Three Carols, Story/Songs for Kids

These three carols have been sung and enjoyed for many years at Christmas time. Now, sisters Marcia Santore and Jessica Salinas have put together these old carols with some typical characters to bring the stories to life as they might be lived today.

Published by Forward Movement and available at www.forwardmovement.org, the first is a modern retelling of Good King Wenceslas. The story shows how today a man and his son could help someone who has lost his job and is now homeless, just as the king helped people in his day. Jessica tells the story while Marcia does the illustrations. There is the extra benefit of having a version of the carol that kids could play on the piano. Marcia’s husband Jonathan, who is a composer, joined in the project with his arrangement of this carol.

The Snow Lay on the Ground is another old carol that is fun to sing. From an English 19th century Christmas carol (author unknown), this is the story of the birth of Jesus. Probably no snow in Bethlehem, but children singing in England knew and expected snow at Christmas. The story is illustrated by Marcia with the same characters mentioned above as created by Jessica. The characters are typical of people from various cultural backgrounds as they act out the Christmas pageant together. The surprise on the back inside cover is a simple arrangement for piano by Jonathan that children may enjoy playing.

The third carol is In the Bleak Midwinter, originally from a Christmas poem by Christina Rossetti. Again the same characters, good friends by now, join together at one of their homes. Snow on snow on snow almost overwhelms them as they try to think of what gifts they would bring to the Christ Child, if they had opportunity. One of the children would bring a lamb, but each would “do his or her part....[deciding to] give him my heart.” Those children who still have music lessons at school will be pleased to find Jonathan’s double page arrangement for piano as well as a fingering chart and instructions for playing this carol on a recorder.

—Lois Sibley

Walking with God...

Walking with God through Pain and Suffering by Timothy Keller, available from Dutton at www.penguin.com, includes a wealth of material important to any pastor, or to any kind person who wants to help a friend deal with suffering of one kind or another. Keller is pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan and he and his family have years of experience in that and other congregations as a kind of preparation for this book. It could be called “How to be a Pastor, 101” and should be required reading for anyone so engaged or interested in preparing for such a future. But there is also much good advice for friends who care for other friends.

If you read it, I think you will find, as I do, that you need to keep it nearby, because you will want to refer to it many times again. “Now what did Tim Keller say about that?” I find myself saying and I have to look it up again. It’s over 350 pages and crammed with concern, ideas, Scripture references, experiences of the Kellers, and personal stories from others who have suffered.

When you come right down to the basic thesis, I think he is saying that the person(s) who love, believe in, and trust  the Lord Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, are really in better shape through any pain and suffering they may experience throughout their lives than are those who do not so believe. He’s probably right and we will be finding out, I’m sure.

Keller divides his book into three parts. In the first part he discusses the problem of evil and how different cultures, religions, times in history have coped with it. This part is more philosophical and Keller invites readers to begin with the second or third part, especially if they are in the midst of difficult trials at the moment they are reading his book.

Part two is descriptive of suffering and how people have coped with it from biblical times to current times. And part three is  practical and provides suggestions and strategies for coping with pain and suffering, ways to walk with God through it all. Some chapters conclude with a story of someone who has done that and their stories are reminders for us to look for God’s presence with us in the midst of suffering. I predict that many of us will be thanking Dr. Keller for his insights and encouragements as we continue our own walking with God.

—Lois Sibley

Genius, Prophet, Oxford Don

C. S. Lewis would be surprised at all the attention that continues to follow him. The newest book is perhaps C. S. Lewis, A Life by Alister McGrath, published by Tyndale. Find it at www.tyndale.com. Now 50 years since Lewis was at the height of his popularity, information continues to be found and shared among those who appreciate Lewis and his writings. McGrath has gathered and analyzed a huge amount of research to help us understand Lewis and his ideas.  “How are these new facts to be woven together to make a pattern?” McGrath wonders, as he adds details now known about Lewis’s life, while he helps us understand the way it was.
   
Lewis was born in Ireland in 1898 though he spent much of his life in England. His mother died when he was young and that loss had a big impact on his life. His father insisted on sending him to school in England, which may not have been the best plan for such a shy, lonely boy. He had one brother, Warnie, and they were close and helpful to each other throughout their lives.

McGrath chose to divide his reporting on events in Lewis’s life into five parts. They are Prelude, Oxford, Narnia, Cambridge, and Afterlife, the latter meaning what happened after Lewis’s death in November 1963 and his continuing popularity, especially because of his Narnia books.

Yes, Narnia, a group of books about four children, a wardrobe (a door), an enchanted forest and a  mysterious land. That’s what keeps Lewis popular! He is like many an Irishman in that he tells wonderful stories. He taught English literature, first at Oxford, then at Cambridge, and he wrote many religious books, such as Mere Christianity. It’s like he had two writing lives and in each he was at the top of his profession. In one writing life he was an academic and sometimes a theologian, even an apologist at times; and in another he was a successful children’s book author. During World War II, he gave religious talks on the BBC,....there is much intriguing stuff in here. Go to the library and borrow this book, and give a hint as you put it on your gift list.

—Lois Sibley

Practicing a Devout Life

Here is the story of St. Francis de Sales, with his advice on how to improve one’s personal spiritual life. He became the Roman Catholic Bishop of Geneva in 1602, and he began writing  this book in 1609, continuing to revise through five editions, with its final publication in 1619.

Paraclete Press includes it in its series called Giants. The title is The Complete Introduction to the Devout Life and its more than 400 pages were translated by and with commentary from Fr. John Julian, OJN (Order of Julian of Norwich). Now available from Paraclete Press at www.paracletepress.com, it is a hefty book and a fascinating read. Fr. Julian says that from its first publication it was one of the five most popular books at that time on “serious Christian spiritual development.” Fr. Julian’s translation and commentary gracefully helped us to take it all in and think about using it for our own spiritual growth.

Francis’s father wanted him to study law and he did eventually receive doctoral degrees in both law and theology, but his personal goal was to be a priest and in December 1593 he was ordained priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Annecy in France. In December 1602, Francis became bishop and was “very hands-on” as a bishop, “highly valuing personal contact with his people.” He was much sought after for answers to their spiritual questions. He often sent them a written reply and these collections of answers later became part of his several books. Many are included in the Introduction, which is made up of five parts.

Part One discusses one’s first longing for the devout life and a final firm resolution to embrace it. Part Two contains suggestions for raising the soul to God by prayer and sacraments. Part Three has much advice on the practice of the virtues, such as patience, humility, gentleness, obedience, chastity and others. Part Four includes advice on dealing with temptations, and Part Five suggests practices to renew the soul and strengthen it in devotion.

—Lois Sibley

Bonhoeffer, his life and ministry...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born February 6, 1906 in Berlin, Germany and many books have been written about him, his life, and ministry. We cannot forget him, and we should not. A new book called Bonhoeffer on the Christian Life, from the Cross, for the world, was written by Stephen J. Nichols, professor of Christianity and culture at Lancaster Bible College in Pennsylvania. Published by Crossway, www.crossway.org, this is the third book in Crossway’s series called Theologians on the Christian Life, the first two being on Francis Schaeffer, written by William Edgar, and B.B.Warfield, by Fred G. Zaspel.

This one begins with reminders of Bonhoeffer’s first trip to America, to Union Seminary in New York City, where he studied American theological developments and made many friends here, before returning home to begin a faculty position in Berlin. In 1939, he came again to the U.S., 33 years old and with a bright career ahead. But, author Nichols writes that “the moment he stepped off the ship he knew he had made a mistake.” Bonhoeffer wrote to his friend R. Niebuhr, “I must live through this difficult period in our national history with the Christian people of Germany, ” and to another friend, “I must be with my brothers when things become serious.” And they were getting very serious. Hitler was becoming more powerful in Germany.

Bonhoeffer influenced both clergy and lay in church and community. He commended “the cross-centered life” saying that Christian living flows from the cross. Reading and obeying Scripture are essential, along with praying and practicing our theology. He quoted “God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness,” an idea from Paul (2 Cor. 12:9) that carried Bonhoeffer through difficult times. Essential in his teaching was how to pray, and how to read the Bible. He believed that when we have faith in the incarnate, crucified, resurrected Christ, which God gives to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, along with it comes faith, love, and hope.

It’s a challenge to follow author Nichols through the mix of all that happened to Bonhoeffer, as well as through the details of his beliefs and teachings, and his attempts to live the Christian life in the midst of all that he and the people of Germany were experiencing during the late 1930s–1945. There are two appendices that help: One is a time line of Bonhoeffer’s life and another is a summary called Bonhoeffer on the Christian Life. The concluding section on Reading Bonhoeffer offers information on books by and about him, as well as a list of movies available on his life. And Nichols advises that if you are ever on a desert-island, take these, his “Top Five” on Bonhoeffer, with you. You’ll be glad you did.

—Lois Sibley

Liturgy and Rites

For more than 50 years, Louis Weil has been teaching liturgical and sacramental studies. He has  taught at three Episcopal seminaries, given programs for clergy and laity on five continents, and written a number of articles and books about liturgical renewal. In 2012, he was honored by the North American Academy of Liturgy with its Berakah Award in appreciation of his ministry as teacher of liturgy both ecumenically and in the Anglican Communion. His new book, Liturgical Sense, The Logic of Rite, introduces the Weil Series in Liturgics, which is “an occasional series dedicated to the sort of liturgical and academic scholarship that has been the hallmark of Weil’s professional life.” Seabury Books is publisher and can be reached at www.churchpublishing.org/litugicalsense.

Dr. Weil wonders: how did a rite get started, how did it develop and become part of a tradition? How did it make sense in the congregation’s worship experience? And does it still make sense? He is looking back through church history, examining how certain rites began, were they effective for the people watching and listening, and are they still important? Weil suggests that some liturgical practices may be meaningful for the one who uses them, but may be obscure, even confusing, to the congregation who watches.

Based on his 50 years of teaching, his own “person in the pew” experiences, and his looking back at church history, he notices the changes in liturgical practices and calls our attention to how the role of the priest in the eucharistic celebration changed. Rather than being the whole people of God worshiping together, “it began to look like the private devotions of the priest with the lay people watching,” but with no role. Over time, there were many other changes, including the loss of the catechumenate in the fifth century with its preparation for baptism and membership. This loss sometimes continues, when new people do not know the history and teachings of the church, and are not properly prepared for baptism and membership as people of God.

Weil admits that most of the people who teach liturgics have “very strong opinions,” but “their primary purpose is the service of the people of God, the building up of the Body of Christ.What they teach is rooted in what they have learned and experienced in their own lives of faith” and most of them have “a very strong sense of priorities.” Dr. Weil says his goal in this book has been to share that sense, and those who plan, prepare, or preside at worship services will appreciate his suggestions.

—Lois Sibley

Questions from Kids...

Here’s an opportunity for kids to find answers to a dozen of the questions they might ask when they are sitting in church. Why Do We Have to Be So Quiet in Church? written by Clare Simpson and illustrated by Kay Harker is published by Paraclete Press, www.paracletepress.com. It begins with a small, redheaded boy who smiles as he questions and wonders aloud what the answer to that question could possibly be.

He is told that it’s good to be quiet and listen, and everybody else who is there wants to listen also. So he asks more questions, including these and others:


Can God see me?
Does God like it when I kneel or bow my head?
What does God look like?
Can God always hear me?
Does God remember my baptism?
Does God see me when I do something wrong?
Does God really forgive my sins?
Why do we say “Amen” at the end of everything?
God, did you make church just for me?

The answers are interesting and could be the beginnings of more questions and answers to be shared. The drawings are colorful, charming, and appropriate and there is some evidence of multi-cultural friendships among the children, though I would be pleased to see more of that. On every page there is some of the beauty of God’s Creation, including a line of frolicking, funny little mice. Children will smile and so will their grown-ups.

—Lois Sibley