Maybe I'm not soooooo much in a happy holidays kind of mood right this second (picture Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation, giving cranky holiday "greetings" to businessmen as they walk past him) but I've had moments of it, and I'll get there again - as will you, I'm guessing.*
But I promised a holiday book list (in last Wednesday's post) and, even though I'm feeling the teensiest bit Grinch-like, I've got a list that I want to share. These books are from a list I put up 2 years ago, that touch on the heart of Christmas, the spiritual dimension.
And, as I said last week - these recommendations come out of my family's holiday traditions, but I'd like to acknowledge other holidays as well - so I would love, love, love to have YOU let us know what your favorite books (celebrating YOUR traditions and beliefs) of the season are!!!
That said, here's the list:
My very favorite, is A Small Miracle. This a wordless book, I guess technically that's a picture book, right? But "picture book" makes me think of kids and this book is even more suited to adults.
Here's a secret - this book makes Slightly-Brit (brilliant eldest daughter) and I tear up - every time! It's the story of a poor woman - an old, poor woman - alone and with nothing to eat - who winds up selling her beloved accordion (she kisses it goodbye!) just to survive.
The story does not avoid the truth - it doesn't shy away from the feelings we often have when we're in the midst of our own story. The old woman has her money stolen after she sells her accordion. Ah! Who can't relate to that in some way?
Being at the end of your rope and then having the rope break! There's more! After that she sees the guy who robbed her stealing the church poor bank. Who could blame her if she gave in to total despair? She's got no food, nobody at home, and she's just given up her favorite possession - for nothing. She's got nothing.
But she's also got nothing to lose. And she has had enough! She refuses to let the robber take the poor bank. She gets the church's money back, puts it back in the church and even rights the creche scene that the robber knocked all over.
She doesn't seem to feel all that triumphant though. She starts the long walk home still having nothing. Again, this is something I think many of us can relate to. Doing what we do because it is the thing to do while not seeing or necessarily feeling as if it's accomplishing much. But doing it anyway.
Trudge, trudge. Back toward the house with nothing. Not even realizing that the seeds she's sown will sprout and bloom - very soon.
The woman falls over in the snow. She's too exhausted to go on. She's unconscious when the creche figures (the ones she just righted) come to her and carry her home. They fix her house up. The wise men head back into town and trade their goodies (gold, frankincense and myrrh - you remember!) with the store clerk - and buy the woman food (what a fun, fun picture that is - the little creche figures pushing a shopping cart in a grocery store!!). They also buy her accordion back!
All the while Mary sits at the woman's bedside holding her hand. After making everything wonderful for the woman, the creche figures hurry back to the church. The old woman wakes up in the morning to such a big surprise. And she never finds out how it happened.
This book reminds me of so much that's important - the things I need to hear over and over: That what we do does matter, that wrong does not triumph in the end - that there is hope. And love. And that the universe conspires to show us that love. It's all in there! The illustrations are incredible. Touching! Tremendously touching. I think they work in a way that words could not - this is a deeply inspiring book.
My 5 year-old granddaughter loves it too! So a wild and wonderful 5 year-old, a brilliant and beautiful 30-something (Slightly-Brit), and an old, kinda zany woman (that'd be me) ALL love this book - quite a recommendation!
If you, like me, spend at least a bit of the holiday season feeling stressed - this book will touch your heart. Christmas at Fairacre is set in a village in England - it's actually three stories. All pretty "normal" and everyday - nothing insipid or sappy - just life lived well and told well. VERY gentle and inspiring for their ability to remind you to live in the now - to enjoy the process and the journey. And that's pretty damn spiritual in my book!
I was having a hard time coming up with titles for this list, so I asked my 18 year-old son for a suggestion. The book below is the one he came up with. What a surprise to his sister (who introduced him to the book, and read it to him every Christmas. She says he always acted like he was bored!). This is the kind of book that children and adults love - hey, even 18 year-old young men.
It's not technically a Christmas book (yeah, going Square-Peg again), but it's related to Christmas. Dance in the Desert is the story of a special night when the Christ child and his family journey across the desert. Animals dance in the gorgeous illustrations (even a unicorn!).
Next on the list is Watch for the Light. There are 45 readings from authors as differing as Sylvia Plath, Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer , Gail Godwin and T.S. Eliot.
A couple of the authors - Henri J.M. Nouwen and Annie Dillard - are favorites of mine to read in any season. The selections are devotional and thought-provoking. Which sounds hokey - an overused expression - but they are devotional and thought-provoking, what can I say?
I'm going to quote from an Amazon description of the next book, The Very First Christmas, as I like it better than anything I can say (I tried - too wordy!): "...what we have here is a recognized historian writing a kid-friendly book explaining some of the historical context of the Nativity story by having a mother answer her inquisitive child's many questions."
A long time ago I heard someone compare instructing our children in our spiritual traditions to getting vaccinations. Both might be necessary procedures, but in the case of spiritual education the immunity is not the desired result (but it is the probable outcome).
Having been forced to go to church, Sunday School, and even Lutheran grade school I understand the immunity thing. How a child can get a shot of spirituality, and the booster shots - and pretty much wind up immune to the whole thing. I've been there.
This book moves away from the usual sanitized Christmas story and gives it back some history. So it's less likely to do the immunity thing.
Sometimes though, you need a whole different slant to wake up to old truths, old stories - ones you've heard over and over that don't elicit much feeling because they're so familiar.
This next book wakes you up to the Christmas stories again, makes them brand new. Tracks in the Straw gives me, literally, goose-bumps. Has since the first time I picked it up. The author, Ted Loder, is a poet, author, retired pastor - who's been called "provocative" - his life work seems to revolve around social justice and joy.
Besides the fictional stories and poems in the book he shares personal experiences in a beautiful, vulnerable way. I love his writing and I love his style. He makes me want to be kinder, more loving, more open. He presents a very inclusive spirituality - not one-up or one-down - more of a "we're in this together" type thing. A message I cannot get enough of!
Happy Holiday Reading!! And please do share YOUR favorites!!!
*If you're feeling particularly Scrooge-like - or holi-dazed - you might wander over to these stories - where 10 great bloggers (and me) shared some soul-warming personal stories. I'll meet you there - I definitely need some holiday support right now. {Editor's note: we've added more uplifting stories this year - 2011!}
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This post is part of a holiday book-loving trilogy, the two others are:
Holiday Book List (holiday humor, because we need humor, right?) and
Favorite Holiday Books for Kids (books for kids - or the kid in YOU).
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Full Disclosure: we're affiliates of Amazon.com - so when you buy from the links above you don't pay a penny more, but you help support Square-Peg People. Thanks!
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