Minister's Musing

Rev. Mark Ward
Unitarian Universalist Church of Asheville

July 2009

One of the things i look forward to during my time off during the summer is catching up on my reading. After 10 months of preparing sermons, my well is usually pretty dry by this time of year, and so I look forward to dipping into the wisdom of others to start things percolating with me again. This year I thought I would share with you some of the titles of books on my list this summer. These may or may not be books that interest you, but you will at least get an idea of the kind of things that are stirring my thinking.

In the area of religion, I’m always on the look-out for thoughtful people who can give me unique perspectives on different faith traditions. This summer I will be dipping into two such books, The Hindus: An Alternative History, by Wendy Doniger, a stellar scholar from the University of Chicago, and A People’s History of Christianity by Diana Butler Bass, a liberal Christian writer. Both of these writers speak to viewpoints often left out of the traditional history and theology of each of these religions. For another perspective, I’ll be looking at Ronald Aronson’s Living Without God, a thoughtful reflection on living with integrity from a non-theistic viewpoint.

For different fare, I have three novels on my reading list: The Road by Cormac McCarthy; People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, and one just published that reportedly made it to Barak Obama’s bedside table – Netherland by Joseph O’Neill.

Finally, my soul is always fed by poetry, and this summer I look forward to diving into W. S. Merwin’s latest collection, The Shadow of Sirius.

There are indeed many wells to drink from in developing a spiritual life, and beside this fascinating intellectual fare I also look forward to spending time in the garden and hiking paths around Asheville. Even better, I’ll be happy to get to spend some time with friends and family. The highpoint of that this summer will be when Debbie and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary with our children in Wisconsin. I’ll be away from church most of the month of July, but back during most of the month of August. It certainly does promise to be a rich time. I hope it will be so for you as well.