Summer reading

After a bit more than a month away from the routine of posting, it's high time to return to the business of sharing reflections. I've often noticed that silence between friends is not necessarily a sign of inactivity. Such is also the case here. I have been reading this past month and actually managed to complete three works which perhaps may be interesting to some of you.

In the latter days of July, I completed The Wisdom of Forgiveness: Intimate Converstaions and Journies, a book by the Dalai Lama and Mr. Victor Chan. Recounting the various encounters that Mr. Chan had with the Dalai Lama over a period of years, this work provides some very good food for thought.

Our world is too often in need of hearts which are open to forgiveness, but forgiveness is made all the more difficult because of the tendency to judge according to human precepts. The exiled leader of the Tibetan people provides some very enlightening reflections in very simple but profound language.

As July turned into August, I turned my attention to Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. Ms. Anne Rice, the author of this book, is an accomplished author but this novel is considerably different from some of her previous work. The story is ficticious but it provides a plausible possibility for the hidden years of Jesus Christ, taking into account the culture of the day and the various challenges which were most probably key factors in shaping the thinking of the young child who Christians believe to be the Messiah.

Finally, I just had to delve into the most recently published book in the Harry Potter series. Like the six previous works, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows is a craftily woven tale which moves quickly and recounts the age old conflict of good and evil.

A number of years ago, when J.K. Rowling published the first book in the Harry Potter series, there was much ado about the advisability of promoting books about witchcraft and sorcery. However, the seven books which have sold magnanimously throughout the world are a very well-told tale of a young boy and his friends who face various obstacles throughout their years at school.

It might be worthwhile to look at this series from the point of view of the presence or absence of love as a reconciling force in the lives of people today. Too often, the absence of love leads to competition, envy and animosity. Would that more people recognized the true depth of the treasure that is offered when the gift of love is freely shared.