Saturday, August 30, 1997

Religion in the media: a look at recent books and software

The Dallas Morning News

BOOKS

"Confirmation," edited by Kephra Burns and Susan Taylor (Anchor Books, $23.95). Religious quote books fill shelves at book stores; each one contains snippets of material from great books or famous people on spiritual themes. This one is distinguished by the subtitle: "The Spiritual Wisdom That Has Shaped Our Lives." The key word is "Our": Taylor is the longtime editor-in-chief of Essence magazine; Burns, her husband, is a writer and accomplished in his own right, so their choice of quotes has the aura of success. Each section of the book is prefaced with comments from the editors that explain their selections. The book demonstrates the strength of diversity done right. Both editors are African-American, and while any number of Dead (and living) White Guys are included in the book, plenty of the quotes are from less well-known writers of color. One page selected at random includes entries from Pearl Bailey, Walt Whitman, Sondra Ray, Alan Watts and Spinoza. Consider a bit of poetry from Octavia Butler:

In order to rise

From it's own ashes

A phoenix

First

Must

Burn.

--Jeffrey Weiss

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"Minyan," by Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro (Bell Tower, $14). Shapiro describes himself as "post-denominational." That seems to mean that he's able to borrow from any of the strands of Jewish tradition. In this book, he's attempting an update of Hassidism. The Hassidic movement -- perhaps best know today for the distinctive dark garb and hats of its adherents -- originally began as a reaction against rigid orthodoxy. It's members sought to joyfully experience union with the Divine though prayer, meditation , music, prayer and other techniques. Shapiro offer 10 techniques adapted to the modern world. The title, "Minyan," refers to the 10-member quorum required for some traditional Jewish prayers. His techniques are: meditation, repetition (of holy phrases), inspirational reading, attention (focusing on the holiness of ordinary life), generosity, kindliness, dream interpretation, ethical consumption (he calls this eco-kashrut), self-perfection and Sabbath. These all sound pretty traditional, but by Orthodox standards, he bends some rules. For instance, he allows himself to turn on his stereo to listen to classical music on the Sabbath. But his suggestions all have a single purpose, he writes: "Minyan has one aim: to awaken you to the God as the Source and Substance of Reality." And he is very specific in offering practical ways to approach each technique, even if one does not live near one of the few temples where they are taught. --Jeffrey Weiss

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SOFTWARE

"Ministry Notebook," software for Windows (Parsons Technology, $29 plus s&h, 1-800-779-6000, or order online through www.parsonstech.com). This organizational software is targeted toward ministers but could be helpful to church secretaries -- or just about anyone who uses PCs in his or her office and wants a better way to keep up with day-to-day office activities. The software keeps track of ministry-related paperwork including sermons, prayer requests, telephone contacts, expense reports and personal reference libraries. It also can link to Membership Plus for Windows and access information about members. The program has a "find" option that allows for searching the database and quickly retrieving any record in it. The telephone program not only allows for logging dates and times, but also has spaces for notes about the call with an optional built-in timer to keep track of the length of calls. The library function can track titles, authors, publishers, ISBNs and when and to whom the materials were loaned out. Sermons can be recorded by title with a summary, date and location presented, related Bible references and any other resources used. If the sermon is prepared using Windows, a link is available to open the sermon directly. Expense reports are complete and create organized reports for submission; Ministry Notebook automatically calculates mileage and stores information about the trip. The prayer request section is thorough, even including a space for how the prayers were answered. --Laurel Laurentz

(Writers are staff members of The Dallas Morning News. Write to them in care of: the Religion Section, Dallas Morning News, Communications Center, P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, Texas 75265.)

(c) 1997, The Dallas Morning News.

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