Here are some book suggestions for your summer reading list

By Tom Schaefer

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

Let's get the summer books-to-read list posted.

Following up on my request, readers have started sending me suggestions of books that they have found spiritually uplifting, challenging or provocative.

It's not too late to include a favorite of yours. Send the titles, the authors' names and brief descriptions of the books to: Tom Schaefer, c/o The Wichita Eagle, P.O. Box 820, Wichita, Kan. 67201.

I'll add to the list as more titles are submitted. For now, I thank the following and pass on their suggestions:

Irene Major, preschool director and teacher in Andover, Kan., offers two of her favorites.

1. "Guilt Is the Teacher, Love Is the Lesson" by Joan Borysenko encourages the reader to "be a spiritual optimist" and focuses on contemplation. It's a "marvelous book," Major says.

2. "Mothers and Daughters" by Marie Chapian asks - and answers - the question: What are we teaching our daughters? It deals with discipline and the importance of forgiveness.

Orville Strohl, who was president of Southwestern College in Winfield, Kan., for more than 18 years, has three books to suggest:

1. "The Real Jesus" by Timothy Johnson is a "scholarly reply to the so-called 'Jesus Scholars' who try to confuse history with faith."

2. "Calling Church and Seminary Into the 21st Century" by Donald Muser encourages churches and seminaries to rethink and redirect their efforts as we approach a new millennium.

3. "Sacred Eyes" by L. Robert Heck contends that how we respond to people can make all the difference in the world, especially if we see them "with sacred eyes."

Ellen Vogts of Newton, Kan., recommends "Simon's Night," a novel by Jon Hassler. She notes that Hassler's books "usually contain a bit of a surprise at the end but always one that is redemptive."

Her other recommendation is "A Good Husband" by Gail Godwin that recounts the events in the life of a woman dying of cancer and three other people whose lives intersect with hers.

And then there is Derek Hale of Wichita, Kan., who includes the following three among his long list of favorites:

1. "All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes" by Ken Meyers. It has a "fascinating biblical analysis of contemporary American pop culture."

2. "For the Temple: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem" by G.A. Hentry. The setting for this children's adventure story is the Roman sieges in 70 A.D.; it focuses on the leader of a band of Jewish patriots.

3. "Holiness" by J.C. Ryle has been called "food, drink, medicine and vitamin tablets, all in one."

And your favorites?

Now for something entirely different in books ...

Edward Moser again has used his considerable wit to tweak the politically correct with his latest work: "The Politically Correct Guide to the Bible" (Crown Publishers). Previously, he wrote "The Political Correct Guide to American History."

A warning: If you don't have a sense of humor, avoid this book. But if you're willing to see how political correctness can go to extremes and often does then Moser's book may be one to add to your summer reading list. (It's a guilty pleasure read for me.)

Moser devotes 12 chapters to Old Testament stories and three to New Testament. But each one factors in 20th-century attitudes politically correct ones, that is.

Some examples: In the creation story, God saw that the light he created was good, "making an unprovable value judgment."

"Cain was a peaceful macrobiotic farmer, Abel a jailer of innocent sheep. Each had sexist attitudes."

Moses received Ten Recommendations, including "Thou shalt treat all gods, goddesses, demigods, demigoddesses, cults and beliefs with equal respect and devotion."

And then there's the commandment not to steal, except when "charging $2 for an ATM transaction" or "when limited to paper clips and memo pads taken from the office supply cabinet."

A bonus with the book is a list of politically corrected proverbs, parts of psalms and parables. Savor these: "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few, for they've been downsized."

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for 'evil' and 'good' are mere logical constructs."

"Eat no-fat foods; drink non-alcoholic beverages; and try to be merry."

Well, you get the idea. And, yes, it can be irreverent, but Moser gets at the heart of some of the silliness of political correctness in a way that railing against it can't.

For that reason alone, the 128-page book is worth $12.

Tom Schaefer writes about religion and ethics for the Wichita (Kan.) Eagle. Write to him at the Wichita Eagle, P.O. Box 820, Wichita, KS 67201.)

(c) 1997, The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.).

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