Each week (give or take one or two here and there) I share three things I like – It could be a book, a movie, a podcast, an album, a photo, an article, a restaurant, a food item, a beverage, or anything else I simply enjoy and think you might too. You can find a whole pile of things, especially books, I like and recommend HERE.
1. Letters to a Diminished Church by Dorothy Sayers
I’ve known of Dorothy Sayers for a long time simply because she ran in the same circles as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and was influenced greatly by G.K. Chesterton, all of whom I adore. However, I did not know her on her own writing merits. And meritorious she is. In reading Letters to a Diminished Church I have been properly gobsmacked by Sayers’ incisive, sharp, eloquent prose and the depth and clarity of her thinking. Even when I am not sure I agree with her I am forced to reckon with the depth and thoughtfulness of her arguments (and to be clear, I largely agree with her as she is both orthodox and doxological). She communicates deep theology and a transcendent view of the church with rhetorical simplicity and power. What has stood out to me the most, of all her brilliant authorship, is the timelessness and timeliness of her words. She was critiquing and constructing the church of the 1940s, and yet her observations and diagnoses are painfully accurate to our current day. I feel equal parts abashed for having not read Sayers before now and thrilled to have discovered an author whose work I can devour alongside that of her peers. And make no mistake, she is peer to Lewis and Chesterton.
2. Music By John Williams: A Documentary (Disney+)
Literally every animate human in the West (and much of the rest of the world) knows some of John Williams music. What had not dawned on me before watching this delightful documentary is the sheer scope of his brilliance. He has scored generation defining movies for five+ decades. One of the interviewees in the documentary made the observation that when you hear a John Williams theme it transports you to the time and place you first encountered it, and I had that experience over and over again throughout these 100 minutes. I was reminded of so many films that I have loved (or at least admired) over the years and realized that his scores made them that memorable, moving, and meaningful. It was a delight to learn of his musical upbringing and career as a musician before audaciously agreeing to score a movie with no prior experience at it. It was remarkable to see how many stars of the directorial world not only respect him but have loved working with him. Some documentaries are for learning. This one is for sheer creative and nostalgic delight.
3. ReadingPlan App
There is nothing magical or super spiritual about reading the Bible in a year. But there is something super wise and spiritual about prioritizing the reading of the Bible. And every Christian should read the entire Bible. And the ReadingPlan app is my favorite tool to help me do that. It offers several different plans to help a reader, so you can pick the pace and emphasis you prefer. If you, like me, find it oppressive to “get behind” on your reading and it makes you want to give up when you see the dates on the plan running away from you, the app allows you to turn dates off. That way you are still following a plan, making the Bible a priority, and not getting discouraged by arbitrary assignments. I’ve used this app for several years now and it has walked me through the whole of the Bible a handful of times. If you want the benefit of structure and the options of various plan layouts you really ought to try it out. (And if you are a digital Bible reader it integrates with a few different Bible apps too.)
