Goodness, Truth and Beauty

Books are like people. They are beautiful and complicated.  Recommending books is kind of like recommending someone for a date.  There’s a bunch that can go right in the match. But there are typically a few land mines and booby traps as well.

Everything in life that is worth doing takes risk.  So rather than edit myself, I’d like to risk trusting your discernment and your walk with God through these titles. Clearly many of them are written from a variety of worldviews. The goal therefore is not to adhere with any book’s position but rather to glean from each creative work the pieces that most speak to you – your life, your story, and the core beliefs upon which God and His Kingdom have been and are being established here on earth.

So take this list, not as an endorsement of any author or worldview, but as (the beginnings of) a humble catalogue of possible waypoints as you navigate this decade of becoming good soil.  Indeed, they are lampposts, treasures and fuel that I’ve found along the way.  And what I can assure you is that whether in small measure or in large, I have found some piece of the Kingdom mosaic of truth, beauty and goodness in every one of these resources…

As a transition into my book recommendations, let me offer a story taken from Seattle Pacific University’s journal recounting a story of the personal correspondence between C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia and an eager 9 year-old fan, Laurence:

“Laurence confided to his mother that he was afraid that he loved Aslan the lion (the Christ figure in the series) more than he loved Jesus. Did that make him an idol worshipper? Philinda promptly wrote in care of the publisher and told Lewis of her son’s confusion. So concerned was the author when he learned of Laurence’s distress that the Kriegs had an answer in just 10 days.

‘Tell Laurence from me, with my love,’ Lewis wrote in a detailed letter, ‘ … [He] can’t really love Aslan more than Jesus, even if he feels that’s what he is doing. For the things he loves Aslan for doing or saying are simply the things Jesus really did and said. So that when Laurence thinks he is loving Aslan, he is really loving Jesus: and perhaps loving Him more than he ever did before. … I don’t think he need be bothered at all. God knows all about the way a little boy’s imagination works (He made it, after all) … .’”

What I love about these books is Jesus and His Kingdom.

I pray that these would become nourishment in this decade for you as well…

Click here to dig deep into the Recommended Readings (or go to Dig Deep in the navigation bar).