The Irresistible Revolution

So, I think that this book made it's way from Chad to the McKims, to Diana, and then to me (and who knows where else in the near future). Not like it matters, but I like to give credit where credit is due. I just finished The Irresistible Revolution tonight, and despite the fact that this guy is totally a token cheesy youth group leader with dreadlocks type, he had quite a bit of experience and wisdom to share with the world. After finishing this book, it is hard for any Christian to feel satisfied with any particular life that he/she has chosen. Not because Shane Claiborne has led a perfect example of how a life should be led, but because he plainly tells us the opportunity we have to live the idealistic life that has been offered through the Christian faith. It seems after reading the book that the author doesn't want any praise or fame to come from it's publishing, so I am not attempting any type of flattery on the text itself. But I would recommend that any person that wants to read some clear examples of what Christlike living is should stop what they are reading now and pick this up from the library or steal it from Chad/McKims/whoever (I guess you could buy it, but make sure it is from an independent bookseller or a used copy).

War and Games

I heard a story this morning on NPR about game programmers updating the military's drone controls. Listen to it. I'm scared for my children.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

I just finished the book The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. It took me about three weeks to complete this book, which is abnormal for me because if I read at all it is in small bursts filled with many books. I actually took my time reading this one, comparably.

Anyhow, that's besides the point. This was a great novel, it had so many themes that it is hard to know which she found most important to include in the story. The story was of five individuals of different age groups, genders, incomes, races, and ideologies. I guess what I liked most about it was how diverse the people were, but also how similar their desires and feelings were. Most of the book was revolving around how hard life was for these characters, but what was interesting was that they were not only similar to eachother, but also similar to the people that you know today.

It seems that the loneliness that the characters felt was so perfectly portrayed that it is hard to think of any person that hasn't experienced it themselves. I don't want to spoil the story for anyone who hasn't read the book, so I will end on this note. I guess that this seems like a fairly obvious observation about the human condition, but it seems to me that no matter how diverse life can be, people are always looking for one thing, someone to love and be loved. I think the thing that is most beautiful about this book is it's ability to show what life is like if you don't realize how much you want to love, or how little you can know about being loved. You feel the loneliness that these characters feel, and yet all they need to realize is the love that is around them that can dissolve their isolated feelings. I suppose the major theme about this book was obviously loneliness, and what I loved was the constant search these characters were on for something that could never be fully realized. And to know that (I would say most if not all) people have this urge, to be perfectly loved, gives me even greater hope of God's constant draw on the soul of humanity.

Well, I guess somebody, somewhere, might be wondering what has been happening in the house of Shakim for the last month or so. The truth is, we have not been doing too much of anything and we are not ashamed of this. These last few weeks have truly been the dog days of Summer. We've been reading (Joe: Mother Night, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, etc.; Diana: A Severe Mercy, Irresistible Revolution) and watching movies (Old Joy, Moulin Rouge, Rocket Science). We've been casually sewing (Diana mostly) and casually bike repairing (Joe mostly). But most of the time we are just spending time together eating food and staring out into space. It has been a refreshing month of doing nothing at all, in fact, we have made it a point to not do anything at all on Sundays. One Sunday we just went to the Fenders (with Shaun and Abby) to swam all day and watch movies and other Sundays we have sat outside the Shafer house and read while St. Augustine went wild in the yard. We've been slowly looking for a new place to live, but a new and somewhat irrisistable secret offer has slowed our pace even more (Sea & Tea can call to learn the secret offer if they so choose). So in conclusion, our June/July has been quite uneventful as you could already tell by the lack of posts in our blog. We are still alive, but just barely... By choice... Like we are in a coma without the traumatic experience before or after the coma... Yeah...