On Books

Review: Remembering America: A Voice From the Sixties

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Cover of Remembering America, by Richard N. Goodwin

Remembering America: A Voice From the Sixties, Richard N. Goodwin. HarperCollins (ISBN: 9780060972417) 1995.

Summary: A personal history of the 1960’s, written by an adviser to President’s Kennedy and Johnson.

Richard N. Goodwin was an adviser to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and to the 1968 campaigns of Eugene McCarthy and Bobby Kennedy. This personal history/memoir offers his insider perspective to some of the most important events of the 1960’s from the hopes of the Great Society to the tragedy of Vietnam and the retreat from a vision of what America could be.

Goodwin begins with his studies at Harvard law and his clerkship with Justice Felix Frankfurter. We see a young man with a promising legal future drawn to politics, beginning with the quiz show investigations of the late 50’s, giving him his first connections with the Kennedys, leading to becoming a speechwriter for Kennedy as he ran for president.

He was awarded with an appointment as Deputy-Secretary for Inter-American Affairs. He describes the development of the Alliance For Progress, including his contribution to its naming, and the tremendous hope it raised for America’s relationship with Central and South American countries. A conference of leaders ends with an off-the-record meeting with Che Guevara, who asks him to convey his thanks for the Bay of Pigs debacle and for how it solidified Castro’s support in the country. He narrates the growing engagement with civil rights and social programs, tragically cut short in Dallas.

He describes being recruited from a backwater job with the Peace Corps to be a speechwriter for Lyndon Johnson and his work on some of Johnson’s most famous speeches on voting rights and the Great Society, and the exhilaration of Johnson’s breathtaking vision and political savvy in enacting legislation. And then Vietnam and the dawning realization that it could not be won, that the dream of the Great Society was going down the drain, and his own judgement that Johnson was becoming increasingly unstable, leading to his decision to leave his position for a series of academic jobs and writing gigs, while becoming more vocal in his own opposition to the war.

He chronicles Bobby Kennedy’s indecision about entering the 1968 race, and his own to join the McCarthy campaign because McCarthy was the only one campaigning on his opposition to the war. He takes us inside the army of youth who were “clean for Gene” in New Hampshire, achieving a near victory in New Hampshire and beating Johnson in Wisconsin, leading to Johnson’s withdrawal from the race. Then Kennedy jumped in, and because of the longstanding friendship, Goodwin joined the campaign, which rapidly gained steam until that fateful night of his victory in the California primary, that ended on a hotel hallway floor.

Goodwin captures the sense of these years, at least for a “brief shining moment,” that America could realize its dreams of liberty and justice for all, a society where all would flourish and poverty be banished, and that America could lift other nations as she lifted herself. He also captures a growing sadness that pervades the latter part of the book as that dream vanishes.

Richard N. Goodwin was the late husband of Doris Kearns Goodwin, one of my favorite historians. Her new An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s is on my “to read” list, as it appears to weave together this story, that of her husband, and the treasure trove of documents from these years, a story only partially rendered in Remembering America–one they reflected upon together in his last years.

Review: Chastity and the Soul

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Cover of "Chastity and the Soul" by Ronald Rolheiser

Chastity and the Soul: You Are Holy Ground, Ronald Rolheiser. Paraclete Press (ISBN: 9781640609471) 2024.

Summary: An exploration of the meaning of chastity which has to do with far more than sex.

“Can purity be a word that is ever used without a cringe?”

Father Ronald Rolheiser quotes Lisbeth During asking this question in her book, The Chastity Plot. Rolheiser, in this book that explores the meaning of chastity in Christian teaching, would most emphatically and joyfully answer “yes!” And that despite all the negative connotations, critiques of “purity culture,” and the connotations of prudishness and repressed sexuality with which the culture greets this word.

First of all, Rolheiser defines chastity, and it is clear from his definition that he is talking about far more than sex:

“In essence, chastity is proper reverence, respect, and patience. And in a culture that is often characterized by irreverence, disrespect, and impatience, it is much needed. To be chaste is to experience people, things, places, entertainment, the phases of life, life’s opportunities, and sex, in a way that does not violate them or us. In brief, I am chaste when I relate to others in a way that does not violate their moral, psychological, emotional, sexual, or aesthetic contours. I am chaste when I do not let irreverence or impatience denigrate what is a gift, and when I let life, others, and sex, unfold according to their proper dictates” (p. 4)

But why chastity? It comes down to our understanding of what we and other people are. Rolheiser, using the language of Moses’ burning bush encounter with God says that both we and every person we encounter is holy ground. Any approach that is irreverent, impatient, or that fails to respect the holy character of every human in the image of God is unchaste. I can see how this relates not only to sex but with how we engage with people in any shared endeavor. To disregard the gift of another, to force our way without accounting for another, is unchaste.

Chastity and sex need each other and are not at war with each other. Chastity protects us from misusing the power of our sexuality so that both people may fully be themselves with each other. Chastity, properly understood, doesn’t shut off sexual longing for the other that springs from the God-given reality that it is not good for us to be alone.

Rolheiser challenges those who would separate sex and the soul or even deny the soul. He sees this as the underlying basis for the explosion of “hookup sex” and the explosion of pornography. Yet we all have a sense that deep down, there is a place precious to us, that carries our deepest longings, our sense of self. and in sexual intimacy, we give another access to that place. It’s a place where we want to be protected, honored, and listened to. “Chastity protects the soul.”

Rolheiser goes on to explore the effects of pornography, addresses how we live in tension with our “inconsummation” and how we may learn from Mary and the virgin daughter of Jephthah. He is honest with us that celibacy has been the hardest part of his vows, “but, at the same time, it has helped create a special kind of entry into the world and into other’s lives that is a precious grace….”

He concludes the book with speaking of our need to recover a sense of wonder about our ordinary lives, which in Chesterton’s words involves learning “to look at things familiar until they look unfamiliar again.” It is chastity that protects the wonder of the holy ground that is another human being, the wonder of the holy ground that is us, and the wonder when two who have prepared in the patience of chastity and in the integrity of their vows for the divine fire of sexual intimacy.

This is a book that takes the “cringe” out of chastity. It’s not the mawkishness of chastity rings, of rules especially imposed on women in purity culture. Chastity is not about the evilness or dirtiness of sex but about its powerful goodness and about the holiness of every person in God’s image and ensuring that the powerful goodness never violates the holiness of us or others. This is good instruction not only for those awakening to their sexuality but for us at all ages, and not only for our sexuality but for all the ways we engage with people who are “holy ground.”

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Humility and Hospitality

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Cover image of "Humility and Hospitality" edited by Naaman Wood and Sean Connable

Humility and Hospitality, Naaman Wood and Sean Connable, editors. Integratio Press (ISBN: 9780999146354), 2022.

Summary: Conference papers responding to a proposal that the virtues necessary for civility are humility and hospitality, particularly considering the qualifications that may be placed on this idea.

There have been many calls for a recovery of civility in our public discourse, and not least, in our universities. In the summer of 2017 Spring Arbor College sponsored the Forum 4:15 Unconference to consider the conditions necessary for civility. This was in the wake of several recent books by Richard Mouwm, Tim Muehlhoff, and Os Guinness putting forth their own proposals for how Christians might pursue civility in the public square.

The book is organized around a keynote presentation by Calvin L. Troup followed by a series of responses “interrogating” his proposal. Troup began by exploring the temptations and conditions that hinder civility and then proposed that the two Augustinian virtues of humility and hospitality are necessary conditions that underlie civility.

The responses that followed explored the nuances to considers and the problems that may occur with this proposal.

Mark A.E. Williams argues that not only are these Augustinian virtues necessary, but an understanding of Augustinian substance. In a world in which no one believes in substance, it is hard to reach agreement on what justice or civility is.

Michelle Shockness, writing from a social work background, observes that hospitality is an interaction that may be tainted by “Empire” in way that make host-guest relationships oppressive if the work of guests is not honored, if guests cannot say “no” and if the relationship cannot function with fluidity.

Susangeline Y. Patrick builds on this idea in missiology, proposing American Christianity needs to embrace a reverse and covenantal theology, where the recipient culture also hosts and all embrace a covenantal hospitality between God, people, and the land.

Naaman Wood also writes on this idea and the damages of colonialism and a recent denunciation of the doctrine of discovery. In North America, hospitality as a prelude to civility must take into consider the founding violence of those who colonized the land.

Jaime Harris considers the inhospitable character of churches toward LGBTQ+ persons, claiming that they, the churches, are the persecuted ones, while rejecting this persecuted minority. Too often, incivility has been useful.

Annalee R. Ward and Mary K. Bryant raise the question of the virtue of integrity and how it may challenge civility, using as a case study, the Barmen Declaration of 1934, which spoke against the Christian nationalism of Germany under Hitler and the complicity of the national church. Integrity reminds us that humility and hospitality cannot assent to everything.

Mark Allan Steiner, noting both the lack of trust of evangelicals in American culture and the Constantinian tendencies in their political engagement, argues that suffering, and not just humility and hospitality, must be embraced, using efforts for racial justice as a model.

John B. Hatch, in the concluding response, strikes a similar note in calling for the humility of prophetic lament, the acceptance of persecution, and the eschewing of attempts to grab at power rather than the uncritical support in recent years of Donald Trump.

This collection of essays certainly explores well the challenges of practicing civility with the diverse constituencies that make up our diverse landscape with one large exception. I do not find any discussion of how one practices civility toward the many conservative people who make up the country, as well as the many disaffected from working class and some ethnic communities attracted by the politics of Trump. While the “Unconference” participants ably dissected Troup’s proposal, it felt like preaching to a progressive choir. There was no similar critique of over-reaching contemporary liberalism, and the ways the lack of humility and hospitality in these quarters may be amended.

In sum, I think the basic proposal of humility and hospitality to help mend our frayed civility one worthy of consideration but the character of the responses appears to have given up on the exercise of these virtues among the population drawn to the politics of our former (and perhaps future) president. I think we must wrestle with the question Jesus raises in Matthew 5:46: “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?”

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians

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Cover image of "The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson and Matt Evers

The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians, James Patterson and Matt Eversmann. Little, Brown, and Company (ISBN: 9780316567534), 2024.

Summary: A collection of first-person accounts from booksellers and librarians about why they love doing what they do.

“I want to make sure people keep getting books they want, books they like. I call it Book Joy, matching people with books that will bring them the most happiness.” –Kelly Moore

Kelly Moore is just one of the many booksellers and librarians who contributed first-person accounts of their love of working with books to this delightful book compiled by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann. In case you didn’t know, Patterson is not only a hugely successful and prolific writer of thrillers, he is a huge fan of booksellers and librarians–those who get books into the hands of readers. He’s given generous support to literacy efforts and grants to independent booksellers.

Here he lets them tell the story of why they love what they do. Kelly’s statement captures a common theme–connecting people with books they love. Some of their greatest joy comes when they help reluctant readers find books they love, turning them, degree by degree into readers. Part of the work is careful listening, picking up the cues that signal what a person may like. And sometimes it involves being a detective, using the few clues a patron or customer can offer to help them find that book they are looking for.

The other big theme is that these people love books and reading. It is so much more than checking out books or ringing up sales. They enjoy talking books, sharing something they’ve read that someone else may like. A friend of mine who is a bookseller is mystified by people who think they can be booksellers without loving books.

Perhaps this needs to be so because it is a challenging life. Both librarians and booksellers have a variety of administrative tasks that allow them to do what they love, from reading publications on new releases to select what they think their patrons will like, to unpacking and shelving, tracking sales and inventory and scheduling events. It’s awesome to meet authors at booksignings but there is a lot of setup to make it work for everyone.

Some started young, working as a page or a clerk and eventually managing a department of a library or owning a store. Others describe mid-career changes, often when a job was lost. Many had always been readers and even dreamed of pursuing working in a library or bookselling and realized they could no longer wait.

There was one serious note, which was the growing number of efforts to remove books from libraries that a small group deemed objectionable. It meant a job loss for one writer and courageous stands for others. One thing was clear, when communities heard and protested, this was often decisive.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to work in a library or a bookstore? This book will give you a good picture of both the joy and the work. If nothing else, it should give you an appreciation for what a special breed any dedicated bookseller or librarian is. If you haven’t noticed, this book is a good education. And if you have, this book will serve as a good reminder to find ways to support and appreciate their work. There are book deserts. if you are not in one, thank the people who make that possible and support their efforts to sustain their presence!

Review: End the Stalemate

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Cover image of "end the Stalemate" by Tim Muehlhoff and Sean McDowell

End the Stalemate, Sean McDowell and Tim Muehlhoff. Tyndale Elevate (ISBN: 9781496481153), 2024.

Summary: Addresses how we move past impasses around disagreements to have meaningful conversations.

Our highly polarized cultural atmosphere has led to the breakdown of civil discourse, a rancorous political atmosphere, and sadly, friends and family who no longer talk to each other. It has led to a situation where many do not feel free to share their opinions in their families, workplaces, or in public discussions. It just doesn’t feel safe.

The authors of this book are both engaged in dialogue with those with whom they would disagree, including at times, each other! Sean McDowell, a professor of apologetics, frequently engages in discussions and debates with those who do not agree with his reasons for believing. Tim Muehlhoff is a professor of communication who directs the Winsome Communication Project. Both host podcasts focused on conversations with those who differ on important questions. This book, to which each have contributed chapters focuses on how we may both prepare to engage with those with whom we differ and how we may have those conversations in ways leading at very least to civil disagreement and perhaps growing mutual understanding.

They begin by contrasting a transmission versus ritual view of communication. The transmission view has problems with myside bias that doesn’t reckon with counterarguments and often leaves everyone more entrenched. The ritual view looks for points of commonality where there is an emotional connection, sympathy, with the views of another. This requires understanding the way both we and those we engage with see the world. The writers describe this as bricolage, because often worldview is pieced together from disparate pieces into a whole that makes sense to the person, whether or not consistent. Some of the pieces include our communities, families, hinge moments in our lives, narrative injuries that may have altered our lives and beliefs, and influencers. The goal of understanding as much of this as possible is perspective-taking, where we try to see the world as the person we are engaging does.

All this lays the groundwork for constructive conversations. How then do we have these conversations? One basic principle Sean McDowell uses is: “Show as much grace and charity as you can without violating your conscience.” He believes one has to approach issues with clarity (what it actually is), charity, and critically. But many conversations approached this way still explode because we aren’t ready emotionally, the physical environment is not right, we are not intellectually prepared, and perhaps most important, there is not relational trust.

Tim Muehlhoff says there are actually three conversations. The pre-conversation focuses on getting our hearts in the right place by discerning our snap judgements, cultivating curiosity about the convictions of the other party, and recognizing the power of the words we choose. In the actual conversation he encourages inviting the other to share their perspective first, summarize their main points where they feel heard and understood, acknowledge where there is common ground and ask for clarification. The post-conversation is how we describe it to our friends–how we speak about people privately will be reflected in how we treat them publicly. One of our challenges of talking about others is we often present strawman versions of their arguments rather than “steelman” versions. They even suggest roleplays of arguing the strongest case of the other side. This, I thought, was one of the most valuable ideas of the work, and something we should be prepared to do if we have been attentive to perspective-taking.

One of the other things the authors do is model engaging over differences in questioning each other about their different views of using preferred pronouns. The discussion itself is illuminating, no matter how you approach this and they both model grace and conviction while differing. Then in the final chapter, they put it all together, offering checklists as one prepare for difficult conversations.

Part of what is winsome in this presentation is that the authors share their own failures and convey that, while we will fail at times, there is real hope for meaningful dialogue across differences, where friendships are forged rather than alienated, where understanding grows alongside respect. With a fraught election season approaching, it is a good time for this book.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: From Broken Boy to Mended Man

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Cover image of "From Broken Boy to Mended Man" by Patrick Morley.

From Broken Boy to Mended Man, Patrick Morley. Tyndale Momentum (ISBN: 9781496479860) 2024.

Summary: The author takes us through his own journey of healing childhood wounds and leads through a process of reflection to identify childhood wounds, the ways they manifest in destructive behaviors, to finding healing and to shift perspective toward parents, other adults and one’s own children.

Patrick Morley, leader of an effective ministry with men called Man in the Mirror discovered something was off in his own life. His mother died of cancer when he was 53. And he felt nothing. This led him to seek counseling which revealed wounds in his life from his childhood. He was never hugged, told he was loved, or that his parents were proud of him. And so he washed his hands of them. But those experiences of abandonment turned up in unexpected and unhealthy ways in his own work marriage and parenting. As the old saying goes, “Hurt people hurt people.”

Morley believes healing of these wounds is possible, leading to changes in how we relate to those closest to us–and in some instances, even with those who inflicted the wounds. In this book, written primarily for an audience of other men, he guides through a process of unraveling childhood wounds, of healing, and breaking the cycle. The book is designed as a text one interacts with, with short chapters interspersed with reflection exercises and concluding reflection and discussion sections. This makes it ideal for working through with a supportive group of men. It’s not meant to replace therapy, which the author sought out in his own life but as a helpful adjunct to that process.

In the first part, Morley describes his own process, calling the outcome both healing of wounds and “walking with a limp,” but with joy. He explores the different ways parents wound and naming wounds. Often, the out-of-character or disproportionate ways we react as adults point to the wounds of childhood. He spends two chapters on naming wounds, things like “you are oversensitive and often misread what people intend” or “you can’t get rid of the negative voices in your head.”

Part two explores the process of healing. He walks people through stages of healing. Overcoming denial and facing the truth of how one has suffered. Grieving what one lost or missed out on and working toward acceptance. Rethinking the stories of one’s parents and forgiving–hurt often passes from generation to generation until the cycle is broken. Making amends for what we have done without accepting responsibility for another’s abusive behavior. Working to rehabilitate the relationship where possible (he offers very helpful guidelines for when this is appropriate) and setting boundaries against further wounding.

Part three is about breaking the cycle. Here, he returns to face honestly the fact that healing may or may not be totally. We may walk. Our pain may be less. But we may limp–we may always struggle with abandonment or other wounds. But we may know the joy of God’s strength in our brokenness, like kintsugi pottery, where cracks are repaired with gold. We own the ways we’ve weaponized our wounds with spouses and children, sincerely apologizing for the wrong we’ve done. We learn to husband and father from a healed and loving heart that affirms the great worth and unique gifts of those we love. Finally, we realize that there are other men facing similar childhood wounds and walk as “wounded healers” among these wounded men.

I appreciate how Patrick Morley models this throughout this book, transparently sharing his own wounds, the ways he has inflicted pain, and his own process of healing. As noted earlier, the book is of greatest benefit if one does and discusses the reflection exercises with a group of men. Morley taps into something often overlooked in a culture that highlights men’s failures. That is that there are a number of men who want to be better colleagues, husbands, and fathers yet are a mystery to themselves as they engage in self-defeating behaviors that connect back to childhood wounds. Morley offers a path toward unraveling the ways men are mysteries to themselves and toward healing and transformed relationships. He avoids traps of self-pity or bitterness as he coaches men in how they may exercise both agency and self-care in their healing process.

Morley debated how public to make his own journey. Yet by doing so, he has offered hope and a pathway for others who harbor within a “broken boy.”

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Local and Universal

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Cover image of "Local and Universal" by C. Ryan Fields

Local and Universal: A Free Church Account of Ecclesial Catholicity (Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture), C. Ryan Fields. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514006719), 2024.

Summary: A theological exploration of the contribution of churches in the free church, locally governed tradition, to the wider church’s understanding of catholicity.

I am a member of a Brethren Church. I am writing this review after a meeting of our church’s governance team. As a governing body, in consultation with our congregation, we make decisions on everything from building use to the calling of pastors and commending them for ordination. We host food pantries, community gardens and support ministries in collaboration with other churches in our community as well as participate in denominational matters from planting new churches, to supporting mission efforts in other countries and theological training at our seminary.

Given our grassroots up, local character, can it be said that we are in any sense “catholic,” that is, truly a part of the universal church over which Jesus is Lord? Some may contend that while we may be in Christ, we are not catholic, because we are not part of a hierarchy, particularly one that may trace its roots through its succession of bishops back to Peter. C. Ryan Fields, in this book, makes the case that while this may be an aspect, or particular expression of catholicity, it overlooks other expressions of catholicity that may be evident in other bodies and particularly those understood as within the “Free Church” tradition. “Free Church” is defined in the book as including congregational polity, a “low” liturgy, eschewing adherence to creedal statements, valuing individual conscience and religious freedom and insisting on a separation of church and state.

Fields goes about this by first establishing the biblical warrant for the doctrine of catholicity. He then considers the development of this doctrine from apostolic to present times, summarizing this in a ten-fold taxonomy:

  1. Holistic Catholicity: connected to the whole vs. sectarianism
  2. Geographical Catholicity: embracing “all places” vs. provincialism
  3. Missional Catholicity: reaching “all peoples” vs. exclusionism
  4. Chronological Catholicity: commonality through “all times” vs novelty
  5. Orthodox Catholicity: doctrinal faithfulness vs. heresy or apostasy
  6. Institutional Catholicity: visible mediation vs. invisible conceptions and schismatic impulse
  7. Differentiated Catholicity: diverse identity and contribution vs. uniformity
  8. Christological Catholicity: emphasis on Christological connection vs. ecclesial minimalism
  9. Liturgical Catholicity: sacramental continuity vs. ingenuity
  10. Numerical catholicity: greatest adherence vs. minority status

Fields then takes the rest of the book to contrast the Anglican church with the Free Churches. Fields sees Anglicanism fulfilling many aspects of the taxonomy but argues that this may be at the expense of a certain uniformity that fails to express the true unity in a differentiated diversity that also marks catholicity. In the three following chapters, he explores Free Church Catholicity. He starts with its different Reformation expressions: Anabaptist, Puritan, and Baptist. Each of these he sees as characterized not as starting something new but retrieving something ancient that is missing. They revealed a Reformation ecclesiology, interacted with the broader tradition and claimed to preserve catholicity in essentials. He then proceeds in the two following chapters to develop the idea of Free Church catholicity as local catholicity–that where one finds catholicity embodied is in placed, local congregations that express in word and sacrament the diverse, yet united catholicity of the church. Yet this also requires the local body to embrace connectedness to the rest of the body, including other local churches.

This last strikes me as important. Without lived connection, we cannot embody catholicity locally, where it can have meaning for others. At the same time, Fields’ argument affirms not only the possibility of catholicity in the Free Church tradition but also the essential contribution to a robust catholicity these churches (my church among them!). While the Free Church may humbly learn from Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox believers, they needn’t be ashamed but also come bearing gifts of catholicity, enrich the whole body of Christ.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Dancers in Mourning

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Cover image of :Dancers in Mourning" by Margery Allingham

Dancers in Mourning (Albert Campion #9), Margery Allingham. Open Road Integrated Media (ISBN: 9781504087315), 2023 (originally published in 1937).

Summary: Mean-spirited pranks against the star actor-dancer in a musical becomes something more when as has-been actresses body is thrown of a bridge in front of the actor at his home.

Have you ever looked into a situation only to sense that if you go further, you will find something that you and others would rather not know? That is the dilemma confronting Campion in the ninth of Allingham’s Campion mysteries.

His friends, “Uncle” William Faraday and Jimmy Sutane, are involved in a musical production of a book written by Uncle William in which Jimmy is the lead actor and dancer. Someone has been performing a series of mean-spirited pranks aimed at Jimmy and they have persuaded Campion to find the culprit.

He joins Faraday and Sutane at a weekend house party interrupted when guests arrive with invitations to a reception Sutane had never planned. His wife and the household staff manage to pull it off, but the butler left, disgusted with irregularities like this and the temperamental houseguests who show up, like composer Squire Mercer or the washed up actress Chloe Pye, who wears outfits to show she still has “it.” It’s a bit of a puzzle how Pye made it into the production. One of the more amusing parts of the story is how Lugg fills the role of butler and befriends the Sutane’s daughter.

Things take a more serious turn the night of the impromptu reception. Sutane had been out in his car and as he approaches home a body falls from an overhead bridge right in front of his car and he cannot avoid running over her. The police find him innocent. Pye had already been dead of a medical condition. Campion, who saw both the body and the scene is not so sure that this was an accident. And the more he looks at the case of Chloe Pye, the more he fears discovering truth he does not want to find. He absents himself, pleading other business, leaving Lugg behind.

When more deaths follow, both Inspector Oates and Sutane’s wife, for whom Campion has developed a fondness, want him to return and help figure out what is going on, compelling Campion to pursue the trail of evidence where it leads, as hard as it may be. How will Campion negotiate the path between love, friendship, and uncovering a killer?

In addition to exploring this classic moral dilemma, Allingham portrays a cast of theatre characters in an unflattering light. I wonder if it was just for the story or if Allingham had deeper reservations with the theatre set of her day. Uncle William, the writer (!), seems the only one who truly comes out well here.

Review: Beyond the Clinical Hour

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A cover image of "Beyond the Clinical Hour" by Sells, Trout, and Sells.

Beyond the Clinical Hour, James N. Sells, Amy Trout & Heather C. Sells. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514001042), 2024.

Summary: A proposal for collaborative efforts between mental health professionals and congregations to multiply the resources available to address the burgeoning mental health crisis,

Wherever I turn, I read about the rising incidence of mental health needs for every age group. Every counseling center I know has long wait lists to see a counselor. And clinicians are running hard and face issues of overwork and burnout. And sometimes our unaddressed mental health crises spill into the news in mass shootings, road rage, or people who died “unexpectedly” or of “undisclosed causes.” More quietly, millions struggle with depression or various forms of anxiety that sometimes constrain the full expression of their gifts.

The writers of this book contend that the mental health crisis is far outstripping the available resources of mental health professionals and the traditional model of the clinician meeting for 50 minutes once a week with a client (the clinical hour), serving roughly 200 clients in a year. They propose that by collaborating with local faith communities, they can multiply the resources available to meet this crisis. This can take various forms from consultations with pastors on pastoral care with people with mental health needs to providing or supporting facilitation of various support groups, to working with churches to set up “para-professional” care ministries with trained and supervised volunteers. In the latter model, clinicians might scale back their own caseload to work with such ministries, multiplying their own efforts.

They address a concern raised in churches with how “Christian” counseling is. The second part of the book addresses integration. The authors propose a “thick,” embodied type of integration where theology is relationally fleshed out. They begin from a trinitarian base of what it means as counselors to be attached to the Father (coram Deo), Son (Immanuel), and Spirit (Paraclete) and then to draw upon one’s clinical training to most effectively care for people. They advocate for training that fosters both theological acuity and clinical excellence and is embodied in hospitality, justice, and compassion.

The third part of the book addresses how a collaboration with the church can thrive, avoiding the result of well-intentioned but poorly trained and supervised people doing harm in the name of good. They elaborate the theological foundations of Christian care and delineate what is necessary for good oversight of church counselors. The growing field of consultation and the various ways from informal consultation to workshops and training to planning and consultation to set up church-based programs of mental health care. They introduce practices of church development and program development–extending mental health to the corporate life and mission of the church. And they discuss both the economics of creating sustainable programs and ethical standards that should govern all such efforts.

I missed any discussions of legal liabilities and legal compliance issues. Perhaps these are too specific to address in this book but it seems they might be acknowledged. I also wondered if there might be some scaling of what sorts of collaboration might be possible for churches of different sizes. It seemed to me that some forms, like a church-based, trained “para-professional” counselors staffing a care ministry would necessitate a congregation of some size and financial resources whereas informal consultation arrangements might serve smaller congregations well.

The authors of this work offer an intriguing proposal. We just can’t train enough professionals fast enough to meet our current mental health crisis. But there may well be a hidden resource in the church and the possibility of collaborations that both multiply the efforts of clinicians and enhance the ministry and mission of congregations. They offer enough stories of examples of where this is happening to make the case for exploring these possibilities more widely. And might such a collaboration renew the church’s ancient practice of the “cure of souls” bringing both theological and psychological insight into this honored calling?

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse

/ rtrube54 / 3 Comments
Cover image of "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse" by Charles Mackesy

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy. HarperOne (ISBN: 9781529105100), 2019.

Summary: A graphic novel of the friendship of these four creatures who affirm the basic values of friendship, kindness, self-worth, and the love of cake!

I was in a group recently talking about books when someone asked if I had read The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse and I had to admit that I had not heard of it and joked that it sounded like one of those cognitive tests our docs like to give the over-65 crowd to test our short-term memory. Several others in the circle nodded and raved about how good this was for anyone from 8 to 80. I could stop my review right here and say, “what they said.” But I won’t.

What is it that makes so wonderful this roughly sketched (and occasionally painted) book with hand-written text supposedly smudged where the dog placed its paws and a tea cup stain left its mark? The boy and the three animals remind us of Christopher Robin and his ensemble.

The story traces the gathering of the four as the boy first meets mole, who lives in search of cake. Then they encounter a fox, caught in a trap, threatening to eat mole if he gets loose. Realizing the plight of the fox, mole gnaws the wire holding the fox. Later, they encounter a wise horse is winged.

But I think there are two things that captivate. One is the simple but profound responses of the creatures to each other, often to questions.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

” ‘Kind,’ said the boy”

” ‘What do you think success is?‘ asked the boy.”

” ‘To love,’ said the mole.”

We learn not to compare oneself to others, of the unique worth of each one, and to listen to dreams more than fears. We learn of the kindness of being kind to and forgiving oneself. The horse tells us the bravest thing he ever said is ‘Help” and that he was strongest in his weakness. He tells the boy he knows all about him and loves him still.

The other thing is that each is on a quest, the boy for home, the mole for cake, the fox in search of prey and the horse to fly without making others jealous. In each other they find what they seek, and yet that which is more–unconditional love.

Perhaps I’ve already said more than enough about a book you may read in 15 minutes but may savor for a lifetime, a contemporary Little Prince. This is a wonderful book to give those who aren’t readers. The author describes himself as such a person and yet has spun a captivating tale that in its simplicity, its quiet, reflective voice reminds us of what matters most, what endures, and is most true of each of us.