Books

At this point in my preaching journey, I find myself drawing on or being informed by the writings of theologian Howard Thurman, novelist Toni Morrison and poet Langston Hughes, as well as the musical literature known as the spirituals.

One night recently I was reading to my children a book about songbirds. There we discovered one of the most beautiful things in the world: a brood patch.

What reading do ministers rely on for inspiration or help in preaching—apart from commentaries or other materials directly related to the task?

When you buy a used book, it's like joining a conversation in progress—a conversation that may outlast you.

In addition to the biblical text, the most important material for me tends to come from our context and from what I discern in the lives, community and world around us.

Life is a sermon. Whenever I grab my pen and legal pad, I view myself as a chronicler of the beauty, tragedy, humor, anxiety and ultimate hope that characterize the Christian life. There is a wide range of regular sources for inspiration and example.

For the first year or two of my preaching life, I lived in a constant state of low-grade panic. Those Sunday morning deadlines were inflexible and unrelenting.

I read theology to understand myself and be reminded that I cannot ever hope to understand God. I get my deep meaning from reading dead Germans. Most everything else is entertainment. But it all affects my preaching.

Putting together words that can break through the sea—sometimes the cesspool—of words in which we live seems a Sisyphean task. I look for help wherever I can get it, so I read.

When I’m working on a sermon, I like to have wise women nearby. My favorite is the poet Nikki Giovanni, who tells it like it is.

I don't like un-vetted books, aka self-published books or books printed by so-called vanity presses. I’m aware that this is where much of the publishing world is headed in this digital age. There is a growth industry of firms that will be glad to publish your book, in print or in digital format. Amazon even has such a service. I laud many aspects of the digital world. But this is one development I see as a big negative.

Beverly Donofrio had just been “looking for a monastery to join, for Christ’s sake.” She had closed her laptop, having bookmarked religious communities she might write to, then had fallen into a deep sleep. During the night she was raped at knife point in her home in Mexico.

Philosophy begins in wonder, claimed Plato long ago. In The Blue Sapphire of the Mind, Douglas E. Christie identifies this posture as a good place to start for those who seek to dwell on Earth faithfully and responsibly.

In her 2005 novel Baker Towers, Jennifer Haigh introduced readers to Bakerton, Pennsylvania, a town named after the coal mines that sustain it. In News From Heaven, Haigh explores Bakerton again.