Steve Bagdanov

Maybe this quote from Pedro Albizu Campos typifies this book most eloquently: “The Yankees are interested in the cage but not the birds” (p.346).

How to Hide an Empire is a book about a USA that is details a history mostly hidden from the average US citizen, at least the ones who live on the mainland. It points to the quiet hypocrisy of our history: a nation dependent on “new” territory for its existence and at the same time denying the occupants of said territory of the freedom instantiated as the highest values of our society. In escaping the abuses of monarchy, we embraced the methodology of imperialism. Campos' quote finds its most revealing expression in this statement from Henry Kissinger responding to concerns regarding Micronesia and nuclear testing fallout:

“There are only 90,000 people out there, who gives a damn?”

p. 350
Beginning with our own colonial beginnings and tracing its effects to our most recent presidential politicians, Immerwahr traces this hypocrisy. In a time when our current conversation politically and nationally surrounds the way we have characterized ourselves historically, this book convinces me of our need to talk frankly about our history especially as it relates to our identity narrative. The need for country wide responsibility for our nation's actions is an act of necessary self-reflection.

Read the Full review: https://thetempleblog.com/2022/01/24/book-review-how-to-hide-an-empire/

Meh.

The Enneagram is interesting, this book takes it way too seriously in ways that I found somewhere between an astrological horoscope in the LA Times and the old 4 humors approach to medicine and personality. The Enneagram has gained popularity recently especially in some religious contexts and has been said by some to be ancient.

Many people who take the Enneagram “seriously” understand that it is a tool not a serious diagnostic methodology. It can help with conversation, introspection, growth, self-analysis but it has no foundation in any sort of data or study. Myers-Briggs, Taylor-Johnson Temperamental Analysis, The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), DISC profile are all tests that attempt to determine personality type and tendencies or characteristics associated with those types and all of them have their limitations. I had an work colleague who took the DISC test way too seriously. I think I have taken all of the above tests, and am not sure they helped me in any way.

I don't mind these kinds of tests and they do in fact give some fodder for good conversation given the context of those conversations. I find people who take them tend to give them more credence than they deserve and lock themselves into a narrative about who they are that may or may not be helpful.

We meet with friends on Sunday afternoons and this was our book of choice for the last few months. The test and descriptions gave us opportunity to get to know one another better and to talk about things we may not have talked about without it. As far as that goes, the Enneagram was helpful for discussion, most of the time we had quizzical reactions to the descriptions in the book.

Personally, I had a hard time with the style of the author, and the certainty with which he described the different roles. It felt very conclusive. Also, my copy of the book had an odd smell to it - unlike that new book smell, maybe that influenced me.

One of my frustrations in 31 years of professional ministry is the impact the youth movement in our culture had on the preparation and installation of leaders in ministry. Not only is pastoral ministry male dominated, it is also (in a weird way) youth oriented.

One of my frustrations with our culture is its emphasis on retirement.

As I am now in my early 60's, one of the struggles has to do with contribution, purpose, place as an older person. But more than complaining about things I probably cannot change, I felt I needed to figure out what my life was going to look like between 60 & 90. Often our life is preparation for the ages 25-65, and after that we are put out to pasture. I feel like I am just starting to figure things out. This is where Rohr's book Falling Upward really came in handy.

Rohr is a great source for the journey of the last half of your life. He is whimsical, straightforward in a gentle way, wise, wide, and gracious. I found his presentation in this book to hit the mark as I ponder the direction and impact I want to make in the final trimester of my life.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is: “We are the clumsy stewards of our own souls.” Falling Upward helps us to see how our lives can have impact and purpose.

Rohr divides life into two halves: “The first half of life is discovering the script, and the second half is actually writing it and owning it.” He describes the first half as a sort of container and the second half is the filling:

“The task of the first half of life is to create a proper container for one's life and answer the first essential questions: “What makes me significant?” “How can I support myself?” and “Who will go with me?” The task of the second half of life is, quite simply, to find the actual contents that this container was meant to hold and deliver.”

If you are looking for a challenging and comprehensive guide to helping you steward your soul, I recommend this book. It is not the easiest read, and you will be challenged. What that means is that you should read the book more than once. The first time for an introduction to foreign idea, the second time for comprehension, the third for apprehension – with a pen and journal for mapping out your journey.

Full review: https://thetempleblog.com/2022/02/14/book-review-falling-upward/

This book is a tale with two halves. The first half is worth reading, the second is not.

It also has a companion book: The Lost World of Adam and Eve.

in the first half of the book Walton lays out an alternative view to the Genesis 1 creation account where he makes the case for a “functional” creation description versus the traditional “material” creation account. Here is his description:
“In conclusion, analysts of the ancient Near Eastern creation literature often observe that nothing material is actually made in these accounts. This is an intriguing observation. Scholars who have assumed that true acts of creation must by definition involve production of material objects are apparently baffled that all of these so-called creation texts have nothing of what these scholars would consider to be creation activities. I propose that the solution is to modify what we consider creation activities based on what we find in the literature. If we follow the sense of the literature and its ideas of creation, we find that people in the ancient Near East did not think of creation in terms of making material things—instead, everything is function oriented. The gods are beginning their own operations and are making all of the elements of the cosmos operational. Creation thus constituted bringing order to the cosmos from an originally nonfunctional condition. It is from this reading of the literature that we may deduce a functional ontology in the ancient world—that is, that they offer accounts of functional origins rather than accounts of material origins. Consequently, to create something (cause it to exist) in the ancient world means to give it a function, not material properties.”

I thought this part of the book was well argued and compelling. The connection to temple and sabbath were especially interesting.

But like all conservatives they have trouble staying in their lane. So the last part of the book is a laborious conversation about how this view helps/hinders the origins debate - which only exists in their world, a lost world of its own. It includes an odd section on Public Education. If you, like me, consider the “origins” debate fundamentalist detritus that is both bad science and bad Bible reading, read the first half, skip the second.

3 stars = 1st half of the book 5 stars, second half 1 star.