Against Nothingness

Squire Rushnell, Louise DuArt.   Couples who Pray: The Most Intimate Act Between a Man and a Woman. Thomas Nelson, 2011.  224 pages.  Thanks to BookSneeze® for providing a free copy of this book for me to review.  This is a book which aims to improve your marriage.  It argues that couples who pray together stay together (that almost hurt to write).  In terms of outline, the book begins by touting the benefits of prayer, moves on to the "40 Day Prayer Challenge" and then explores some of the obstacles and outcomes of praying together as a couple. In terms of content, the majority of this book is the stories of people, mostly celebrities, who have taken this challenge.  I have to begin by saying that as an idea, or advice, the main point of this book is great.  Getting couples to pray together will help their marriage and it is a good thing.  Further, the idea of a 40 day challenge is a great start.  However, as a book, Couples Who Pr...

I have spent a large part of this afternoon planning our high school youth trip to History Maker Conference.  Looking up dates and locations, prices and promo videos, finding us a place to stay and doing logistics for transportation, and so on and so forth. As I did so, I found myself getting excited.  If you read my posts last year on the subject, one fairly dark reflection given mid-conference  and a slightly more positive post after the conference , then you may be surprised to hear that.  But despite speed bumps along the way it was a great weekend last year. This year they have some good speakers and artists. You can check out their website to find out: historymaker.ca .  It looks like a good line up.   What actually started me getting excited was Jaeson Ma's 'Glory' Video  (which they had playing on one of their webpages). I have seen  'Love' before; our young adults used it at an outreach.  Glory is even better.  I th...

Ran into an 'interesting' article on the New York Times today.   The Happy Marriage is the 'Me' Marriage   with an associated quiz to see how well you are doing.  The initial point of the article is that those things which make for a lasting marriage do not necessarily make for a happy marriage.  Instead, the best marriages are those which bring satisfaction to the individual.  Tara Parker-Pope (the author of the article) briefly wonders: "I sn’t marriage supposed to be about putting the relationship first?" But quickly responds: "Not anymore."  Marriage used to be about this, among other things, but in "modern relationships" people want someone who will make their lives more interesting.  Enter the concept of 'self-expansion' and a quiz to go with it.  Throw in some quotes from psychologists, a few thoughts on how couples grow together, and conclude with a wonderful throwawa y quote:  “If your partner is helping you become a bet...