Travelling with Gershom

We Are All Made of Glue raises questions of age, race, class, culture, religion, and politics as it explores the improbable friendship between Georgie Sinclair and Naomi Shapiro, recounting Georgie's struggle to deal with major changes in her life and her efforts to uncover the mysterious past of her elderly friend. Greed, hatred, love, passion, the end of the world, and more than perhaps you ever wanted to know about glue and other adhesives contribute to what could have been a confusing and cluttered journey from present-day London to World War II Europe, and through more than 60 years of Palestinian politics. But Lewycka guides us nicely, with only a few minor detours before reaching a well-crafted destination that draws together the various themes and sub-plots. That she does this so effectively is critical to the success of the book. Failing to do so would make the eccentricities of the characters and for a trade magazine feel totally contrived, a feeling which is raised a fe...

As I have mentioned in two earlier posts, I have been learning to trust God over the last few months. While there has been much happening in my life this past twelve months, two events have precipitated some anxiety and worry for me (and those around me). As anyone who has been overseas for an extended period can tell you, moving back to your home country is a stressful event, even when you are ready and as mentally prepared to return as we were. Getting settled back in the house, straightening out school for our youngest, taking on new roles at work, managing an overall reduction in salary, it all adds up pretty quickly. But that was going reasonably well. Then the unexpected happened: I was out of a job. Now the worry levels rose to new heights, especially given the economic situation the world is in. What is most interesting about this time is that God used people I knew to direct me to himself. The earliest instances of this I have commented on earlier, and you can read about it he...

In the Lord of the Rings trilogy my favourite character was Aragorn, the ranger from the north descended from the kings of former times, a man who is brave, noble, and loyal. In the recent movies, he was wonderfully portrayed by Viggo Mortensen, who brought Aragorn to life in full. I have been watching season one of ROME this week, and feel about Lucius Vorenus much as I do about Aragorn. Kevin McKidd ably plays Vorenus as a man who is out of his time in many ways. His bravery is not in doubt, a heroic soldier in the 13th Legion. His also loyal, to his leader, to Rome, and mostly to his old friend Titus Pullo. Deeply moral, he is often conflicted about things in the deeply immoral world he lives in. Vorenus' character often gets him into trouble, as his behaviour is often at odds with the culture. Both Aragorn and Vorenus remind me of the things I aspired to as a young man and try to live up to today. A passion for justice, and compassion for others. A sense of duty, and doing one...

Whenever my wife or I have to travel on business and have to away from each other for more than a few days, we find the time apart difficult. And when these mercifully infrequent trips occur, as one is at the moment, we try and connect for a few minutes by telephone each day. Busy-ness and time differences can make it challenging to get more than a few minutes to talk at the end of someone's day, so we always try to cut to the chase and talk about the most important thing. You know what I mean...the daily routine of our lives. In those moments we reconnect by recounting our days, and we feel like we have been part of the other's life even while we have been apart. We commiserate, advise, celebrate, share news, and so on, nothing special...but actually very special. The stuff of our day to day existence - work, conversations, struggles, victories - is what makes up our lives. We share it when we are together, when we come home at the end of the day, and by sharing it when we are...

It seems to be very popular to complain about Christians and their intolerance, and to cite religion generally (and often Christianity in particular) as a source of evil in the world. This opinion is expressed in books and blogs, the media, and in private conversations. As a Christian, let me expound a little on this view of Christians. Most of the time, the complaint is deserved. We behave badly, in a non-Christian manner, and end up defaming Christ. This is partly due to human weakness - is there any leader or follower of a political or social movement who has not fallen or failed in one way or another? - but in some (and the most important) instances it is more than that.  We all expect people to lose their temper, make mistakes, and the like. The real problem is that when we are presented with an issue like abortion or gay marriage we fail to think first and respond later. In fact, I would go farther: we fail to think. Following Christ is not about a set of rules and regulations th...

I just finished two excellent books, which, when I started out, didn't seem related at all. The first, Michael Pollan's  In Defense of Food , is an entertaining and fascinating look at the impact of science, business, and journalism on what we eat. The second is Born to Run , by Christopher McDougall, an examination of the nature of humanity wrapped in an adventure story. Both Pollan and McDougall are fine writers, able and engaging storytellers dealing with a complex central argument in a compelling way. Pollan tackles food science and the food industry, McDougall sports medicine and sports footwear.  In its opening section, In Defense of Food traces the rise of nutritionism, evaluating food in terms of its component micro-parts - vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants, and the like - the reductionist view of what we eat. Next, Pollan considers what we eat and why we eat it, cataloguing the Western diet and gradual industrialization of food. Finally, he offers what he calls "p...

Reason #1: Better Source Material Dan Brown is not a good writer. He is a very good storyteller, especially when all the action takes place in one day. Angels & Demons is a much better story and is better told than The Da Vinci Code. Reason #2: A Stronger Supporting Cast In The Da Vinci Code, Paul Bettany steals the movie as the murderous monk Silas, even though the cast features Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Jurgen Prochnow, and Alfred Molina. The supporting players in Angels & Demons all put in very good performances, and manage to heighten intrique and interest in a film that badly needs it due to the sleepwalking Tom Hanks. The police officers played by Pierfrancesco Favino, Thure Lindhart, and David Pasquesi are excellent, as are the always reliable Stellan Skarsgard as the head of the Swiss Guard and Armin Mueller-Stahl as Cardinal Strauss. And Ewan McGregor puts in a solid performance in the critical role of the Camerlengo. Reason #3: Less Controversy, More S...