1 of 12

This year, along with Mom, Jack and I are doing the 12 in 12 challenge: read twelve hefty books in the twelve months of 2011. (John is doing 4 in 4 -- four books of more than a thousand pages in the four seasons of 2011. I don't know if Katie and Elliott, the instigators of last year's 52 in 52, have taken on a book challenge this year, with Desmond and grad school keeping them so busy.)

1 of 12 (Jack) - A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

1 of 12 (Amy) - Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright
What a paradigm-shifting book! It moved a little slowly for me in Part I, as Wright sketched today's popular views (in western culture generally as well as within the church) on heaven and the afterlife, and the confusion that accompanies those views. Part III, the practical application of a rethinking of heaven and resurrection, was also a bit slow, but while I was reading Part II, the substantive portion of Wright's argument, I couldn't put it down.

Here's how Wright, in an interview, summarizes it:

"Most Western Christians have grown up with the idea that the name of game is simply to go to heaven when you die. What I routinely say to people is that heaven is important, but it’s not the end of the world.
Wherever we are when we die, the really important thing is where we are after that. There’s a phase two in Christian teachings. Any 1st-Century Christian would have been surprised that you didn’t understand that resurrection isn’t life after death. Resurrection is actually what I’m describing as life after life after death...
After death, people do rest in paradise, if you will. But Phase 2 is really God bringing about new heavens and new earth. It’s right there in the Bible. The payoff in realizing that this is part of the process is that it gives important value to the present space, time and matter in our world. Our faith is all about reaffirming the goodness of God’s Creation. Our faith isn't about fleeing life. God is bringing a new heavens and a new earth.
Let me put this another way. If you say, “This world is not my home. I’m just a-passin’ through,” then what you’re saying is, “What’s the fuss of trying to do anything about this world?” And you’re saying, “There’s no point in trying to make it a better place.” And that’s not what Christianity teaches.
Our faith in resurrection is a reaffirmation of this present world."

This book is definitely worth reading. Practically speaking, it motivated me to build for the kingdom of God, to pray "thy kingdom come on earth," to believe that "in the Lord your labor is not in vain, "(1 Cor 15:58). It also helped me understand the concept of "reward" in resurrection. "It isn't a matter of calculation, of doing a difficult job in order to be paid a wage. It is much more like working at a friendship or a marriage in order to enjoy the other person's company more fully. It is more like practicing golf in order that we can go out on the course and hit the ball in the right direction. It is more like learning German or Greek so that we can read some of the great poets and philosophers who wrote in those languages. The "reward" is organically connected to the activity, not some kind of arbitrary pat on the back, otherwise unrelated to the work that was done."
(If you're interested, here is the Discerning Reader's review of the book.)

postscript: I feel I've been remiss in not also admitting that this month (actually, this week) I have also read the first four books in this cheesy coffehouse mystery series. Here's the first. Go waste some time on them.