bookwormishness

I have one achievement of today. I finished Toni Morrison's Beloved, a book I was given by a retiring professor of mine. He had told me that he was cleaning out his bookshelves, and so on a Wednesday morning, after class and between tornado sirens, I waited outside his office with a few other steadfast students. After his meeting ended, we slipped in and ransacked his bookshelves while he leaned back in his desk chair and issued his usual insightful but semi-caustic commentary on our choices. When I left, he laughed and shook his head, saying that my parents would hate him for all the books I was leaving with. But elated, I ended up hauling two bags of books back to my dorm room.

Beloved was gripping, well-written but dark. I could clearly see man's depravity but also the grayness between good and evil in the story. It was gritty and real, shocking and almost overwhelming at points, but good. I like those kind of stories, that see life and face its reality. But the story also included grace and goodness, love and hope; elements of redemption. Toni Morrison knows how to write and her story-telling abilities are astounding, not easily forgotten.


Also today I got a little further in the process (a very long process that has spanned several college breaks) of reading Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures by David Martyn Lloyd-Jones. So far, it's been excellent. It's based on sermons he preached on the topic, and this pastoral approach includes a honest look at the reality of spiritual depression, but he also gives helpful advice to deal with it in everyday, practical ways. And his book is not just for those who struggle with depression, it's also applicable to Christians who need some honest, real advice to facing sin and pursuing Christ.