January Reflections '11- Reading

• Reading: It is said that we are what we eat. Likewise, we are what we read. What are you reading to feed your mind and soul currently?

I really love to read.
And lately, I’ve hardly read at all.
Not even cereal boxes.
I read the local newspaper about once a week.
I read the magazines a friend brought, and that was like candy.
I had not read in magazines in a while, and I had to pace myself to avoid gorging!

Right now, through the Kindle app on my Touch, I’m reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. I had read really positive reviews of it and finally bought it myself. I’m about halfway through (I think…, isn’t that the worst part about an electronic book? You can’t see how much there is left!), and I’m enjoying it. Then in a rare moment of timeliness, yesterday I read this and today I read this, so that gives more food for thought as I go along. Bonhoeffer supplies some meat to chew on-
Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued.

Back in December I finished Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin. Baking Cakes… is a fiction work set in modern day Rwanda. The main character, Angel, begins selling cakes in her community, and in the process, learns the varied stories of those around her. Baking Cakes… touches some difficult issues, AIDS, genocide, prostitution, but through it all, emphasizes the peace and healing that grows through the process reconciliation.
“Eh!” she said to herself, unsure if it was right or wrong to have let go of some of her grief. She took off her glasses to give them a clean, but saw that they did not need it, and put them back on again. She closed her eyes to get a better sense of what she was feeling. Yes, she was still very sad. But somehow, in a small way, part of her despair had changed. It had turned to hope.
Baking Cakes… was dessert for my mind and soul, easy to read and easy to enjoy.

On to the future, today a friend offered to loan me Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I’ll probably bust out a gift card and buy the electronic version of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, even though I’d really rather have it in my hands.

But the most consistent reading I do is everyday before breakfast, but with coffee.  I have started my fourth year of reading through the Bible. I'll finish Genesis on Saturday.  I read a couple of chapters from the Old Testament, about a chapter of New Testament, and a psalm each day.  I also read the daily devotion from Streams in the Dessert by L.B Cowman (updated by Jim Reimann). So good, every single day.  The images from this little poem from yesterday fed me for a good part of the day-
Defeat may serve as well as victory
To shake the soul and let the glory out.
When the great oak is straining in the wind,
The limbs drink in new beauty, and the trunk
Sends down a deeper root on the windward side.
Only the soul that knows the might grief
Can know the mighty rapture.  Sorrow come
To stretch out spaces in the heart for joy.
(no author listed)

I think I'll start keeping a book list up again this year, of what I've read.  Otherwise I forget. And, it's fun to go back and remember.

And you? I’d love to hear about your recent reads, or what’s on your list.  What is your mind and soul feeding on?

Be sure to check out January Reflections '11 at TheGloriousImpossible.