In addition to giving myself to the deep exploration of the rhythms of walking, praying, and paddling this summer, I’m also drawn to the rhythm of turning pages. I am very curious about where I am - the dirt, the landscape, the history, the relationships of a place - and who I am called to be there. This is my reading list for the summer, in case you want to read along:
Nick Ripatrazone, Wild Belief: Poets and Prophets in the Wilderness Wilderness is both a fearful and a sacred space, featuring prominently in the story of God’s people. It is also quickly disappearing. This book follows poets and prophets, saints and storytellers from across the ages in exploring what that might mean.
Imani Perry, South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation I just finished and loved Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns, and the fact that she calls this “elegant meditation on the complexities of the American South—and thus of America … an inspiration” is all the nudging I needed.
Dan Chapman, A Road Running Southward: Following John Muir's Journey through an Endangered Land I loved Tony Horwitz’s Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide, where he follows a young Frederick Law Olmstead on his journey through the South. Chapman follows John Muir to explore the natural history of the Southeast, point out some of its many environmental problems, and introduce the people with deep ties to the land.
Andrew Root, Churches and the Crisis of Decline: A Hopeful, Practical Ecclesiology for a Secular Age This is the most recent addition to a series Root has been publishing since 2017 (Faith Formation in a Secular Age, The Pastor in a Secular Age, The Congregation in a Secular Age). Root teaches classes on youth ministry, young adults, family, church, and culture (all with a deep theological bent) at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN.
Matthew Continetti, The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism Our Wednesday morning book group just finished Bill Haslam’s Faithful Presence: The Promise and the Peril of Faith in the Public Square, and I want to better understand how political leaders like him and others often referred to as “establishment Republicans” are being pushed out by a reckless clown show.