Category: Book Related

I like reading, and often my texts are inspired by something I read, or else I sustain my point with something that I read somewhere. Whenever I do that, I try to categorize it ‘book-related’ in the category of the author, hence all the various categories with names of authors. For book reviews, see that category.

Augustine Augustine is another such very inspiring author. So far, I have read the confessions, listened to an introductory course on that, and I have read two little books 'The teacher' and something on the soul. I have also read 'The Trinity'. Based on this I wrote Love loves love and God's image Currently reading: The city of God
Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg
Barbara Tuchman
C.S.Lewis
Christos Yannaras I read Elements of Faith by Christos Yannaras. I found this a really wonderful book, very nice to read the eastern perspective on basic issues of faith, and also some very interesting insights on western culture. Also I really appreciated his explanation of how our true life is found in our personal relations with God and other people. This stress of our own personality and God being truly a person, and our relationship as the source of our life, was very refreshing. The language of the book is really complicated though, I’d say it is quite hard to read really. One sentence in this book, namely that we need the 'freedom to fail' inspired me to write the text Lovely Paradoxes.
Dallas Willard
George Herbert
Graham Greene
J.K. Rowling
James Hogg
Josef Pieper
Joseph Heller
Kathleen Norris Kathleen Norris is my first and big example in writing. I was most comforted by her honesty and sharing her thoughts. She showed me how helpful it can be for others if you share your failures, and that it is really not selfish to write about yourself. The first book that I read of her was The Quotidian Mysteries. I can't begin to describe what a new experience this book was to me. I have also read Acedia & Me, another such very personal, and thought provoking work
Kierkegaard
Origen
Robert Harris
Saint Gregory
Timothy Radcliffe
Tom Wright

Below are the posts that are somehow related to a book by any of the above mentioned authors

42, 22 or a sense of meaning

A good friend once told me that I am like the type that comes to nothing because they keep wondering what would be the best way and never get started. “Fortunately”, he said, “at some point you always just start somewhere, and that gets the job done”. Well, maybe not the job, but some job. … Continue reading 42, 22 or a sense of meaning

Think of a tiger, how he moves with grace, spending the least possible effort in every step. Run like that, to begin with. Later you will be able to run like a joyful lion, and eventually fly like a bird or even a dragon. The previous few lines are my short summary of the book … Continue reading Run gently, like a tiger

“My soul is a shepherd, a flock it feeds”, sang George Herbert. Such a lovely image of taking good care of your own inner life, and bringing forth something beautiful! Just repeating this sentence in my head already helps reduce the tension that I often feel when I am disagreeing with myself. Especially in lockdown … Continue reading My soul is a shepherd

What if the Bible contains lots of hidden life in the things that are not said? What if the stories strike the surface of a depth that remains hidden from our conscious, but is known, somehow? Dr. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg wrote a wonderful book on this topic of Biblical Unconscious. She opens up the stories … Continue reading Biblical Unconscious

Prayer the church’s banquet, angel’s age,God’s breath in man returning to his birth,The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earthEngine against th’ Almighty, sinner’s tow’r,Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,The six-days world transposing in an hour,A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and … Continue reading Bird of Paradise

Book cover of 'The big picture' by Sean Carrol

A review of: The Big Picture – On the origins of life, meaning, and the universe itself, by Sean Carroll. This book deals with the questions I’ve always had myself, and I found it very engaging. They are big questions, and it may seem presumptuous to want to answer them, but I am glad he … Continue reading Book review: The Big Picture

Considering Lilies

Reflections on whatever presents itself

Category: Book Related

42, 22 or a sense of meaning

Run gently, like a tiger

My soul is a shepherd

Biblical Unconscious

Bird of Paradise

Book review: The Big Picture