A Review of the Book "The Comfort Book" by Matt Haig

Title: The Comfort Book

Author: Matt Haig

Publisher: HarperCollins

Year: 2021

251 pages

From the Back: The Comfort Book is a collection of little islands of hope. It gathers consolations and stories that offer new ways of seeing ourselves and the world. Matt Haig's mix of philosophy, memoir, and survivors through the ages, from Marcus Aurelius to Nellie Bly, from Emily Dickinson to James Baldwin. This is the book to pick up when you need the wisdom of a friend, the comfort of a hug or a reminder that hope comes from unexpected places.

Personal Thoughts: The Comfort Book is just so lovely. The title is comforting and so is everything within its pages. I took my time reading this one, taking in each and every little story, statement, and thought. There is everything from one-liners to short stories and everything in between. One of my favorites is on page 10 titled "It's okay" that ends with "It's okay to be who you are. It's okay."

    As it says above, this a book you keep nearby and pick up any time you need some words of comfort. You don't need to read it cover to cover, and there will probably be parts you will go back and read again and again. I've had this one on my shelf for a couple of years and am so glad I finally took the time to read it.

A Review of the Book "Heartstopper Volume 5" by Alice Oseman

Title: Heartstopper Volume 5

Author: Alice Oseman

Publisher: Graphix

Year: 2023

318 pages

From the Back: Nick and Charlie are in love. They've finally said those three little words, and Charlie has almost persuaded his mum to let him sleep over at Nick's house. He wants to take their relationship to the next level...but can he find the confidence he needs? And with Nick going off to university next year, is everything about to change?

Personal Thoughts: I can't get enough of Nick and Charlie! They are such a cute couple and I just watching their story flourish in such a heart-felt way. Oseman makes it very easy to fall in love with these characters and you can feel their emotions right along with them as they toil through the decisions about school, life, and love. 

It's incredible how much story detail can be found in these simple but extremely effective drawings. Heartstopper remains the only graphic novel that I've read but it has certainly made me consider checking others out.

I can't wait to see how Nick and Charlie's story wind up in the 6th and final book!

A Review of the Book "Carrie" by Stephen King

Title: Carrie

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: Anchor Books

Year: 1974

290 pages

From the Back: Carrie may be picked on by her classmates, but she has a gift. She can move things with her mind. Doors lock. Candles fall. This is her power and her problem. Then, an act of kindness, as spontaneous as the vicious taunts of her classmates, offers Carrie a chance to be a normal teenager,,,until an unexpected cruelty turns her gift into a weapon of horror and destruction that no one will ever forget.

Personal Thoughts: I had seen this movie a long time ago so I thought I knew what I was going to be getting into. But of course, with almost any book and movie comparison, the book was way different and so much better. It's either that I don't actually remember what happened in the movie!

Carrie looks to be Stephen King's first novels. It comparison to a couple of his more recent novels, you can't really tell the difference. King has been an amazing writer from the beginning. Carrie is an excellent story of teenage embarrassment that is relatable to everyone. Putting aside the scary parts, the book is full of teenage angst and the competition to be part of the popular group. Add back in the scary parts, and now you have what some teens might want to do to others, but to the extreme.

King's story-telling ability is captivating and engaging, making it easy to get into the story and fall in love with the characters. Looking forward to continuing my travels through all of his books.

In Danger But Not Dangerous

            In 2015, a study was conducted in Ontario that determined transgender people are the targets of specifically directed violence; “20% had been physically or sexually assaulted for being transgender, and another 34% had been verbally threatened or harassed but not assaulted”[1] The transgender community is in danger. Those numbers from 2015 are probably low because many would not have reported their assaults and over the last few years, the quantity of attacks on transgender people have increased exponentially.

The common claim against transgender people is that it is mostly men trying to get into women’s washrooms so that they can commit sexual assault. But really, we just want to use the bathroom in peace. And the reality is that substantially more transgender people are assaulted in those bathrooms than the other way around.

What’s happened is that certain persons in positions of power have done and said things that has given permission by proxy for transphobic actions and attitudes. People are attacked while trying to use the bathroom. Kids are afraid to go to school for fear of bullying. Politicians are making laws that are forcing teachers to out students to their parents. Transgender people are afraid for their lives but instead of finding help, they find resistance.

And in so many of these instances of blatant transphobia, the bible is used as a weapon. Sermons are preached from the pulpit defending transphobic actions. So-called Christians rejected transgender people with claims of "it's a fad", "protect the children", and "God doesn't make mistakes". Transgender people are in danger simply for being themselves.

            The fear that the public is feeling, or perhaps told to feel, is not real (even if “phobia” is in the word transphobia). There is nothing to fear from transgender people. We are not a new concept. Transgender people have been around for centuries. The difference is simply that transgender people are tired of hiding and are more often living out and proud. We are regular, ordinary people who want to live, work, play, and pee without being questioned or attacked. We have friend and families, we have homes and workplaces, and we’ve been walking this earth beside you possibly without you even knowing it.

            The transgender community is not dangerous, but we are in danger. Society is confusing anxiety with threat and that is bringing harm to the transgender community. There is a mentality that being transgender is new and weird, which must automatically mean it’s dangerous. We are being falsely accused of influencing children into having surgeries by wanting gender and sexuality to be discussed in sexual education classes. Social media lends itself to group bullying as groups such as 1 Million March for Children, an anti-queer event in September 2023, used Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to stir up parents and other supporters to protest having queer-affirming resources and Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Education (SOGIE) in schools.

            Anxiety around the banality of a transgender person has turned into a misrepresentation of danger. It’s time for this situation to come to an end. We can resist this outrageousness. All of us. We have the power to choose between abandoning the marginalized or standing up for them, “to change the ways we encourage shunning and instead do the work to facilitate communication.”[2] So let’s get at it before another person suffers the indignity of being asked what’s in their pants, another child gets beat up at school, or another teen decides that dying is their only way out.

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[1] Cole, Desmond. The Skin We’re In. Toronto: Double Day Canada, 2020, p.96.

[2] Shulman, Sarah. “Introduction: A Reparative Manifesto,” in Sarah Shulman, Conflict is Not Abuse: Overstating Harm, Community Responsibility, and the Duty of Repair. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2016, p. 27.

A Review of the Book "Re-Shaping Rural Ministry" edited by James Bell, Jill Hopkinson, and Trevor Willmott

Title: Re-Shaping Rural Ministry: A Theological and Practical Handbook

Editors: James Bell, Jill Hopkinson, Trevor Willmott

Publisher: Canterbury Press

Year: 2009

156 pages

From the Back: Rural churches are an abiding presence and sign of continuity in local communities, yet they face radical social, economic, and community change in the 21st century. This has prompted renewed reflection on the meaning of mission, evangelism, vocation, and ministry as rural churches seek the ways in which they can share most fruitfully in the mission of God for this world. Reshaping Rural Ministry explores the imaginative responses of many rural churches to decades of challenges and changes, and offers practical and theological reflection from leading writers on the questions it is addressing today. Illustrated with stories and examples from rural churches, and including questions to enable local churches to discern how they might best respond to particular challenges they face, this book is essential reading for all engaged in rural ministry, those considering it, and all involved in ministerial selection and training.

Personal Thoughts: I always find it easier to get on board with ideas when you hear them through story. Telling and hearing stories is such a powerful learning tool and that is exactly how this book is set up. Through a series of essays, you hear about rural churches and rural communities growing, learning, and building relationship. Rural ministry is so different than urban ministry. You need to learn things like when planting season is, when people will be fishing, when calving starts, when harvest begins, and any other seasonal event that affects the people within the town or parish.

    The stories are based in rural England but there's no reason the ideas brought forth by the story-tellers wouldn't be able to transfer to Canada or North America. I think we can learn a lot from rural ministry. Because their Sunday morning attendance varies so widely, the pastor needs to take church to the where the people are. Maybe that means a pastoral visit in a tractor. Or church services in a farmer's field. One thing for sure is that rural ministry isn't easy and it can no longer be thought of as a stepping stone to working in the city. Rural and urban parishes are just too different for that.

    Reshaping Rural Ministry is easy to read because it's made up of a variety of stories. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you might just learn a thing or two. Even if you don't or won't have anything to do with leading a rural parish, I recommend this book to everyone because when it comes to building a church into a community, rural parishes are ahead of the game.

Intersectionality: Concerning Labels and Identities

Kimberle Crenshaw is an American civil rights activist and a Professor of Law at UCLA. A graduate of Cornell University, Harvard University, and the University of Wisconsin, Crenshaw has focused much of her research on the concept of critical race theory. About 30 years ago, through the research she was doing on critical race theory, she coined the term “intersectionality.” According to Crenshaw, intersectionality is “an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person’s social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege.”[1]

            Identity is a relatively modern concept that consists of individual characteristics or personality traits that differentiate one person from another, and significantly relies on relationship. We all have different ways that we identify ourselves whether it be by gender, race, sexuality, religion, ability etc. As Rod Michalko, a retired professor of disability studies at the University of Toronto, states, “In a social world, others use our identity to define us and we use it to define ourselves.”[2]

More often than not, a person will have more than one social identity. Intersectionality is the interconnectedness of our various social identities that often overlap and can either provide us with great privilege or horrendous discrimination. For example, I am a white man and enjoy all the privilege that comes with that identity. However, I am also part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community because I am transgender. So, while I can enjoy white privilege, I am also at risk of experiencing discrimination for being queer.

Society has divided people into segmented groups, most of which will experience discrimination in one form or another. This is exponentially so if that person falls into more than one segmented group. For example, a lesbian African-American woman falls into three oppressed categories of social identity that all intersect into a single person who will likely experience two to three times the amount of discrimination in comparison to others.

While these segmented groups might bring on oppression, they can also bring community and support. There is a togetherness that can be found when you surround yourself with people who identify in the same way as you do. It may or may not happen on purpose, but it’s human nature to gravitate toward those who look, act, think, and speak like you. Especially within oppressed minority groups, this togetherness, defined as identity politics, becomes very important because those who experience similar oppression will come together to fight for social justice.

For example, one of my identities is as a transgender male, which places me within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. In the fall of 2023, there was a movement to stop queer and gender studies being added to sexual education classes in the schools with claims that the classes would influence more “transgender fads” in the student body. This movement included protests of government buildings across the country. In response, the transgender community throughout Canada, using social media to communicate with each other, initiated counter protests. We had to use our identity to be visible for both the politicians with the power to enact change, and to everyone out there who might have been thinking they were alone in this fight.

When we talk about these social segments, they are often called labels and many people will say that they don’t want to use labels, whether on themselves or on others. I suppose I can understand that because who wants to be put into a box? Labels can cause conflict if you make assumptions because there are identities that aren’t visible. You can safely assume that every person is someone’s child, but not everyone is a parent or a sibling. You can’t tell by looking at a person if they are religious, able-bodied, or 2SLGBTQIA+. Even considering race and ethnicity you can’t always tell simply by looking. So, what if we stopped using labels? Would it change anything. If everyone simply identified as human, as I’ve heard in some arguments regarding the transgender community, would that stop all oppression?

I seriously doubt it. I think that while there is power to be had and held, there will always be oppression. Unfortunately, these power dynamics are almost exclusively based on identities and labels, so those who have power will never want to be rid of labels. Although, because of privilege, they are able to disregard the labels they so cling to. Such as someone who identifies as white denying that white supremacy exists. This person has the privilege to disregard their white label.[3] Conversely, those who fall into boxes, labels, or identities, can be comforted by them because it allows for community to be formed.

While it would be lovely to one day live in a world with labels, our identity will always be what makes us who we are. The important question is whether or not we will ever see an end to the oppression of our fellow human beings simply because of those identities.

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[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BnAW4NyOak

[2] Michalko, Rod. “Introduction” in Rod Michalko, The Difference That Disability Makes. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002, p. 5.

[3] Harvey, Jennifer. “Disrupting the Normal: Queer Family Life as Sacred Work,” in Kathleen T Talvacchia, Michael F Pettinger, and Mark Larrimore, editors, Queer Christianities: Lived Religion in Transgressive Forms. New York: New York University Press, 2015, p. 107.

A Review of the Book "Inclusivity: A Gospel Mandate" by Diarmuid O'Murchu

Title: Inclusivity: A Gospel Mandate

Author: Diarmuid O'Murchu

Publisher: Orbis Books

Year: 2015

213 pages

From the Back: Diarmuid O'Murchu holds high the millions on the margins of the church as well as those who honor Jesus but feel they don't fit in because of alternative vision or minority status resulting from race, ethnicity, social standing, or sexual orientation. Inclusivity offers a faith dynamic characterized by discipleship with an adult Jesus in the service of an adult God. ...an inevitable drive to reach out and bring in, the next step in a movement toward spiritual wholeness.

Personal Thoughts: One of the main lessons that I've been trying to encourage throughout preaching and teaching is how inclusive the Gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to be. God is love. God loves all creation. Period. Full stop. God was never supposed to be exclusionary. Christianity was never supposed to be a belief system that oppresses. Jesus didn't spend time with the rich, the all knowledgeable, or the powerful. His seat was always beside the downtrodden, the rejected, the lost, and the forgotten. So when I found Inclusivity: A Gospel Mandate, I thought I had stumbled across the perfect book for me to read. And I wasn't wrong. There are so many nuggets of information within these 230 pages that I almost ran out of sticky notes. Here are some of the thoughts I want to share:

        "There is no room for any form of exclusion in Christian discipleship." (93)

        "As Christian people, we have a long way to go to realize the challenge of the Gospels to translate inclusivity into daily life. (208)

        "Despite Christendom's long allegiance to the ideology of a Chosen People, the time has come to sever the historical links and return to a more primordial wisdom that never adopted this ideology in the first place." (15)

        "Gospel-based compassion...embraces and seeks to bring in all who are marginalized, oppressed, and excluded from empowering fellowship." (44)

    Inclusivity is an excellent book, well-written with plenty of thought out arguments as to why we should be considering the Gospel to be an inclusive text. If you are pondering how to see yourself in the gospel text, or how to see those other than your self throughout the Bible, take some time to read Inclusivity. It will be worth your time.