Cover of Joni: An Unforgettable Story
JONI & KEN: AN UNTOLD LOVE STORY by Ken & Joni Eareckson Tada (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1213) is a book that answers many questions. Those of us, who have followed Joni Eareckson’s life since the appearance of her autobiography and the movie based upon it, have wondered what life must really be like for her, and since her marriage in 1982, her husband Ken Tada. Now we are able to see, understand, and be inspired by a marriage that must have been, as they say, “made in heaven.”
Joni’s story is familiar to many, especially Christians. Born in 1949, a diving accident in the Chesapeake Bay in 1967 left her a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the shoulders down. Her struggle with pain and depression as she learned to accept the reality of her future is told in her autobiography, JONI (1976) and JONI (1779), the feature film based upon it.
Her public life and ministry since then is well known. She founded a Christian ministry, Joni and Friends, devoted to providing practical and spiritual support for individuals suffering with disabilities of various kinds and their families. Over the years she has authored 48 books, including 2 award-winning children’s books. She has made too many public appearances to count, and used every form of media to bring comfort and encouragement to those suffering and understanding to those of us more fortunate.
In 1982, Joni married Ken Tada. All sorts of questions now flooded the minds of her admiring public. Why? Why would a healthy, athletic man marry a woman, a very beautiful woman, but a woman in a wheelchair? What sort of life can they have together? How will he be able to deal with her disability day after day, year after year? How will he be able to deal with her inevitable periods of depression, providing encouragement and strength rather than pity? In short, what will their life together be like, when they don’t have to be always smiling and cheerful in front of the cameras?
JONI & KEN: AN UNTOLD LOVE STORY is the story of an enduring love, a love based upon commitment to one another, and most importantly, a commitment to Jesus Christ, the one who has promised to be our rock, and the one who is ever faithful to his promises.
Until next time, be good to all God’s creatures and always walk under the mercy.
Like this:
Like Loading...
The first thing one must acknowledge about JESUS: A THEOGRAPHY by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola (Thomas Nelson, 2012) is that it is written for the layperson who is already a believing Christian what is commonly referred to as an evangelical. It is not scholarly book meant for the seminary student, although I do not want imply that a seminarian would not profit from reading it. It is written in a popular style and does not assume a very sophisticated reader.
The central theme of the book is that the Bible is a single narrative that is all about Jesus Christ from Genesis through Revelation. There nothing new in that. Any evangelical Christian, this reviewer included has heard that many times, and has no problem agreeing with it. After all, we recognize the Bible as divine revelation, not a collection of myths and attempts by various individuals to answer those perennial questions of the meaningfulness, if any, of what exists.
Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola have taken on a difficult task. The book is published by a prominent Christian publishing house to be sold primarily through Christian bookstores. Hence they had to write within certain acceptable interpretations. They had to keep one eye on the targeted market while trying to write a book that is both intellectually creditable and helpful.
Although I believe the subject could have been covered in far fewer pages, and perhaps too many concessions are made to avoid offending the intended audience, Sweet and Viola have succeeded in their mission. The average Christian in the pew, the all too few who actually read books, will benefit from this very readable and understandable book. The Bible IS all about Jesus Christ, and JESUS: A THEOGRAPHY makes that point in a convincing way. Those who wish to pursue the topic further will find sufficient titles written by theologians and published by presses that specialize in publishing books for the more sophisticated pilgrim.
Like this:
Like Loading...
This afternoon I sat down at my laptop computer intending to write something really profound to post on my blog. I thought about writing a book review. I currently have four books awaiting my assessment.
That was my plan when I sat down, but it has changed. Why? I am not sure. I thought I knew what I was going to say about the book, but I just couldn’t think of the right words to get started. Perhaps my brain is numb, foggy, or tired. Perhaps it is a lack of inspiration.
I felt I must write something. So, I asked my dear friend Google, “What is the meaning of life?” Now if that doesn’t get the brain working, it is time to admit defeat and turn off the computer.
According to Google, there are 390,000,000 websites with something to say about the meaning of life. I am not surprised. I imagine that the first conscious thought of that first human-like creature was a question like, “Who am I, and what the heck am I doing here, wherever this is, or isn’t, or . . . ?”
The existentialists say that meaning is not something we can discover, but rather something we must create. How? By choosing to act, that is, by making a choice the individual can affirm and give meaning to his or her existence in a universe that is cold and indifferent.
In contrast to the existentialists, the structuralists assume a universal structure, or a kind of hidden harmony, or universal code, that exists independent of human beings and determines human behavior. The self-conscious autonomous individual, who controls his or her environment and is master of his or her fate, gives way to the individual as a social creature controlled by his or her environment.
Failure to uncover the hidden universal structures led some to embrace poststructuralism, commonly referred to as deconstruction. The deconstructionists deny that the individual can arrive at a true understanding of reality through the application of reason. There is no one hidden meaning to be discovered. Instead, there are an infinite number of possible meanings. Each deconstruction can itself be deconstructed.
The contemporary quest for meaning has run into a dead end with postmodernism, sometimes referred to as posthumanism. Beginning with the conviction that all is meaningless, postmodernism sees no value in pretending otherwise. Rather it revels in the chaos and absurdity of everything. For the postmodernist, reality is a universe of random chaos, without meaning for either the individual or for history.
Contemporary intellectuals have concluded that the individual is only a cosmic cipher in a cold, dark, and ultimately meaningless universe. But such a conclusion is no conclusion at all. There is ample evidence in popular culture that the masses of people are not willing to accept the pessimistic conclusion of the intellectual dream spinners who find themselves adrift in a fog. The average man or woman today, as has every human being since the dawn of time, lives in a universe filled with hope, a universe in which the future is brighter than the past.
Perhaps the intellectuals are asking the wrong question, when they ask, “Who am I?” By asking the wrong question, they place the burden of finding meaning on finite human reason. The end can never be anything more than despair, the answer to which is an escape into nihilism.
In the fifteenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel, the reader is told of an incident during which Jesus of Nazareth asks his disciples who the people think he is. They say that the people have concluded, having applied reason, that Jesus must be one of the Old Testament prophets back from the dead.
Jesus then asks the disciples, “Who do you say I am?” It is Simon Peter who answers the question: “You are the Christ [i.e., Messiah], the Son of the living God.”
Peter has spoken the truth, but how does he know it? Did he discover it on his own by reason? Did he learn it from reading the great books? No! Jesus tells Peter that what he knows has been revealed to him by God.
Reason can make us aware of the problem of finding meaning and purpose for life. Reason can propose answers to the problem. On the basis of reason, one might even conclude that the Gospel makes more sense than any other answer, and therefore must be true. But, as Simon Peter discovered, knowing who Jesus Christ is, and by implication finding the answer to the problem of meaning, can only be known through revelation, not reason alone.
Perhaps before asking the question, “What is the meaning of life?” one must first answer the question, “Who is Jesus Christ?” The answer that question will determine whether one lives with hope or despair.
Enough thinking for today. It is time for me to get to work on that book review.
Until next time, be good to all of God’s creation, and always live under the mercy.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Paul R. Waibel Official Home Page 