A valuable and convincing combination of devotional handbook and parenting survival guide.
A Christianity-infused manual delivers advice to parents coping with the upheavals of raising children.
Knowles begins her debut book at the end of her parenting journey. The oldest of her three kids was ready to go off to college, where he would get a degree, find a terrific job, marry a wonderful person, and be followed in that same pattern by his younger brother and sister in short order. Things would proceed smoothly, and the author and her husband would have finally successfully navigated their children’s perilous teenage years. And although Knowles decides to keep the specifics private (a curiously courtly decision that lends an extra degree of moral authority to the account), she then makes it clear that this neat, orderly picture never really happened. Her relations with her kids became dark and complicated—and, inadvertently, resulted in a prolonged learning experience that served to deepen the author’s faith. At first, this experience was rocky; the events occurring in her life didn’t seem to align with what she knew about God’s words and Christian Scripture. But eventually she came to a different understanding, guided by Peter’s sentiment of casting all one’s cares onto God. From these struggles flow all of the book’s useful insights into building better relationships, from individuals appreciating the concept of forgiveness (Knowles reminds her Christian readers that forgiveness is given not to the offending person but to God, who commands it) to parents reconciling themselves to the loss of “might have been”-style dreams for themselves and their children. The author writes all of this in a clear, straightforward prose that can look deceptively simple; Knowles packs a lot of hard-won wisdom into a comparatively small page count. Her sage advice to her fellow parents going through rough times with their kids boils down to urging them to have courage, regardless of the circumstances. Christian parents will find a great deal of worthy counsel in these lessons.
A valuable and convincing combination of devotional handbook and parenting survival guide.Pub Date: April 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-973610-79-3
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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