The Things He Carried and The Things He Said by Stephen Cottrell

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This is a buy one get one free review, covering this two books of reflections by Stephen Cottrell, one for Lent and the other for Easter.

I read The Things He Carried on and off last thing at night during Lent, while I dipped in and out of The Things He Said over week (on holiday in Barcelona), and found the “slow” reading of them allowed the ideas to dwell deeper in the mind.

As usual Cottrell crafts the reflections in such a way that there is great simplicity but also great depth. The cover familiar themes and yet are remarkably fresh.

There are many Lenten books and The Things He Carried is a strong contribution to a crowded shelf, but Easter books are less common and therefore The Things He Said is perhaps a greater gift.

The Things He Said is divided into 2 sections, the first focused on Mary Magdalene's encounter with Jesus at the Tomb, and the second focused on the Emmaus road.

It was the first part that I found most powerful, the way Cottrell captures Mary's pain and grief as she comes to the Tomb, and the confusion of finding it empty, was a new insight for me into the story.

I really felt myself being drawn into the moment. The desire to cling to Jesus in the midst of a troubled world is familiar to me. I will be honest and say that I am struggling with “Church” right now and that the lost and lonely feelings of Mary that morning indeed echo for me.

I think the second part, for me, lacked that power, perhaps it is harder to capture the emotional state of two disciples would have left Jerusalem for Emmaus, but also there was much longer dialogue on the road, it is not the imitate and intense exchange of Mary and Jesus in the Garden.

Cottrell provides questions etc to allow these books to be used by study groups, which is a useful addition, but for me the encounter prompted more of a meditative than a discursive response.

The 39 Steps by John Buchan

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As with Cold Comfort Farm this was in a boxed set of “Essential Penguins” and its inclusion also puzzles me a touch.

It has more than once been made into a film, and the plot in the hands of a Master film maker such as Hitchcock undoubtedly became a classic.

I enjoyed the book in the same way that I enjoy occasionally reading Biggles, and that feels like the appropriate company for it to keep.

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

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It is an enjoyable read, but it is unclear to me why this is held up as a classic work.

Perhaps the trouble is that Cold Comfort Farm is a parody of various novels of which I have had fairly slim encounters.

I would bracket closely with the film Clueless, fun but not generally considered worthy of critical praise...

As a fan of Clueless I would support the case that it is somewhat under rated but that is perhaps a separate discussion?

Creative Ideas for Frontline Evangelism with Young People by Simon Rundell

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Unlike his two earlier contributions to the “Creative Ideas for...” series this one is almost exclusively a source book rather than a discussion on principles and practice. It is made up of reflections on, mostly, Gospel events with accompanying activities to help explore and embed the message.

This is a useful collection, for a wide range of contexts – I could see plenty of these fitting well into the monthly “informal” service in my own parish, which if I am honest is some way from “frontline evangelism” and is not by any means primarily made up of “young people”.

If you were hoping for some radical new approach this isn't it – Simon Rundell's approach is fundamentally age old – “tell the story, let God do the rest” - but then again maybe there is good reason that Christians have been following this pattern so long...

High King of Heaven, Aspects of Early English Spirituality by Benedicta Ward

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This volume provides various facts about the influences on, and development of, English Spirituality, but for me it lacked any meaningful sense of the what the essence of that Spirituality actually was.

There is also an unhelpful tendency to quote source material at great length which, given the total is only around 100 pages, leaves little room for analytical reflection.