What are you reading?

That question, ah, that question. I sometimes ask it because I REALLY want to know. You see, it seems all I read these days is in anticipation of/preparation for sermons. And, usually the daily newspaper. I ask the question, likening myself to someone gulping for air on her way down for the third time. What are you reading?

When people ask me the question, I feel so very slack. Or behind. Or out of touch with the rest of the world. I cannot begin to guess what's on the best seller lists or what book groups are dipping into these days. How I'd like to be able to put a list for suggested reading in the newsletter at the beginning of each summer. Alas ... not a chance. Not this year, anyway.

I was on a business trip this past week and had opportunity to spend fifteen minutes or so in a bookstore. Something to read. Something worth reading. Something that would inform. Something that would make a difference. What to read? There was the usual stuff. Novels. How does one choose a good novel as opposed to a trashy novel? Historical, biography, autobiography. Which one? Buying more than one would be foolish, particularly since I had to carry that suitcase. Spiritual/theological. For now, I've read just about enough pertaining to the simple life, living life one moment at a time. Until I'm ready to do that, to take that particular plunge, reading one more book on the topic is a waste. Buying one more book on the topic is a sin.

I hate to admit it, but I eventually decided to go by publisher. Zondevan -- no. Eerdmans -- yes. Jossey-Bass -- most likely not. HarperSanFrancisco -- probably.

I ended up with challenging and the Harper label. And, in a way, I ended up with the whole question of choice. Choice way beyond books. What I am reading won't please anyone. I'll bet neither "side" (read that: Republican/Democrat; left/right; pro-life/pro-choice) likes it. And, not the church either.

The book? God's Politics: A New Vision for Faith and Politics in America by Jim Wallis. The person sitting next to me on USAIR coming home managed to see "God is not a Republican ... Or a Democrat" on the dustcover and his wife spotted the title and sub-title of Part III -- "Spiritual Values and International Relations: When Did Jesus Become Pro-War?" She looked at me and my clergy collar and back at the book and shrank away. He commented that I'd probably not read enough of the book to know what it was about.

And, I guess that's the point, Jim Wallis' point. Good, honest church-going, God-fearing people are completely confused about what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be a citizen. Both "sides" have sometimes fostered that confusion (sometimes deliberately, I might add) and the church has not done very much to clear any of the confusion up.

Guess what? I already have the next book! But, I'll not comment on that yet. I want to live though the current one first.