Preaching in Hitler's Shadow: Sermons of Resistance in the Third Reich by Dean G. Stroud, ed.
This is an incredibly inspiring book! While I knew the Nazis used all kinds of propaganda to promote their distorted racist beliefs, I didn't know that they purposely targeted the Church and tried to initially promote Nazism as a "Christian" based government, then shortly re-wrote the Bible to exclude anything about Jews (which needless to say is pretty much ALL of it)! Pastors during this incredibly difficult time had to decide whether to stand against the Nazis at their own personal risk or keep quiet. The first part of the book explores how Nazism tried to infiltrate the Church and how pastors stood up against it - many of them dying in concentration camps because of their stand. The second part is a collection of sermons. Each chapter gives background information on the pastor, background on the sermon, and the actual message. I can't even imagine living during that time and facing down that kind of evil. These men show that no matter how dark the days God's light still shines from His believers.
Quotes I really liked:
"Bonhoeffer told the Christians that they had to aid victims of Nazi persecution, regardless of religious affiliation or status in the Nazi state. If persecution continued, then Bonhoeffer suggested yet a third step. This measure was one that he ultimately would take himself, and it would cost him his life. 'The third possibility is not just to bandage the victims under the wheel, but to jam a spoke into the wheel itself.' Here Bonhoeffer's Christian faith required political and self-sacrificing opposition. His way of 'jamming a spoke' into the Nazi wheels that were crushing Jews would be to join those plotting to kill Hitler." (p. 37)
"As life became more and more difficult in Germany, Bonhoeffer accepted an invitation to teach in the United States, but soon after his arrival he decided to return to Germany. Bonhoeffer left New York for Germany on July 27, 1939. A little more than a year later, in September 1940, Bonhoeffer, like so many other pastors, was officially banned from preaching and speaking in the Third Reich...After his arrest in April 1943, Bonhoeffer continued to be a model of Christian courage...Dietrich Bonhoeffer refused to allow prison confinement to silence Christian witness. By special orders of Hitler, Bonhoeffer was hanged on April 9, 1945, just days before Germany surrendered." (p. 52-3)
"The sermon included here [by Karl Barth] was preached just at the end of Hitler's first year as chancellor. Its theme is Jesus as a Jew. Copies were made the following day, and Barth even sent the sermon to Hitler. The Jewishness of Jesus offended some in the church, and they walked out. Writing later to a woman from the church, Barth insisted that one simply cannot sever Jesus from his Jewishness: 'anyone who believes in Christ, who was himself a Jew, and died for Gentiles and Jews, simply cannot be involved in the contempt for Jews and ill-treatment of them which is now the order of the day.'"(p. 64)
"I would rather die for my faith than live a cowardly and cultured life with the rest of the world. For nowhere is it said that God will allow us in all circumstances her to live the little span of earthly life without going through loss of money, property, honor, life and limb, wife and child. Even more, such sorrows must come upon the Christian at times; but the Lord brings the little boat of the church through the stormy seas of human events, which must grow calm at his word." (p. 84 -Paul Schneider)
"It is inside us all; this truth that upright men and women can turn into horrible beasts is an indication of what lies hidden within each of us to a greater or lesser degree. All of us have done our part in this: one by being a coward, another by comfortably stepping out of everyone's way, by passing by, by being silent, by closing our eyes, by laziness of heart that only notices another's need when it is openly apparent, by the damnable caution that lets itself be prevented from every good deed, by every disapproving glance and every threatening consequence, by the stupid hope that everything will get better on its own without our having to become courageously involved ourselves. In all these ways we are exposed as the guilty people we are, as men and women who have just enough love left over for God and our neighbor to give away when there is no effort or annoyance involved." (p. 122-3 - Helmut Gollwitzer)
"Now just outside this church our neighbor is waiting for us - waiting for us in his need and lack of protection, disgraced, hungry, hunted, and driven by fear for his very existence. That is the one who is waiting to see if today this Christian congregation has really observed this national day of penance. Jesus Christ himself is waiting to see." (p. 126 - Helmut Gollwitzer)
"The Christian faith is not something that lets us rest. It is not simply the possession of the conviction of certain teachings that one can make one's own once and for all. Rather the Christian faith is an attitude of the will. It is only alive in us when it continually proves itself in new ways. It does not suffice to have decided for faith in God once in the past, but rather this decision for faith has to be implemented anew time and time again whenever he encounters us, when his call meets us. Always again it remains true: Now! Through his encounters God puts us to the test. To be ready for his call, that demands from us that we keep an inner detachment from everything that has a claim on us, from our work and cares, from joys and sorrows; that nothingentirely claims us, lest we become blind for his encounter and deaf to his call." (p. 153 - Rudolf Bultmann)
"How many behave like this with Jesus. For a period of time his is okay. But when things head into the dark, into the dying of the old man, into the shattering of our wishes and hopes, then one says: 'That is going too far. I am turning around.' True faith, however, goes with the savior even into the darkness. Thus we read of Abraham (Heb. 2:8): 'By faith Abraham was obedient when he was called to go out...and he went out and did not know where he was to go.' He went with Jesus into the darkness and the unknown. And one day the command came that he should sacrifice his only son on Mount Moriah. He did not scream: 'That's going too far!' but rather he went comforted by faith along this dark path that led ultimately to light." (p. 176 - Wilhelm Busch)
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (book club)
This was one of the most unique books I have ever read. But, it was also kind of all over the place so I didn't love it. Clay Jannon has been hit by the Great Recession and is desperately in need of work. His last job was in web design, but he just sort of learned what he needed to on the fly. He stumbles upon Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour bookstore and ends up working the graveyard shift there. He quickly realizes something is different about this bookstore since only half of the books are actually for sale and the rest are reserved for members to some sort of secret society. Clay's boredom leads him to start learning computer code and trying to recreate the books taken by the society members. Unknowingly Clay breaks the code that all these members have been working on. That opens the door for Clay into a secret society where old-school books are pitted against new computer technology in a power struggle between members. By being able to appreciate both old and new technologies Clay is able to figure out secrets that the secret society has been working on since its existence. Sloan manages to work Google, tech start-up companies, a sci-fi author, and an ancient secret society all into this crazy book and it somehow works.
Bargain Fever: How to Shop in a Discounted World by Mark Ellwood
I thought I was going to like this book more than I actually did. I read a few other reviews that said the book dragged as it went along and the first few chapters were the best, which I definitely agree with. I really enjoyed the chapter about coupons and how that whole thing got started. It was also interesting to learn that the very first coupon EVER was for a free Coca-Cola to get people to try the new drink. There was also some interesting information about how sales and discounts affect our brain. I can say from experience that saving a lot of money by combining coupons and sales IS like a high. There was also some stuff about why high-end fakes (mostly purses) is such a huge problem. Overall, I thought the book was VERY wordy and detailed and a lot of it was information I just wasn't super interested in. There were some interesting facts, but I don't think I would recommend it to anyone.
A few quotes I did like:
"Supermarkets after World War II stocked an average of 3,750 items; by the end of the twentieth century that number had increased more than tenfold, to 45,000. In 1994, the total of UPCs for consumer products - in other words, things that could be sold at a store by scanning them - was just over five hundred thousand. Less than ten years later, it had reached almost seven hundred thousand. In 1980, there were six major blue jeans brands in America; thirty years on, that number was eight hundred and climbing. We have enough excess possessions to birth not just a TV show about self-storage but also a booming industry. In 2012, there were 2.3 billion square feet of storage space in this country, and more added since. One in ten US households was renting some kind of unit, an increase of 65 percent since the late 1990's." (p. 6)
"To celebrate [American Girl dolls] twenty-fifth anniversary, the firm teamed up with Celebrity cruises to offer a week-long trip to the Caribbean aimed at American Girl fans. The package included cooking classes, chats with authors of some of the books, and a giant birthday party. The ship sold out in forty-eight hours." (p. 157) - this is some craziness! A week cruise aimed at 8-10 year old girls?! Wow.
The Whole Golden World by Kristina Riggle
Morgan Monetti never intended to fall in love with her calculus teacher, but she did and she continues to shock her parents and the community when she stands by TJ even after he's arrested for their relationship. Morgan doesn't feel like a victim of a predator, she believes she's a young woman who happened to fall in love with her teacher, who's not even thirty yet. Morgan's mother, Dinah, wants justice for her daughter. Morgan might not believe she's a victim, but Dinah does. Dinah wants the full force of the law to come down on TJ, but Dinah didn't realize how the whole town would turn against her family too. She's trying to keep their family together through this insane ordeal. Rain is TJ's wife and she's standing by her husband as well. At least in the beginning when she still believes his story, but as more of the truth comes out Rain has to decide what's best for her, not just what's best for TJ. Told from each woman's perspective, The Whole Golden World explores all sides of an inappropriate teacher-student relationship. Each woman copes with the situation differently, but all are deeply affected and forever changed by the consequences of this relationship.
Overall, I thought the storyline was good and each woman's character is well developed. A few of the scenarios at the end of the book seem a little too far-fetched to be realistic, but the storyline overall flows well and you can clearly see each woman's side of the story. The ending made sense and wrapped up each character's story well. I thought it was good, but not amazing.
Mud Season by Ellen Stimson
Ellen Stimson knew the very first time she visited Vermont that she wanted to live there someday. She and her husband were both from St. Louis, Missouri, but never felt any special attachment to their hometown. When Ellen's decided to sell her half of her book business to her business partner, she decided this would be the perfect time to live her dream of moving to Vermont. Packing up their life, 3 kids, 2 dogs, and 2 cats proved challenging at best and their dream house in Vermont turned out to be somewhat of a money pit, but they were now living in Vermont. Soon after their move Ellen finds out the local country store is up for sale and they impulsively decide to buy it. For all of Ellen's dreams about revamping the country store, the locals are not thrilled with her changes - or any changes. She quickly butts heads with many of the locals about the store, the local schools, the contractors she hires to work on her house, etc. Eventually Ellen has to re-evaluate their decision to buy the local country store, but for all the crazy disasters and disappointments Ellen never doubts their decision to move across the country to Vermont and her family still lives there today.
This was one of those everything-that-can-will-go-wrong-but-in-a-funny-way kind of books. At times you feel bad for them and at times you think how can they not see how crazy this is, but it was a funny book that I read pretty quickly. I did appreciate how Stimson was real and didn't sugar-coat the downsides to their move and decision to buy the country store. Overall, it was pretty good but there were a few things I didn't like which is why I didn't rate it higher. Good, but not great.
Stella Bain by Anita Shreve
During World War I, an American woman wearing a British nurse's uniform wakes up in a field hospital in France with shrapnel wounds to her feet. She has no memory of who she is other than the name Stella Bain and does not know why she is in Europe or how she became trained as a nurse. Soon she feels compelled to visit the Admiralty in London, but soon after arriving becomes very ill and is taken in by a cranial surgeon and his wife, Dr. August and Lily Bridge. Dr. Bridge quickly realizes that Stella is suffering from traumatic amnesia and starts to help her get her memory back. Stella wants nothing more than to remember her past, but she is also afraid of what she might remember. When her memory does come back the storyline quickly moves through her past and the reader follows her back to America to try to re-gain her old life. The way Shreve lays out the story not in chronological form, but rather in time with Stella's memories is fantastic. You can almost feel Stella's emotions with her. This is one of the best books I've read in a LONG time! I've been a fan of Anita Shreve for a long time, but I haven't loved some of her last few books. But, I could not put this one down it was so good!
Paris Letters by Janice Macleod
This book was so inspiring and such a quick, fun read. Janice MacLeod was working in advertising as a copywriter in L.A. Her life looked great on the outside, but she was miserable. One day she decided to see how much it would cost for her to quit her job for a year to figure out a new career path. She decides to try to save or not spend $100 a day. Within a year she's saved a whopping $60,000! She quits her job and decides to travel around Europe for the first few months. Her first stop is Paris, where she almost immediately falls for a butcher working near where she is staying. She doesn't speak French well and he doesn't speak English, but they manage to communicate enough to start a relationship. MacLeod doesn't think this is going to necessarily go anywhere, so she continues with the rest of her planned travel around Europe. But, when Christophe, the hot butcher, asks her to come back to Paris "to see" she does and the rest is history. She still has to figure out a way to make money if she stays in Paris, so she combines two of her loves - painting and letter writing and starts selling painted letters on Etsy and through her blog. MacLeod's story shows that sometimes it's worth taking a big risk to get a big reward. While not everyone can quit their life and move to Paris, this book still makes you think about how to enjoy your life more and whether a steady, boring job is better than a cheaper, happier life.
