BookOpinion

“I can’t express in words — the gratitude I owe you for your kindness to me — for the first time in … years — I have come to love the darkness — for I believe now that it is part of a very, very small part of Jesus’ darkness & pain on earth. You have taught me to accept it [as] a ’spiritual side of your work’ as you wrote — Today really I felt a deep joy — that Jesus can’t go anymore through the agony — but that He wants to go through it in me.” — Letter from Mother Teresa to Rev. Joseph Neuner, Circa 1961

“Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light,” a book by the Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk, who is overseeing her cause for sainthood, looks to be an intriguing read into the spiritual journey of Mother Teresa. The book is already No. 3 on Amazon’s bestseller list with its release set for Sept. 4.

Her doubts in her faith and the darkness and emptiness she said she felt for many years are revealed in her letters printed in Kolodiejchuk’s book. “I am told God lives in me — and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul,” Teresa wrote. “I want God with all the power of my soul — and yet between us there is terrible separation.” In another letter she wrote: “I feel just that terrible pain of loss, of God not wanting me, of God not being God, of God not really existing.”

The book has naturally sparked much debate from both the religious and non-religious. Time magazine dedicated a lengthy article to the book this past week. Here are a couple of excerpts from Come Be My Light:

“Tell me, Father, why is there so much pain and darkness in my soul?”
— to the Rev. Lawrence Picachy, August 1959

Why did Teresa’s communication with Jesus, so vivid and nourishing in the months before the founding of the Missionaries, evaporate so suddenly? Interestingly, secular and religious explanations travel for a while on parallel tracks. Both understand (although only one celebrates) that identification with Christ’s extended suffering on the Cross, undertaken to redeem humanity, is a key aspect of Catholic spirituality. Teresa told her nuns that physical poverty ensured empathy in “giving themselves” to the suffering poor and established a stronger bond with Christ’s redemptive agony. She wrote in 1951 that the Passion was the only aspect of Jesus’ life that she was interested in sharing: “I want to … drink ONLY [her emphasis] from His chalice of pain.” And so she did, although by all indications not in a way she had expected.

Kolodiejchuk finds divine purpose in the fact that Teresa’s spiritual spigot went dry just as she prevailed over her church’s perceived hesitations and saw a successful way to realize Jesus’ call for her. “She was a very strong personality,” he suggests. “And a strong personality needs stronger purification” as an antidote to pride. As proof that it worked, he cites her written comment after receiving an important prize in the Philippines in the 1960s: “This means nothing to me, because I don’t have Him.”…

“Please destroy any letters or anything I have written.”
— to Picachy, April 1959

Consistent with her ongoing fight against pride, Teresa’s rationale for suppressing her personal correspondence was “I want the work to remain only His.” If the letters became public, she explained to Picachy, “people will think more of me — less of Jesus.”

The particularly holy are no less prone than the rest of us to misjudge the workings of history — or, if you will, of God’s providence. Teresa considered the perceived absence of God in her life as her most shameful secret but eventually learned that it could be seen as a gift abetting her calling. If her worries about publicizing it also turn out to be misplaced — if a book of hasty, troubled notes turns out to ease the spiritual road of thousands of fellow believers, there would be no shame in having been wrong — but happily, even wonderfully wrong — twice.

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The Associated Press writes that in the book, Teresa had doubts until her death.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who has been put on the “fast track” to sainthood, was so tormented by doubts about her faith that she felt “a hypocrite,” it has emerged from a book of her letters to friends and confessors…

…Her smile to the world from her familiar weather-beaten face was a “mask” or a “cloak,” she said. “What do I labor for? If there be no God, there can be no soul. If there be no soul then, Jesus, You also are not true.”

Mother Teresa, who died in 1997 and was beatified in record time only six years later, felt abandoned by God from the very start of the work that made her a global figure, in her sandals and blue and white sari. The doubts persisted until her death.

The nun’s crisis of faith was revealed four years ago by the Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk, the postutalor or advocate of her cause for sainthood, at the time of her beatification in October 2003. Now he has compiled a new edition of her letters, entitled, “Mother Teresa: Come be My Light,” which reveals the full extent of her long “dark night of the soul.”…

…Rev. Kolodiejchuk maintains that Mother Teresa did not suffer “a real doubt of faith,” but that, on the contrary, her agonizing demonstrates her faith in God’s reality.

“We cannot long for something that is not intimately close to us … Now we have this new understanding, this new window into her interior life, and for me this seems to be the most heroic,” he said.

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The Religion News Service also writes about the impact the book may have:

…The book will likely challenge the characterization many people had of Teresa as a simple, pious woman, said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest who wrote the best-selling My Life With the Saints.

“I think that this is a real treasure for not only believers, but even doubters and skeptics,” Martin said. “I think it also makes her much more accessible to the everyday believer. It shows that even the saints struggle in their spiritual lives and that they don’t have it easier than we do. They sometimes have it harder than we do.”…

…Before 1946, Kolodiejchuk said, little was known about Teresa’s spiritual life. “She says in a letter, ‘I came to India with the desire to love Jesus as he has never been loved before,’” he said. “She was a woman passionately in love with Jesus.”

Yet no sooner did Teresa start her work in the slums of Calcutta than she began to feel the intense absence of Jesus - a state that lasted until her death, according to her letters.

“The paradox is that for her to be a light, she was to be in darkness,” Kolodiejchuk said…

…Catholic saints typically experience a “dark night of the soul” in the words of 16th-century priest St. John of the Cross, Martin said, but never as long as the “whole working life” Teresa experienced.

“She moves into the ranks of the greatest saints,” Martin said. “There are very few who have suffered such an extended dark night.”

But Martin stressed that Teresa’s belief in God never wavered - just her feeling of connection to Jesus, especially after her intense mystical experiences.

“It’s one thing to feel that God is not with you. It’s another thing to believe that God doesn’t exist,” he said.

How all this may affect her bid for sainthood remains unclear. Some say that it makes her even more impressive. Although her spiritual loneliness became known during the canonization process, Kolodiejchuk said that this is the first time the arc of her inner spiritual life is compiled in one place in her own words…

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BOOKOPINION REVIEW: If you have read any Craig Parshall novels in the past, then you are going to be delighted with “The Last Judgment.” This is the final book of the Chamber of Justice series, and like Mr. Parshall’s previous novels, it is full of emotional conflict, conspiracy, violent upheavals and resolution.

The primary character, Will Chambers, is an attorney who has been hired by the foster parents of Hassan Gilead Amahn, an Egyptian by birth but raised by a Christian mother who was murdered in Egypt for her beliefs. The situation evolves after Gilead arrives in Cairo and has been preaching on the streets and is arrested. After Will pulls some strings in rather high places, Gilead is released and journeys on to Israel. When Gilead reaches Jerusalem in order to reach out to Muslims there with the love of God, he becomes unknowingly involved in a cataclysmic event…an explosion on the Temple Mount, demolishing the al-Aqsa Mosque and resulting in the death of hundreds of Muslims. It is believed that a group called The Knights of the Temple Mount is responsible for this crime and seemingly, Gilead is their leader.

Gilead is charged with the crime and incarcerated, and Will Chambers is approached again by the parents and requested to defend their adopted son. Will’s lovely wife, Fiona, pleads with Will to not accept the assignment but after researching the case, Will feels this is an opportunity not only to rescue Gilead, but to wreak justice upon a man named Warren Mullburn, a powerful figure who has put Will’s career and life in jeopardy in the past.

Warren Millburn, the owner of a small chain of islands in the Caribbean, has few friends but many allies in the shady world of political intrigue. And now, he is preparing his biggest coup ever — manipulation of events in the Middle East that will ultimately put him in control of a global empire unrivaled in world history.

How is Will going to achieve the release of Gilead considering the turmoil between the Israelis and the Muslims? With the press, President of the United States and the Muslim states screaming for Gilead’s blood, it seems an unlikely event. And behind the scenes, Warren Millburn is assuring his own future as well as Gilead’s death.

An impossible task: An American attorney defending a Christian in one of the most volatile areas of the world. Whichever way this case is resolved, it is going to change the history of the Middle East.

Well, Craig Parshall has done it again. “The Last Judgment” is well written, fast paced, highly detailed and electrifying. This is a must read if you are a fan of political intrigue or law based dramas. However, I highly recommend that you begin with the first book in the Chamber of Justice series, “The Resurrection File” in order to follow the sequence of events leading up to this final chapter of Will’s life.

– Elizabeth Channery

BOOKOPINION REVIEW: When I began reading “Jack Bauer’s Having a Bad Day,” I was not sure exactly what I expected with such an enticing title. Tim Wesemann explicitely states in the first chapter that it is his desire “to investigate twenty-four unexpected faith truths, using a bridge point from each of the twenty-four episodes from the first season of the hit TV show 24.” In other words, “learn more about what it means to live a life of faith in God in the process.” Okay, so far, so good.

The reader is taken on a journey with a brief review of each individual episode of 24 illustrating the similarities or the differences between what Jack Bauer is experiencing and walking through the Christian life. Tim Wesemann explores the turmoils of compassion, greed, healthy ambition, fear, etc., etc., etc. and attempts to relate Jack’s emotional situations to what we encounter in our own rather humdrum existence.

Frankly, I think this entire endeavor was a rather dismal failure. “Jack Bauer’s Having a Bad Day” read on its own philosophical merits, minus the Jack Bauer connection, is enlightening and relates well to the confusing, and sometimes frightening confrontations that we meet on a daily basis. The sincerity of Tim Wesemann is obvious and the idea is highly original but frankly, I do not believe that the intended goal was met.

If you choose to read “Jack Bauer’s Having a Bad Day,” I suggest you check out your local library first. The lack of cohesiveness and the disjointed connections make this book a disappointing purchase.

– Elizabeth Channery

BOOKOPINION REVIEW: If you would like a change from fiction or want to engage in some serious self-searching, check out John Bevere’s “The Bait of Satan.” In a nutshell, the book addresses the issues of offense, forgiveness and truth. This is a sobering, sometimes difficult read, but is definitely well worth the effort.

The book opens with a clear explanation of what an offense (real or imaginary) actually is and immediately proceeds to offer reasons why one may be unable to realize that they are harboring anger or resentment. The first chapter strips away the blinders that give us excuses for our state of mind and offers possibilities as to why the offenses may have occurred in the first place.

John Bevere does not mince words. Statements like “Acquiring an offense keeps you from seeing your own character flaws because blame is deferred to another” and “Forgiveness…you don’t give, you don’t get” tend to make one cringe. However, Bevere offers sensible solutions and revealing insights not only for the causes of offenses but how to deal with them in a mature, sensible and effective manner.

“The Bait of Satan” is definitely a wake up call for those who are willing to absorb the wisdom of Bevere’s reasoning. However, this book is not going to appeal to a wide audience. And, this read is definitely not something that you can quickly scan in one afternoon. But it does point a way to a freedom that you may desire but not know how to acquire.

Regardless of your religious beliefs, “The Bait of Satan” opens the door to possibilities of light, honesty, joy and security in your inner most being that you may not currently possess. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is tired of living on the surface of life.

– Elizabeth Channery

BOOKOPINION REVIEW: In the year 2017 at an excavation site of the Lower Temenos in Jordan, a young archeologist and scholar, Nick De Vere, unearths an ancient casket, reminiscent of the Ark of the Covenant. This golden box is engraved with the royal crest of the “House of Yehovah” and bears three smaller etchings…the seal of the three chief princes, Mikhail, Gabriel and Lucifer. In awe, Nick and his assistants lift the heavy lid from the casket and find two huge, golden-bound codices…angelic writings. As Nick touches the writing, the Arabic letters instantly transform into English. The book is entitled, “The Secret Annals of the First Heaven…the Fall of Lucifer” as recorded by Gabriel, the Revelator.

You are instantly transported into the First Heaven, a world of unbelievable beauty, a place of shooting stars, twelve pale blue moons, a shimmering beach with huge, luminescent waves and radiant, fragrant gardens not seen on earth, the original garden of Eden. Michael and Gabriel, laughing exuberantly, are racing bareback through the frothing surf. In the distance from the Palace of Archangels, stands a lone figure with a perfectly sculpted face and crowned with a translucent light who watches his brothers compete in this light-hearted frolic…it is Lucifer, light-bearer and prince regent, beloved of Yehovah.

The three brothers, mighty warriors, dwell in harmony and kinship and eagerly look forward to the occasion when Gabriel, the youngest of the three, will be admitted into the rank of the elder brothers with one third of the angelic host at his command. But Gabriel is tortured by disturbing dreams…dreams of treachery in the heavenly realm. Eventually, he confronts Lucifer with his troubled thoughts but his eldest brother reassures him of his devotion to Yehovah, his love of Christos and his desire only to serve the Most High.

However, when Christos informs Lucifer of the desire to create a new race in the image and likeness of Yehovah, Lucifer is stunned. When he first realizes that Yehovah is intending the creation of a virtually identical Eden on a small, yet unformed planet, he becomes incredulous and wonders if he has been abandoned by the One he loves. The final blow is delivered to Lucifer when he realizes that the genetic code for the new creation is not angelic DNA but rather that of Yehovah.

What I have described is but the beginning of a tragedy that affected not only the newly created man but the entire angelic host. Wendy Alec delivers a stunning, believable rendition of her concept of this horrific story. “The Fall of Lucifer” is not a quick read, it is carefully detailed, complex and terrifying. It is also enlightening and creative. We see Lucifer as a tortured, conflicted, pathetic entity…he does not arouse sympathy but rather pity. For those who enjoy speculating on the ambiguous “what ifs,” this novel is likely to appeal to your tastes.

I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this ambitious book even though I found it a bit dramatic at times. However, to be fair, this was a drama and one that changed not only human history but that of Heaven as well. I look forward to Alec’s next segment of this fascinating look into the lives of angels, their purposes and their impact on mankind.

– Elizabeth Channery

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon’s sixth novel, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, has been holding strong among the top of the bestsellers lists. He recently sat down with the Borders Book Club to discuss the novel.

Chabon tackles an alternate-history story based on the premise of a Jewish homeland established in Alaska as a safe zone for European Jews fleeing Hitler. The “what if” scenario is based up the King-Havenner bill or Alaska Development Plan that was proposed prior to the U.S. involvement in World War II. What if the bill was passed? Chabon uses this as the setting for a present-time murder mystery. Detective Meyer Landsman works the case of an execution-style killing, while trying to redeem himself, personally, as well as to his ex-wife. 

“To me it’s a love story essentially,” Chabon says in the book club video. “For me it is a story of these two people and their having to make a new place for themselves and their relationship in this rapidly changing world.”

For Chabon, creating this entire new world wasn’t a stretch.

“Writing all started for me with making up imaginery kingdoms. Filling notebooks with maps, chronologies of invented histories,” he says. “I loved fantasies when I was a kid. I loved Tolkien and I loved all the aparatus that came around the Lord of the Rings of the charts and the maps and the chronologies, all that stuff. And very early on I would start making my own. Writing this novel in many ways is a return to that.”

He wrote a 600-page draft of The Yiddish Policemen’s Union in first person, past tense. He scrapped it and reworked it in in third person, present tense. He said maintaining a sense of immersion in the work is crucial.

“To write a novel at your very best you have to really just be always with your head in the book, even when you are not writing,” Chabon says. “So that as you’re going through your day when you are encountering people, overhearing people’s conversations, reading something in the newspaper or just taking a walk and thinking, you’re always writing. It’s always feeding and you are thinking, ‘Oh, I could use that’ or ‘That’s just what I need.’ That’s a magical state to be in.”

Watch the full Borders Book Club discussion with Chabon, here.

Listen to an audio excerpt of the book, here.

Chabon also did a reading at a Barnes and Noble in San Jose, Calif. In these two videos, he talks about the book, about his influences and how he goes about writing a novel.

Watch Part 2 of the video here.

The audio version of this book is also available for instant download at these sites:

BOOKOPINION REVIEW: Who is Jesus? C.S. Lewis gives us three options: He was insane, he was a liar or he is who he claimed he was…the only begotten son of God. That’s a fairly succinct conclusion. And what about the “missing years” in the life of Jesus? What was he like as a child? Anne Rice expounds on the last theory and has written with a touching pen her latest novel, “Christ the Lord Out of Egypt,” recently released in paperback.

Around 2,000 years ago, in the great city of Alexandria, the streets wind around glorious pagan temples and magnificent buildings of marble and stone. In the warm, golden sun, you walk through the bustling markets with sounds of bartering and exchange, and experience the warm scents of fresh fish, exotic fruits, pomegranates, glistening, plump olives, the sweet aroma of dates and musky perfume. And on certain days when the wind is in the right direction, you can lift your head and a delicious, tangy, salty odor wafts about, tantalizing your senses, and you think of the sea not so far away. Following the winding, thriving avenues, eventually you will arrive at the Street of the Carpenters, home of Joseph, his wife Mary, his son James and young Jesus. Included in this household is a close, extended family of brothers, aunts, uncles and cousins who practice Judaism in its’ traditional form in a foreign land.

“I was seven years old.” Thus begins this inspiring, year long story of the life of young Jesus, reared as a normal Jewish boy, taught by Jewish scholars and adhering to Jewish customs. He begins to discern, even at his young age, a difference between himself and the other children around him. There is a mystery that surrounds him of which no one will speak.

When Joseph receives foreknowledge of the death of Herod in Jerusalem, he determines to remove his entire family of carpenters and artisans to the village of Nazareth in the Holy Land. They are going home!

Filled with joy at the prospect, the entire family prayerfully prepares and embarks on this pilgrimage, striving to arrive in Jerusalem in time for the purification. But all is not well…the journey is perilous with confrontations of marauding bands of thieves and murderers who are attempting to overthrow Roman rule in Israel. And the sight of hundreds of crucifixions along the way add to the sorrow and fear suffered by the family of Joseph.

Finally, arriving at the village of Nazareth, they are amazed to find the site virtually uninhabited…until Old Sarah, the great aunt of Mary, emerges from the shadows of the house where they are to live and welcomes them with fervor and love. From here, the story revolves around day-to-day life in the village, working at carpentry, repairing the many ravaged homes and receiving teaching in the local synagogue. Jesus loves it all…he loves the crisp green grass and the endless hills and the gnarled olive trees – the freshness of the land. Here, he feels even closer to God and their relationship begins to expand.

But Jesus is troubled and eventually James, the son of Joseph, confides to Jesus his origin…the memories of the rustic stable, the ornately clad men who journeyed from the Orient with rich gifts and the stunned but joyful shepherds who came to worship the babe sleeping in his mother’s arms. And James has a terrible confession …one that will either cement or break their relationship.

“Christ the Lord” is an unbelievable departure for Anne Rice. Author of such well known novels as “Interview with the Vampire”, “The Queen of the Damned” and “Lasher”, Ms. Rice has made a huge leap into a different realm with her latest book. It’s obvious that she has meticulously researched the period as well as experienced a personal change in her life that gave her the desire to write such a poignant, lovely story. “Christ the Lord” is indeed a fictionalized account of the early years in the young boy, Jesus, but Anne Rice brings it to life in a way that is entrancing, fascinating and honest. It feels a bit slow in parts but I believe that it was necessary to set the stage as realistically as possible. I think you will really love this book…I did and I look forward to Anne Rice continuing this saga in the near future.

– Elizabeth Channery

The full audio version of Christ the Lord and an ebook version is also available for instant download at these sites: