Farewells

I’ll never understand the expression “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” I mean, what’s sweet about it?

I’m writing here with a broken heart. Weeping, really. I’ve just made one of my greatest sacrifices as a mother, saying adieu to 98% of my closest friends. You know, Leon Uris, C. S. Lewis, Martin Luther…

Yes, I’m still stuck on the books thing. Great as public storage is, I’ll miss my personal library. So here, in no particular order, are the five books most difficult for me to pack away…

• The English Reformation by A. G. Dickens. The intrigue, the theology, the history-- I just can't get enough of England's first Protestants! And forget Henry VIII. Let's talk about his son Edward who, though a "child" king, was absolutely reformed.
• Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin. Don't let all the naked hippies scare you-- this is an enlightening book, one that every pregnant woman ought to read. Better yet, OBs.
• Taking Charge of Your Fertility, 10th Anniversary Edition: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health by Toni Weschler. Boy does this bring back memories! If I'm ever fertile again, I'll pull this one out of storage.
• The Rise of Moralism: The Proclamation of the Gospel from Hooker to Baxter by Fitzsimmons Allison. This is the most important book I read in seminary. It shows how a shift in preaching from grace-based theology to a moralistic spiritualism paved the way for deism and ultimately atheism.
• Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics) by Jane Austen. For some light, clean, and yet noble reading, you just can't beat Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. Incidentally, this is one of the few books in the world for which the movie (Pride and Prejudice - The Special Edition (A&E, 1996)) is just as good!

1/3 of my closest friends: