Monday, February 2, 2009

hidden treasure in my bookshelf.


My book collection is not anywhere close where I want it to be. I had to leave a lot of books behind in Tennessee when I moved out west. I had to make a lot of tough decisions so the one hundred books or so that did make it are somewhat important. Even though I haven’t read all of them I know them pretty well. Lets just say I know what I have on my shelves. Last night before going to sleep and saving the life of a mouse from an angry Latino I was looking at my books. This is something I do quite often but last night I picked up a book that I have seen plenty of times but I never really knew what it was. Once I started reading about the author and the topic I realized that I had just found a treasure hidden with in my collection.

Dorothy Sayers, Letters to a Diminished Church is a collection of essays arguing for the relevance of Christian doctrine. Sayers was a member of the famous “Inklings,” a group that met in a pub called the Eagle and Child in Oxford, England. This group’s members included C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams. I was shocked and excited to learn that a woman was in the “Inklings”. As I started to read through the first chapter before bead I realized I was going to really enjoy her writing.

“Official Christianity, of late years, has been having what is known as a bad press. We are constantly assured that the churches are empty because preachers insist too much upon doctrine-dull dogma as people call it. The fact is the precise opposite. It is the neglect of dogma that makes for dullness. The Christian faith is the most exciting drama that ever staggered the imagination of man-and the dogma is the drama… The plot pivots upon a single character, and the whole action is the answer to a single central problem: What think ye of Christ?” – Dorothy L. Sayers

May we never be bored but constantly amazed by the supremacy of Christ and the story that we find ourselves in.

2 comments:

Brandon said...

Man, dude...
This is exactly what I beg, plead, kick, and scream to my students about...
When you have a solid doctrine with a big picture of God, it makes you fall in love with Him so much more...
Let's hold the brush and let the Spirit paint away...

kyle said...

we are going through mark chapter by chapter with the question He asked "who do you say I am?". it has definitely opened my heart to who Jesus really is to me. a lot of times i read the bible and get a picture of a bunch of 80's style anime characters, expressing overly emphasized emotions and actions. our culture and todays society has pushed who He really is/was away with the marketing of Him. we read only the parts we are told to read. we picture it how we are told it looked.