Friday, February 27, 2015

Shadow of the Almighty

by Elisabeth Elliot

This one's a biography of Jim Elliot, a missionary who was killed on the job in Equador back in 1956. Whereas the Woodrow Wilson biography I read preceding this one was a well crafted story, Shadow is more a collection of diary and correspondence excerpts, weaved together by a bit of narrative. I'm not quite sure how much I like the book. Overall, Jim Elliot came across as a sanctimonious young lad, quick to speak the word of Law to his peers and himself. Of course, I'm not quite sure how much of that negative perspective flows from his youthful attitudes or how much flows from guilt over my own shortcomings. Jim Elliot was more faithful in his lifetime than I've been, even though I've had almost twice as much time to get it right. Lord, have mercy! Anyway, the life of Jim Elliot is a tale that should be told. I just not sure that Shadow of the Almighty is the best way to tell it.

Check it out.
LibraryThing link

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Thursday, February 19, 2015

Wilson

by A. Scott Berg

I picked up this book with prejudice. You see, in my younger years, all I knew about Woodrow Wilson that he was president during World War I and had been credited with some progressive reforms. Then I read Lies My Teacher Told Me, which has a nice little section on Woodrow Wilson. After that, I knew that Wilson was a racist @#$!% president during World War I and had been credited with some progressive reforms. So I wasn't all that excited when I got to this biography in my reading list.

But words have the power to change minds. Mr. Berg didn't deny, or seek to excuse Wilson's racist views, nor did he dwell on them. He simply accepted Wilson and his society as they were and told the tale of his life. The portrait he painted was one of a great man. Not a saint, but rather as a man who attempted and accomplished a lot in his lifetime. The book does an excellent job of recounting Wilson's life and the world around him. I could easily relate to and empathize with Thomas Woodrow Wilson from childhood through his career in academia, his political years, his role on the world stage, and finally to his final years as "a broken piece of machinery". I'd still like to travel back 100 years and present Wilson with an Obama bumper sticker, but I think that after reading Wilson, I'd also have to thank him for those reforms he accomplished and his advocacy for peace.

Really, check it out. This has to be one of the best biographies I've read.
LibraryThing link

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