The End of Books?

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood

I heard on the radio today that there is an authorized sequal to the 83 year old Winnie the Pooh series.  David Benedictus (who could ask for a cooler name?!) has been authorized by the estate of A.A. Milne to write Return to the Hundred Acre Wood.

The book has a few changes.  There is a new character. Lottie the Otter is a bossy, pearl-wearing female otter.  Christopher Robin is older and Eeyore is a bit less depressed--more proactive, Benedictus says.  

Whether Benedictus' attempt is as well written as the original remains to be seen.  Whether today's children (and their parents) would be drawn to a children's book as well written as the original Winnie the Pooh books were, is another question altogether.  The balance is tricky to maintain.  

I would love to get a copy of this new book outlining Christopher Robin's adventures now that he is a school boy.  Perhaps it is time to Return to the Hundred Acre Wood.

Pride

I'm currently reading a good book called Bathe Seven Times by Mother Nadine, founder of the Intercessors of the Lamb.  The title refers to Elisha the prophet, in the Old Testament, who asks Naman the leper to bathe seven times in the river and he will be healed.  There are seven deadly sins.  If we "bathe seven times" and become clean of each of these sins, we will be healed.

Last night I read the chapter on Pride.  What I found was a very helpful  and eye-opening explanation of the different types of pride.  Pride, apparently, can take many forms, some of them quite counter intuitive.

The following explanations are taken directly from the book.

• Pride of Intellect is an attachment to our own jugements, opinions and thoughts.
  
• Pride of Superiority can make us want to control the lives of others. 
  
• Pride of Ambition seeks positions of honor, recognition and praise for ourselves rather than for others and it shows up in the tiniest of ways.
• Pride of Sensitiveness is manifested in people who are super-sensitive, easily wounded and hurt.  It may hide in self-pity.
• Pride of Timidity is related to pride of sensitiveness and comes from an unreasonable fear of others' opinions of us and whether others have respect for us or not.
• Pride of Scrupulosity has a tendency to fix itself and its attention on the wrong things.  The things that really count go unattended.
• Pride of Vanity leads to perfectionism, legalism, complacency, hypocrisy and excessive talkativeness. 

Wow, that sort of cuts things down to size, doesn't it? I sure have a long way to go!! So many things stem from pride! It really is the root of all sin.

Hate and Fear

I've been trying to finish up some books that are due back at the library. One, Hope Against Darkness by Richard Rohr has a number of cogent points very useful for understanding the crux of what Christianity is all about. Here is his quote about hate, and why it is so prevalent:

Hate unites a group quickly, it gives a person identity even if it is a negative one, and most of all it takes away doubt and all free floating anxiety. It gives us a place to stand that feels superior and in control. Hate settles the dust and ambiguity that none of us like. Hate is more common and more immediately effective than love.

This does a great job of explaining why loving as Jesus would have us love is so difficult, if we try to do it all ourselves. The 12 step programs call this "white knuckling"--hanging on for dear life trying to do what might be completely against your nature. As Saint Paul said, "I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate" (Romans 7:15)

When the inevitable failure comes, we fall into despair. It is then that hate becomes easy. We either hate ourselves for our failure, or we hate the other for "making" us fail. Hate gives us the temporary power at a time when we feel completely powerless. But of course, the consequences of such hate are all around us. Jesus came and showed us exactly what such unbridled hate and craving for power does. And yet, we still chase after its false high.

What is needed, according to Rohr is to be "ready to live the emptiness of not knowing" for

You do not have to create all the patterns and you do not have to fix all the failures. What else would be the beginnings of peace? Only people who have moved beyond ego and controlling of all outcomes, only those practiced at letting go, see fear for the impostor that it is.

To be trapped inside of your own small ego is always to be afraid.

Perfect love casts out all fear. (1 John 4:18)

Excellent Book!

Wanted to share a great book I've just finished: Eleanor vs. Ike by Robin Gerber.

In spite of my conservative, somewhat Republican leanings, I thoroughly enjoyed this work of fiction. (My library had it under "science fiction"--what's up with THAT?)

The surprisingly believable premise is that Eleanor Roosevelt is drafted to run for President in 1952 when Adlai Stevenson drops dead on the convention floor. It is well researched and well written and a joy for anyone who enjoys the politics of the post-war era and/or the Roosevelts and their lives.

In the back of the book, are Gerber's notes regarding the sources of some of the happenings in the book--she takes them directly from history when she can.

Quite interesting stuff.

Gotta love libraries!

FDR--A Biography

In spite of the fact that I am a Republican, I have always been fascinated by FDR. The fact that he was able to get elected, and indeed re-elected more often than any other U.S. president in spite of the fact that he was unable to walk at all unassisted, says a lot about the man, as well as about the media of the time.

I am currently reading FDR--A Biography by Ted Morgan. I have read up through the chapter where he and Eleanor marry. The final paragraph in that chapter is telling, especially in light of mental illness.

To the outside world, Eleanor was a model wife and mother. Her husband, however, found her mood swings and self-laceration baffling. His mother had given him the example of a woman who did not surrender to moods or self-doubt, and whose devotion was never in question. Taught by life that nothing is certain, Eleanor picked her way through the wreckage of her sorrows.

What a well-written description of living with mental illness! It is and can be baffling, often to both parties. What has kept me ahead of the insanity monster, so to speak, is the knowledge that help is out there, even when we refuse it, and that God is there, even when we no longer feel His presence.