Four Calling Birds

I seem to be reading a lot of books about going against the grain. In all of my holiday readings, there is an interwoven desire to be different. "Being a Man" is an article written by Paul Theroux about how society forces boys to grow up and prove their manliness. It is featured in the Norton Reader, which is an anthology that I am attempting to read from every day. In "Being a Man", Paul Theroux writes that he has "always disliked being a man." He also talks about how girls are taught to be coquettish and "lady-like". His main complaint about "being a man" is that writing is not seen as an appropriate occupation for men. Paul Theroux states that "the male writer must prove he has achieved a sort of muscular manhood" in order to be accepted. By unveiling this social intrigue, Paul Theroux has set himself apart from most writers.

A book that has set itself apart from all others is the Bible. I have a daily reading Bible that I am trying to read...daily. I am up to Day 31. Part of today's reading was from Mark, chapter ten. A rich man asks Jesus how he can be saved. Jesus reminds him of the commandments. The man said he had kept them all. Then Jesus said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." The New Revised Standard Version says the rich man "was shocked". It was quite a revolutionary concept and still is today. Giving up what we love most to bring glory to God. Wow. Unfortunately, that idea is a very hard thing to bear for most of us.

I have begun a journey through a book that is very difficult, indeed. Wicked, which is written by Phillip Maguire, is written so well that I have begun to sleep with a dictionary next to my bed. I both love this book and hate it. I love it for its genius with words and the intelligence that seeps through each page. But I despise it for the dark feeling that also lurks behind every word. The book follows the life of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. From the earliest moments of her being, Elphaba was different. Her skin was green, she had razor-sharp teeth, and she was a girl, when her parents had wanted a boy. Her nanny thought Elphaba decided to be that way. "Perhaps, thought Nanny, little green Elphaba chose her own sex, her own color, and to hell with her parents." No matter how she got that way, Elphaba was unapologetic about being offbeat.

On one of my many romps to the library, I picked up and checked out a lovely, little book called Christmas in My Soul. It is compiled and edited by Joe Wheeler and has several lovely stories inside. The only one I have actually read so far and can vouch for, is "Why the Minister Did Not Resign". It spins a tale of a divided congregation and their exhausted minister. He had planned to resign on Christmas Day, because the bad blood between two clans caused a great divide, literally, in the church. The middle aisle divided the two families and their supporters. On Christmas Day, the two children who were to represent their respective clans by singing carols, came in late, hand-in-hand, singing together. After they sang the song through, they surprised the whole congregation by sitting in each other's places in the pews. In their quiet, childlike approach, they had fought to make a difference in the way their parents treated each other. They went against all they had been taught, in order to have "peace on earth and goodwill toward men".


On the fourth day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me four different books, three great dames, two hands two thumbs, and a volunteer named Mary.