Here'>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1242543.Here_If_You_Need_Me_A_True_Story?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Here If You Need Me: A True Story by http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/600419.Kate_Braestrup">Kate BraestrupMy'>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/39708158?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">
My
review rating: 2 of 5 starsI thought this book was pretty full of nothing. On the one hand, anyone is free to write a book, I just wish there was a more selective way to know what books are going to have meat. I listened to the unabridged audio version so I heard how she wanted to tell the story, which in this case, I think made it worse because there isn't much room for imagination.
Here are my two takes:
The Bad: She's a minister but seems to be a contradicting one. She says she doesn't believe in heaven, that you just die, that's it--yet she tells people that their loved ones have passed on to heaven. So is she deliberately trying to be dishonest or is she just unsure of what she really believes? Probably the latter.
I thought her beliefs uninspiring and depressing including Christ just sort of being a prophet. I was irritated that she sounded like Christians had a negative connotation and didn't seem to like the idea of her son becoming one hypothetically. I didn't like how she and her children would casually swear occassionally and how she purposely put in the night when her kid was watching a Bruce Willis action movie (probably R) in the background while she studied about Jesus with her other daughter. I think she was trying to show that she wasn't an uptight minister, a cool mom, a casual spiritual leader. She sounded humble in words, but things like these made it seem like she was a bit proud of her unorthodox and lax ways.
The good: Anyone who dedicates their lives to service really are to be commended. It might be too picky to try to say her beliefs aren't consistent with each other when I should be glad that she's just chosen to do something good for herself and hopefully for others.
I thought it was sweet that she did this on behalf of her husband's dreams. I'm impressed when any kind of single parent manages to take on both roles of mom and dad and keep the family together and seemingly happy.
View'>http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/649267?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.
3 comments:
Your post reminded me of this:
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 56
Such a great quote Arlynda! I really enjoyed that book because he was so common sense about everything!
Afton, I totally agree with your review. I thought her religious beliefs were very weak and un-fulfilling. Clearly, her life of service has brought her life meaning, but not necessarily a foundation of truth. And, I was quite bored through a lot of it.
Great job on the marathon. We really need to have Hazel over to play.
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