrow.

Biography and Eulogy (Friday Devotional)

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

- 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

One genre of literature I enjoy reading is biographies. To write these, historians spend months, sometimes years, poring over primary sources and interviewing relevant figures to understand their subjects as fully as possible. Then, over a few hundred pages, they give readers the highlights of people’s lives: the biggest decisions and most important moments that explain who they were and why they matter.

An alternative way to synthesize someone’s life is through a eulogy, usually given at someone’s funeral. In some ways, eulogies are similar to biographies; both seek to sum up a life. But where biographies tend to focus on accomplishments, eulogies are more personal. Rather than pointing to the big moments that a biography would highlight, eulogies are all about little moments—small acts of kindness, meaningful points of connection, small stories that illustrate a larger narrative.

The world encourages you to find your identity in your biography: your achievements, your accolades, your moments in the sun. These, we are assured, are the things you will be remembered for. And maybe that’s true for the presidents, pro athletes, and business titans you find in the library’s Biography section.

But for most of us—those whose only published biographies will be the obituaries our families write—those biographical elements will be secondary. It’s the characteristics highlighted in the eulogy that will stick. Did people know you cared about them? Did you give of yourself to help others? Did you point people to Jesus?

In a world so focused on the biography, maybe Christians can be the ones focused on the eulogy. Following the lead of a Lord who spent most of his earthly ministry pouring into a mere 12 disciples, we could focus less on mass impact and more on the personal touch. Believers can be the ones with the perspective to know what matters in the end: not what you accomplished, but how you lived.

Chances are, none of what you do today will make your biography. But your eulogy is up for grabs—with every interaction you have today, what will you add to it?

Buttered Noodles and Kind Words (Friday Devotional)

Anxiety weighs down the human heart,

    but a good word cheers it up. 

- Proverbs 12:25

A few nights ago, Lindsey had plans with some friends, meaning I was responsible for making dinner for me and the kids. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here—my “cooking” amounted to whipping up some buttered noodles for Katherine and Isaac and a few quesadillas for me and Andrew. Nobody was winning a Michelin star here.

Nevertheless, when Katherine took a bite of her dinner, her eyes lit up. “Daddy!” she exclaimed. “These are SO GOOD! You’re like an expert at buttered noodles!”

At first, my reaction was to brush off the compliment, to look at it as proof of just how low the expectations were for my cooking. But as I watched her happily gobble down her meal, I have to admit: I appreciated the praise. I hadn’t done anything big or special—but it was still nice to be appreciated.

Sometimes we underestimate the value of encouragement. We know to thank people when they do something really momentous. We set aside special occasions—anniversaries, birthdays, etc.—to recognize people for how they contribute to our lives. But in the day to day, the little things just go by without comment.

In the New Testament, we see how important it was for those in the early church to encourage one another. Facing everything from poverty to persecution, a spirit of brotherhood was crucial to maintain their gospel witness. Led by people like Barnabas, the so-called “son of encouragement,” they kept each other going not only with the strength of their conviction, but with consistent kindness.

It may feel silly to praise someone for doing what they always do, or to thank them for something that barely even qualifies as a favor. But don’t lose sight of what a blessing your encouragement can be to them in that moment. For someone you love, even buttered noodles are worthy of a kind word.

Embrace Interruptions (Friday Devotional)

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.

- Matthew 14:13-14

A couple of days ago, my daughter Katherine was the first one to wake up after me, wandering into the living room a few minutes after 6:00 AM. Having already had more than an hour to myself to drink my coffee and read, I was cleaning the coffee maker and sorting a load of laundry when she emerged.

After a minute or two, she asked me from across the room, “Daddy, would you like me to read a book to you?” Focused on my tasks, I initially told her not right now, but maybe some later.

Then a few seconds went by and I caught myself. Katherine, who is finishing up her kindergarten year, is working hard on her reading these days. What’s more, she loves it; she’ll happily spend as long as you’ll let her sounding out each word and making her way through a book.

We weren’t in a rush to get out the door yet. Neither of my tasks was time-sensitive. And my little girl was asking me to let her sit in my lap and practice her reading. So I dropped the laundry on the floor and curled up in the chair with her. Jobs could wait; it was time to read with my daughter.

In an overstimulating world full of distractions, it can feel like a rare thing to be truly focused on something, which makes it all the more frustrating when you’re interrupted. Oftentimes, such interruptions—the ding of a text message, the notification of another email—can and should be set to the side so that you can continue what you’re doing. But every now and then, interruptions are opportunities to differentiate between the urgent and the important.

In Jesus’ ministry, people always wanted something from him: a fresh word from God, a healing, a heavenly sign. Periodically, he would go off by himself to rest and pray. But on one occasion, the crowds would not even give him that moment, following him to his place of solitude.

Jesus could have demanded they respect his boundaries. He could have told them to make an appointment. Those would have been reasonable reactions. But instead, he saw their needs and had compassion on them, allowing love to override self-interest.

You don’t always get to plan your opportunities to serve others. Sometimes those moments come at the most bothersome of times, when you’re busy or exhausted or locked in on what you’re doing. But don’t let inconvenient timing make you lose sight of a chance to show God’s love. Maybe, in Jesus’ name and by the Spirit’s power, you can even do the most countercultural thing of all: for love's sake, embrace interruptions.