It will take me a while to establish a kind of rhythm for Hope Remains. Long ago I fell out of the habit of daily blogging, and I’m well aware that no one needs a daily post from me! At least once a week, though, I’d like to share some thoughts from what I’m reading. I’d love to hear what you are reading that is meaningful to you.
When it comes to reading, I wish I read faster or at least remembered more of what I read. But, as it is, I do not read quickly and I don’t often recall in great detail what I read! That has made it easy to read books more than once. There’s a silver lining.
Daily Bible reading is a part of my time with books each day, and the most important. I typically follow the Navigators’ one book at a time Bible reading plan on the YouVersion app (.pdf download of the plan HERE). I like it because it goes back and forth between the New and Old Testaments, rather than a straight reading through.
A few months ago I discovered a pattern of reading the Psalms whereby one makes it through the Psalter once a month. I’m about to finish the third time and I found it enriching the first time, but the next few times it was frustrating. I think I’ll read a Psalm daily and not worry about how quickly I’m making my way through the collection. They deserve more contemplation time than I’m giving them. From today’s readings:
All of you nations,
come praise the Lord!
Let everyone praise him.
God's love for us is wonderful;
his faithfulness never ends.
Shout praises to the Lord!
Psalm 117, Contemporary English Version
If you use Goodreads to keep up with books, reading, and what friends are posting about books, then add me as a friend HERE. I like their reading challenge. I always fail to reach my goal, but not this year. I set a goal I thought I could reach (30), bought a Kindle Paperwhite, and returned to reading fiction. Yes, it was a return. In my work, I read a lot of nonfiction and it became the sole type of reading I was doing. I have enjoyed so much adding fiction back to the mix. So, I’ve read 76 books so far this year.
One author who means so much to me is Henri Nouwen. Here’s a recent quote that I read in one of his books recently that was of interest and comfort to me.
For in our suffering, not apart from it, Jesus enters our sadness, takes us by the hand, pulls us gently up to stand, and invites us to dance. We find the way to pray, as the psalmist did, “You have turned my mourning into dancing” (Ps. 30:11), because at the center of our grief we find the grace of God.
-Turn My Mourning into Dancing: Finding Hope in Hard Times by Henri Nouwen
I have other thoughts about books and reading to share, but will try not to cover everything in one post! If you read this far, thank you. If you are willing to share this, thank you. And if you decide to unsubscribe, thank you. (That last ‘thank you’ was not genuine, but it sounded nice!) I hope your week is off to a great start.
Nathan Harrison is a British author I have been beta reading for, and while I can’t comment on his current work in process, I can recommend one of the short stories he wrote for Vocal. “Never Alone” is a sweet and sad tale of a recent widower navigating grief during the Covid lockdown. https://vocal.media/fiction/never-alone-ak54um09t8
I am listening to two books and rereading third. I am listening to Doninion by historian Tom Holland. It tracks Chtistianity's development and acending influence in the western world. It is a heavy read but very interesting to me. On the lighter side, I'm listening to Life, eh? By British comedian Miranda Hart. I do love British humor. Finally, I'm re reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy just because they are excellent. I enjoyed reading your thoughts about reading. Congratulations on 75 books! That's fantastic!