Excerpts and musings...

The Multnomah County library proved a sound starting point for mulling over recent forum topics... Armed with the suggested reading lists, I went on a "place hold" frenzy. Not all have arrived; probably a good thing, too, since my night stand is piled high and the stack continues to grow (Oregon sunshine is pushing me toward botanical tomes)...but I've discovered some jewels among those books that have already arrived. Out of those discoveries, I've also returned a few of the barcoded volumes and purchased my own copies at the Imago bookstore so that I may freely highlight and underline.



For any who may also desire to read and share thoughts, please feel freedom to post here on the blog. Also, a book group aimed at pursuing topics related to womens spirituality is meeting every other Tuesday at the Evangel Baptist Library from 7-9pm. (Ruby Slippers is the current title up for discussion.) For more details, contact Jamie Friedman: jaf84@cornell.edu

For now, I'll leave off with a quote from Real Sex: "Our emotions and our hearts were distorted in the fall, which is one reason we need the community of the church and an articulated Christian ethics in the first place. If our feelings could be trusted - if we felt good every time we did something good, and felt bad every time we did something bad - we would need neither biblical guidelines of right behavior nor a community to help hold us accountable to those biblical standards. In other words, if we felt lousy every time we sinned, there would be a lot less sinning in the world. And if we felt great every time we did something good and worthy and true, there would be a lot more prayer and giving to charity."

What do you think?

For more reading:

What Does it Mean to Value Your Sexuality?
♦ Sexual Character: Beyond Technique to Intimacy - Marva Dawn
♦ Sexuality and Holy Longing - Lisa Graham McMinn
♦ Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity - Lauren Winner
♦ A Return to Modesty - Wendy Shalit
♦ The Mystery of Marriage: Meditations on the Miracle - Mike Mason
♦ As For Me and My House: Crafting Your Marriage to Last - Walter Wangerin
♦ The Goal of Marriage: 6 Studies for Individuals, Couples, or Groups (Intimate Marriage) with sexual intimacy study guide - Dan B. Allender
♦ Sheet Music: Uncovering the Secrets of Sexual Intimacy in Marriage - Kevin Leman
♦ Ruby Slippers: How the Soul of a Woman Brings her Home - Jonalyn Grace Fincher

What Does it Mean to Be a Woman?
♦ When Life and Beliefs Collide - Carolyn Custis James
♦ Ruby Slippers: How the Soul of a Woman Brings her Home - Jonalyn Grace Fincher
♦ The Privilege of Being a Woman - Alice von Hildebrand
♦ Growing Strong Daughters - Lisa Graham McMinn
♦ Are Woman Human? - Dorothy Sayers
♦ The Gospel of Ruth: Loving God Enough to Break the Rules - Carolyn Custis James
♦ Lost Women of the Bible: The Women we Thought we Knew - Carolyn Custis James
♦ Women of the Bible: The Life and Times of Every Woman in the Bible - Sue Richards and Angie Peters
♦ Women of the Bible: A One Year Devotional Study of Women in Scriptures - Ann Spangler and Jean E. Syswerda