The Library
The church library has been updated and is ready for use! There is a poster on the wall beside the shelving showing the different categories and their location. When checking out a book, please sign the card on the back fly leaf, and put it in the index card box provided. When returning a book, please replace the card in the back of the book and place the book in the provided box.
We hope you’ll put the library to good use; there’s a lot of good reading there. If you’ve read something you’ve enjoyed, please let us know. We’ll put it in the newsletter!
Ascension Library Book Reviews
“I Lift up My Eyes to the Hills”
“I Lift up My Eyes to the Hills”
Text and Photos by Nancy Anne Dawe
By Lorain Glawe
I was drawn to this book because I have experienced being in some of the Appalachian Mountains. Born and raised not too far from the West Virginia Hills and indeed living in the hills of Western Pennsylvania, I have seen the “hollars and runs”. This book drew me back to wonderful nostalgia. On one of my recent trips I experienced a little of eastern Kentucky mountains and it reminded me of home!
The Appalachian Mountains are beautiful and the people who live there are also beautiful. The poverty and the rugged life are their life style but they make do, put their faith in God and cherish life and beauty. They are real heroes in their setting.
This book reveals a whole new way of life to those of us who live in urban areas, have modern appliances at our command, drive our vehicles on paved roads and face the hassles of the modern fast life.
This is a book that introduces you to real people in real Appalachia (copyrighted 1992) and reading their stories and viewing the photographs brought tears to my eyes and caused me to praise God and encouraged my faith.
Follow along with the experiences of a group of Christian volunteers who go about the Lord’s work in ministry to the people of Appalachia. Don’t miss this one!
“Abounding in Hope-A Family of Faith at Work Through the Lutheran World Federation*”
by Charles P. Lutz (c. 1985)
Have you heard of the LWF? Thought much about it? Not sure what it is all about? And why is the ELCA part of it? This book was written to involve the reader in the story of how the LWF came to be and is intended for individual reading or used as a group study. You will be amazed at the number of Lutherans there were in the world even back in 1985. The book centers on the 7th meeting of the LWF; an association of 99 churches in 49 countries and the issues of the times. For an update on the LWF, see the December '04 issue of The Lutheran*.
“Bless Me Ultima”by Rudolfo Anaya (c. 1972)
“Quaker Testimony” an Elizabeth Elliot Mystery
by Irene Alley (c. 1996)
and
“The Monk Who Lived Again”
by B.H. Pearson (c. 1948)
When I chose these books off the library shelf I hd no idea that they had similar themes. So I am reviewing them together. The main characters are all seeking God in a spiritual quest; seeking to be closer to God in a context of their religion, family and culture. “Ultima” is set in New Mexico; ”Quaker” is set in Cambridge, MA; and “Monk” is set in Bolivia. “Ultima” shows the influence of family , culture and church in a young boy's life. “Quaker” is full of Quaker precepts and ideals and the struggle to make them meaningful. “Monk” is about family, history and pride and how the search for God conflicts with the established church and with God himself. As we grow in faith and Spirit, many times the way is rocky-sometimes there are detours, sometimes we retreat. Being led by the Spirit can be painfully slow; I think we can all relate.