More than I ask or imagine. . .

This is Your Brain on Stories.... Any questions?

 

I remember those "Partnership for a Drug Free America" commercials, about your brain on drugs.  A powerful metaphor for me watching as a kid.  That may be why I became a Waffle House cook in college, hmm...

But a recent article from the NY Times suggests that metaphors, fiction, and imagination are interpreted as real experiences for those who read them.  Here is an except

The brain, it seems, does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life; in each case, the same neurological regions are stimulated. Keith Oatley, an emeritus professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto (and a published novelist), has proposed that reading produces a vivid simulation of reality, one that “runs on minds of readers just as computer simulations run on computers.” Fiction — with its redolent details, imaginative metaphors and attentive descriptions of people and their actions — offers an especially rich replica. Indeed, in one respect novels go beyond simulating reality to give readers an experience unavailable off the page: the opportunity to enter fully into other people’s thoughts and feelings.

This is helpful to show how we are shaped and learn through story.  Metaphor also provides rich texture for our imagination and the shaping and forming us into different people after we have read a story. I have experienced the magical world of Harry Potter and faced evil, so now I can face evil in my own heart with the same bravery.

Several questions and connections rise to the front of my mind, What stories am I giving my sons?  What stories made me who I am? Why are we so rationalistic in our communication of theology instead of imaginative?  Can vast reading help us become more compassionate people? And quickly, this blog could get really really long.

My take away is a question too. A question that I must force upon myself is: Do I teach to encounter people with God's Story?  I hope too. In fact, that is my prayer.  I want sermons and sacraments to not be metaphors for something else, but the real thing, an encounter with Christ.  Sort of like a college student who worked at Waffle House frying eggs as a high because the metaphor got into his bones.

Calvin's Institutes: the Prefatory Week One

Calvin is there reason I am Presbyterian.  I remember reading him in college and thinking that this man was not the cold Scholastic I thought he would be. In fact, reading John Calvin was like drinking Choclate Milk, smooth and sweet showing me beautiful vistas of God's goodness. 

I will be reading a chapter or so a week and finish whenever I finish.  I am not in a rush, I want to understand in a new way what this work is about and how Calvin does theology.  I read the Institutes before seminary 10-12 years ago, now I hope to see new things as a pastor and father. 

What is embarrassing is that I never have read the Prefatory before!  But what a great historical work that is.  Calvin writes this to the King of France as an exile pleading with the King that he and this movement are innocent of the charges being brought against them.   

He addresses briefly the charge of schism and the authority of the Pope.  I find this especially important in our modern world. Unity is prized in many circles, but the fact remains that people are divided in their own churches.   So what then should the unity be based on?  The Word being purely preached and the sacraments rightly practiced.  There is the unity. Of course the follow up questions can be legion: What is the Gospel?  How Pure? what is rightly?  Are they sacraments or ordinances?  However, I get the feeling that all of the Institutes are all about answering all these questions.

So my reading will be guided by that statement of Word and Sacrament and how that guides the Institutes.

At Last, You Can Give Kindle Books to Anyone With An Email Address.

Well, everyone knows that I am a Kindle fan.  Good reason as well is how Amazon continues to make the Kindle the leading E-book readered.  They announced today that anyone can send an ebook from the Amazon website to their Kindle via an email address.  Also, the books can be accessed by Android, iPod, iPad, and Computer Desktops, so all you need is a registered email address.

Good Job Amazon keep it up expanding markets!  Check out the Amazon Website for more details.

Why Shakespeare? Part Two

This really should have been part one, but you must experience Shakespeare before you desire to read him.  Very similar to the Gospel, only after you taste do you know how thirsty you were.

This clip is from Henry V Act 4, Scene 3.  It is the battle of Agincourt, and this is one of the few movies that gives Shakespeare his due with his genius for lanuage and metaphor.  Enjoy! I hope you get a taste for more.

 

Henry V Script:

GLOUCESTER

Where is the king?

Ron Paul Exclusively on the Kindle.

As many of you know, I am a fan of Ron Paul's writings.  And more of you know my love of the Kindle.  Well, now these two things come together now.  Amazon just announced that 4 of Ron Paul's books will be offered exclusively in the Kindle store.  Below is the press release from Amazon. 

One of the first books I read on my Kindle was End the Fed, and I read Revolution last summer in print. These other books are in some book stores but they are expense in print.  I find Ron Paul refreshing in our current political climate.  He is not partisan, but he teaches people through his interviews and writings about our Consitition and how Washington is supposed to work.   I look forward to reading some more of his work espeically on Abortion and Foreign Policy in the 4 added books.

Bestselling Author and Congressman Ron Paul's Books Now Available Exclusively in the Kindle Store

RosettaBooks makes electronic versions of four books by Ron Paul available exclusively in the Kindle Store for download in under 60 seconds SEATTLE, Jun 07, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced that RosettaBooks has released four books by bestselling author and Congressman Ron Paul exclusively in the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore). The books--"A Foreign Policy of Freedom," "Pillars of Prosperity," "The Case for Gold" and "Abortion and Liberty"--are available as e-books for the first time, and they will be exclusive to the Kindle Store for one year. Customers can download these books from the Kindle Store for $9.99, and can read them on their Kindle, Kindle DX, iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, PC, Mac, iPad and soon, Android phones. "We're happy to be able to offer our customers these four books by Ron Paul exclusively in the Kindle Store," said Melissa Kirmayer, Director, Kindle Content. "All four books are available for $9.99 and are ready for customers to download and start reading in under 60 seconds." Ron Paul, an 11-term congressman from Texas, has been described as a leading advocate of freedom in the U.S. capital. He has devoted his political career to the defense of individual liberty, sound money and a non-interventionist foreign policy. Judge Andrew Napolitano calls him "the Thomas Jefferson of our day." After serving as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force in the 1960s, Dr. Paul moved to Texas to begin a civilian medical practice, delivering more than 4,000 babies in his career as an obstetrician. He served in Congress from 1976 to 1984 and again from 1996 to the present. He and Carol Paul, his wife of 51 years, have five children, 18 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Ron Paul, the New York Post once wrote, is a politician who "cannot be bought by special interests." A congressional colleague once said: "There are few people in public life who, through thick and thin, rain or shine, stick to their principles. Ron Paul is one of those few." "Ron Paul is one of the most widely admired authors in politics," said Arthur Klebanoff, CEO of RosettaBooks. "RosettaBooks is proud to publish the first e-book editions of four of his most important books, available exclusively in the Kindle Store."

Why Shakespeare?

I am going on Vacation next week.  I finally was able to publish some of the blogs that I have been meaning to finish up.  Nothing like a vacation to make you finish all your projects.

I am headed to Williamsburg, VA for some history, rest and relaxation. For my vacations, I always pick a book to read.  This time, I am reading Shakespeare.  I have read many of the Tragedies, but my knowlege of the Comedies and the Histories is lacking.  So I begin with A Midsummer Night's Dream.  I will read a plot summary, watch the play on Netflix, then read it on my Kindle.  I have a glossary on my iPod Touch in case I hit any of Shakespeare's made up words.

Two reasons for reading Shakepeare that are a must for me as a pastor and Christian. 

Communication of the Beautiful-  Shakespeares paints pictures and creates psyches with his dramas.  His stories communicate something of truth when as Keats said, 'Beauty is Truth, and Truth is Beauty'.  If we are to communicate the Gospel to our world, we must know how to communicate it in a new way.

A Christian Worldview- Many scholars call Shakespeare an "essentialist" meaning he believed that the way things are divinely essential to being human.  In other words, he said reality had one meaning. This is the Christian worldview.  Shakespeare was a man who was profoundly religious in his writing which included his bawdy humor.  (Aside) I wish Christians were still known for our bawdy humor. The dividing line between good and evil always played out in the human heart, the inner person. 

A Midsummer Night's Dream was voted Shakespeares best Comedy, so I begin there.  Do you have a favorite Shakespeare?

Kindle v Nook

I have had this conversation several times this past month, so here is my take on the subject.  I have posted elsewhere my Kindle romance, but I want to do a more Consumer Reports type thing here.

When the price of the Kindle fell to $269, the Nook was also announced. I loved B&N, and have wasted much of my life in their stores, drinking Frappachinos and dreaming of all the books I would one day read. I was excited about the Nook.  In fact, it was the Nook announcement that made me excited about ereaders again.  So why did I choose the Kindle? 

1. Kindle had been tried and tested. Nook's software was not stable at first.  Their Discussions list at B&N was all about troubleshooting. Over at Amazon, everyone is talking about free books and a great new author they found.

2. Storage.  Nook has an SD card slot to expand the memory. I thought this was a good idea, but then I found out that Amazon backs up all your purchased books on their server.  Some people have several hundred books on the server.

3. Keyboard or Touch screen.  I am constantly taking notes on books.  I find that outside of Apple, most touchscreens are very frustrating for typing notes.  Kindle's full keyboard is similar to a cell phone's text Qwerty board, so it felt natural.

4. Customer Service.  One of my students at Temple Ambler has a Kindle 1 for textbooks, and he would tell me of the stories of Amazon's great service. When his first one died, they had another one in his hands the next day. True story.

5. Selection.  I know that B&N says that have over a Million books, but that includes the Goggle Books.  This did tempt me, until I downloaded some of those books through the B&N software for my PC.  The books were often using unintelligible words.  Amazon sells only books that have been put together through their publishing software so you know they are quality. For in copyright books, B&N has 33,000 fiction books, and 15,700 non-fiction books.  Amazon has 203,000 fiction books and 376,000 non-fiction books.  It is astonishing!

6. Mobi format.  I know everyone thinks open source is so hot right now, but look at the Apple closed system App Store versus the Droid App Market.  Open source seems cool, but its not.  At the end of the day, Kindle will let you read .mobi formatted books, and you can convert .epub books very easily. 

7. Amazon has built a community of Readers. They listen to readers and want to make the reading experience more enjoyable. The community forums are a fantastic reference for every Kindle owner.  The Nook discussions were not on the same level.  Amazon knows how to use the Internet: quick delivery of content and building a community of readers and reviewers.

There are many other websites to look at as you make your decision.  I recommend ireader Review and I Love My Kindle.  Bufo Calvin is the author of the latter blog, and he is looking for a new e-reader so he is thinking through all the options.

Let me know what you decided and what you think.

South of Broad: A Thank You to Pat Conroy

CS Lewis is quoted as saying that literature "gives us windows to view into other worlds." In 1988, as a Middle schooler, I saw a film that moved me with compassion, The Great Santini, based on the novel by Pat Conroy.  The characters of Ben Meechum and Toomer transformed my world.  I grew up in a safe suburban home. I never saw abuse, until that movie. I never saw racism, until that movie.  Looking back, it was the most emotionally charged movie I had ever seen.  I believe Pat Conroy has something to do with the compassion that developed in me as that boy became a man.

In high school, I read The Lords of Discipline. It was the first book that made me forget I was reading. I was transported into another world and Will McLean was one of my best friends.  I learned that hardship, suffering, and honesty breed deep relationships among men. I prayed as I finished the book, that I would find such friendships when I would go to college.  God answered those prayers.

The next summer, I delve into Prince of Tides.  Beach Music was published the next summer. Both of these novels created a narrator in my head. This storyteller would be my guide interpreting everything in my life as I went through the rhythms of work, rest, fear, idolatry, and rest at Vanderbilt. The Water is Wide also gave me leading towards a teaching profession which in turn led me to the ministry.

I picked up South of Broad on my Birthday Kindle after 2 long weeks of a Habitat trip and Church Planting Assessment.  I was tired, drained, and wanted to read a new Conroy novel.  It had been 15 years since my last. Now, that little boy moved with compassion and given a language of story telling was now a Father, a Husband, and a Pastor.  I read with new eyes, and finding Pat Conroy to be a deeply sacramental Christian/Catholic author.  I realized that so much of who I am and what I believe have been shaped by this author.  It was like coming home to read him again.

Thank you Pat Conroy for such a brilliant book.  Check back in later for my review.

Jerry's Birthday Kindle

My sleep mode screen saver is a person under a tree on a hill.  It gives the definition of the word "kindle": Light or set fire. Arouse of inspire (and emotion or feeling):  a love of art was kindled in me...

This was my expericence at my first exposure to the Kindle.  It was early 2008, and I went to my favorite Internet time waster: Amazon.  I have always loved the reviews and the selection to browse at any time. But this day, I saw what was to be the "ipod" of books. Excitement shot through my imagination.  I, then, watched the Oprah episode about the Kindle.  One of my college students had one for his text books and my coveting heart was kindled.  Last February, this same student told me about a Kindle 2 just released.  I watched all the videos, and told myself that it would be cool but not for me because it was $400.   

Also, I thought most of my reading is what my friend Matt calls "Godbooks" so there would not be that many "Godbooks" on the Kindle. I buy most of my books from Hearts and Minds and WTSbooks, and will be a life long customer to those stores too.

What happened in the last half of 2009? Well, the cost dropped to $260.  It seemed as in the relm of reality.  I learned too about all of the thousands of digital books online that were free, including the classics of literature, philosophy, and history.  Also, Amazon allowed for PDF's to be read without conversion. I read many things on PDF's.  I hate reading many things on the labtop. Then, the back breaker was a friend who was able to get a significant discount on bulk Kindles. 

What was funny here is that I told my friend I wanted to purchase one from him.  So, after they were delievered, I called him to see if we can meet up for the Kindle.  He informed me that I was too late in getting back and he already sold it.  I was crushed!  I realized how my coveting and my Kindle lust were grabbing my heart affections.