12.24.2005

Stuff I'm reading....


Death on the Black Sea: The Untold Story of the 'Struma' and World War II's Holocaust at Sea I ran across this at the library last week - the story of 800 Jews who set sail from Romania to Palestine in a rickety old cattle hauler with an engine destined for failure. They were delayed in a Turkish harbor along the way with engine trouble. England pressured Turkey to not help them, as the Brits were blockading Palestine in hopes of keeping the balance of power there between the Jews and Arabs (and we know how well that worked...).

Turkey would not allow them off this ship, so they stayed for weeks until the Turks 'fixed' the engine...although the fix necessitated them being towed out of the harbor and set adrift in the Black Sea, where they drifted until they were torpedoed two days later. One survivor was found.

It's frightening to see governments dickering over policies while allowing people to die...hmmm.



Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies: Books: Jared Diamond

I just started this last night. I'm a sucker for a clever title.

It's fascinating to see societies make the same mistakes over and over through the centuries...and recognize how we're not immune from the same mistakes.

More details to follow. This is a good book for a long rainy day, and although today is rainy, I have two little boys who want breakfast. Little boys trump guns, germs and steel any day.


Beyond the Cosmos: The Extra-Dimensionality of God : What Recent Discoveries in Astrophysics Reveal About the Glory and Love of God: Books This book is blowing my mind. One chapter into it, I'm pondering fifth dimensions and quantum physics (because, of course, my Bible college background is so steeped in quantum physics. Seriously, the closer I examine the world around us, the more wonderful and amazing God is to me.

3 comments:

Farmer Family said...

Speaking of little boys, I think boys are the ones that came up with guns, germs and steel. You're just doing the "day in the life of" at the moment instead of just reading about it. Code-named OJT, right?

Josh

Randy Bohlender said...

No kidding....

Anonymous said...

An Anecdote about Hugh Ross's book:

One day I was reading it while taking the bus home from work (about a 40 minute ride - personal unwind time) and couldn't stop reading when I got off on my stop, so I just read it while I walked the 6 blocks home. At one point, I read something that just 'opened up my mind' about how majestic God is AS THE CREATOR and I just stopped in my tracks, looked up at the sky and shook my head with wonder at the Person who is able to do all this and yet knows my name. I loved the fact that there was no "Religiosity" about it at all, just HIM and me. As you said earlier, He is the OTHER; this book seriously expands on that idea. Also, because you mentioned it, I am rereading it right now.

Stuart Taylor