BOOK REVIEWS - by Laura Pfeffer

Homes Show Where the Christian Heart Is
By Laura Pfeffer
I still remember the first time I went to work on a house
for Habitat for Humanity. It was while I was a graduate student down in
North Carolina. My group was assigned to add trim to closets. It was
a small closet, but we packed ourselves in it like clowns in a circus car.
We were all eager to get in there and pound nails. Since then I have
worked on a number of different Habitat projects. Each one has been fun
and rewarding, but more importantly it has changed the lives of families by
providing affordable housing. Being able to work beside those who benefit
from the program is a powerful gift both as a witness of faith on the one hand
and as a way of building true community crossing boundaries of circumstance and
opportunity.
In Creating A Habitat for Humanity: No Hands But
Yours, Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity, describes the
philosophy and hard work which empower the work of his organization.
Habitat seeks to answer God’s call to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly
with God (Micah 6:8) by eliminating poverty and homelessness by building
affordable housing all around the world. It is a strong Christian witness
derived from Christ’s call to love and serve our neighbors.
Interested in other books about acts of Christian witness
in the world? Try some other books from the United Methodist Women’s
reading list: Send Me! The Story of Salkehatchie Summer Service
by Andrew, Culp and Dexter; God’s Golden Acre: A Biography of Heather
Reynolds by Dale le Vack; The Blindfold’s Eyes: The Journey from
Torture to Truth by Sister Dianna Ortiz; Minding God’s Business:
The Stories of Women in Mission in the United Methodist Church by Megan
Simpson and Robert Simpson; and, William Sheppard: Congo’s African
American Livingstone by William Phipps.
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Being Faithful in the
Political World
By Laura Pfeffer
God is not Republican or Democrat. This is
true, but not always fully appreciated. God’s politics is not the same
as those of any of our political parties and we are at great peril if we claim
or act otherwise. The democratic process is a great privilege and I always
take every opportunity to vote not just because I am aware that many people in
the world do not have such a chance, but also because for much of the history of
the United States women could not vote and were considered too stupid to grasp
the arguments and nuances of politics. I feel every vote I make is a
direct contradiction of such narrowness of mind, but more than that I want to be
a part of the way politics works. It is an imperfect and sometimes
depressing or cynical system, yet at heart it is about entrusting the decision
making power to the people – you and me. That reminds me of the way God
works – by entrusting the power of faith to each of us in the hope that we
will use it to fulfill the ultimate kingdom of God.
Jim Wallis lays out the elements he sees as being
distinctly a part of God’s political philosophy in his book God’s
Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It.
Coming from a prophetic, progressive angle, Wallis takes both political major
parties to task for ignoring the overwhelming evidence of God’s call for
justice, peace and concern for the poor seen in the biblical text. God’s
view of the world is a direct challenge to all of our politics by siding with
the parts of society the world neglects the most. As an activist as well
as a preacher, Wallis calls for all of us to wake up and make change happen in
order for the values of the kingdom of God to be made manifest in our world
today. Asking the tough questions of "When did God become
pro-rich?", "When did God become pro-war?" and "When did God
become a Selective Moralist?" Wallis brings a consistent, yet
challenging ethic into the political arena it has been severely lacking.
Interested in other books about the roll of faith
in politics? Try some other books from the United Methodist Women’s
reading list: For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under
Fire by James Yee; Living Peace: A Spirituality of Contemplation and
Action by John Dear; Silencing Political Dissent: How
Post-September 11 Anti-Terrorism Measures Threaten Our Civil Liberties by
Nancy Chang; and, Embracing the World: Praying for Justice and Peace by
Jane Vennard.