Finished reading: Dungeon Crawler Carl: Deluxe Edition by Matt Dinniman 📚

An absolute joy to read and it made me laugh out loud multiple times!

“The churches are disappointing, even for most believers. If Christ brings us new life, it is all the more remarkable that the church, the bearer of this good news, should be among the most dispirited institutions of the age. The alternatives to the institutional churches are even more grossly disappointing, from TV evangelists with their blown-dry hairdos to California cults led by prosperous gurus ignored in India but embraced in La Jolla.”

• Walker Percy, novelist

Finished reading: Sabbath Gospel A New Narrative of Time, Rest, and the Work of the Church by G. P. Wagenfuhr 📚

This was a deeply challenging book. I am working on a full review. Well worth the read.

“A good reputation is acquired by many actions; and can be lost by one. Be upon your guard, therefore, against those weaknesses which may risk it. Nothing can be more unjust than to judge a person by one single action; but the world is seldom just.” - Philip Dormer Stanhope

“In normal life we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements compared with what we owe to the help of others.”

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Action produces information. If you're unsure of what to do, just do anything, even if it's the wrong thing. This will give you information about what you should actually be doing. ​ Sounds simple on the surface - the hard part is making it part of your every day working process."

“Close friends are truly life’s treasures. “Sometimes they know us better than we know ourselves. With gentle honesty, they are there to guide and support us, to share our laughter and our tears. Their presence reminds us that we are never really alone.”

• Vincent van Gogh

I read this quote by Sarah Bessey and it resonated:

“I don't want to be swallowed by the darkness. Nor do I want to be blinded by the beautiful facade. No, I want to be part of a people who see the darkness, know it's real, and then, then, then, light a candle anyway. And hold that candle up against the wind and pass along our light wherever it's needed from our own homes, to the halls of legislation, to the church pulpit, to the kitchens of the world.”

Currently reading: Simply Good News Why the Gospel Is News and What Makes It Good by N. T. Wright 📚

When you can score an NT Wright book for $3, you don’t ask questions.

Finished reading: The Strength of the Few by James Islington 📚

I look forward to the completion of this story! A cliff hanger of epic proportions…

Currently reading: Yumi and the Nightmare Painter A Cosmere Novel by Brandon Sanderson 📚

Starting the next read. I am enjoying Sanderson so much!

Finished reading: The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson 📚

Another fun read from Sanderson. It’s not a Cosmere novel. It’s lighthearted and has a bit of a Terry Pratchett feel to it. I really enjoyed it!

“The deeper our faith, the more doubt we must endure; the deeper our hope, the more prone we are to despair; the deeper our love, the more pain its loss will bring: these are a few of the paradoxes we must hold as human beings. If we refuse to hold them in the hopes of living without doubt, despair, and pain, we also find ourselves living without faith, hope, and love.”

• Parker Palmer, Quaker educator

I am currently reading: Dominion by Tom Holland 📚

Spent some with this one today. Seeing the influence of Christianity, the good and the bad is so helpful to hold a nuanced understanding of the development of Western Civilization.

I started reading: The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson 📚

I grabbed the audio book and I’m thoroughly enjoying it! It has dashes of Disc World vibes with Sanderson’s warmth.