Our lives are filled with miracles, the ones that recur every day and seem almost normal, like sunrise, electricity, digestion, relationships, and forgiveness, and the ones we pray and give special thanks for like impossible cures, unexpected successes, and mind-blowing coincidences. When these happen, we need to be grateful, not proud; we need to see […]
52 Books in 52 Weeks
Review: Katharina, Katharina by Christine Farenhorst
Katharina Schutz, curious, talkative, and impulsive, notices everything around her: Frau Bauer, the neighbor across the street whose babies all died; the light in the studio where she learns to weave; cousin Ursula’s bitterness; the different priests; and the ever-present need to be good enough to earn favor for those who have died. And in […]
Review: The Reformation by Stephen Nichols
Five hundred years ago, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed a document onto a cathedral door bulletin board*. That one event, the culmination of years of protest by many, ushered in the Reformation and also, according to Nichols, took the world from the middle ages to modern times. But does the Reformation still matter […]
Review: Luther by Those Who Knew Him by E. R. Charles
This devotional and encouraging book presents Luther and his ideas through the eyes of various members of a family that knew him. From Fritz, a monk who travelled to Rome with him, and Else, who struggled with not being religious enough because she was not a nun, to Eva, a nun who rejoiced to share […]