Bishops are people, too! Who knew?

"Effective Faith,"

by Bishop Thomas J. Tobin

I've just read Bishop Thomas Tobin's book for the second time, and I liked it just as much as I did the first time.

I'd only spent a handful of hours in the bishop's company a few years ago, but I was invited to read a proof of a collection of newspaper columns that he'd written for diocesan newspapers in Ohio and Rhode Island.

What I said about the writing of the Bishop of Providence then ended up as an endorsement on the back cover:

"Bishops are people, too! Who knew? Expecting a book by a bishop to be dry and theological? 'Effective Faith' . . . is the antithesis. Meet a down-to-earth, self-effacing human being who happens to be a Catholic priest and bishop."

Teaching without preaching

I added at the time that this collection of columns deserves a wider audience, and I'm glad that Seraphina Press from Minneapolis has made that possible with this easy-reading, 175-page paperback.

What the bishop does best is take the news of the day -- the topics real people are talking about -- and make them the perfect subject matter to grab readers' attention and engage them in the lessons that life keeps teaching him.

That means writing about sports, about casinos, about how life changes, about all the "stuff" in his life and ours and the need to get rid of some of the baggage.

One of my favorite chapters is "The Gospel at 30,000 Feet," where he describes getting the third-degree about the church from a non-Catholic seat-mate on an airplane. The questioning is priceless!

There's a beautiful chapter about his interior thoughts as he held the baby he'd just baptized and pondered the world she would find on her journey.

"Ashley's World" lets us all into Bishop Tobin's world, if you will, and the questions we all have about what the future holds.

The chapters are short, worth savoring one a day for 40 days, worth reading and spending time reflecting on our own view of life, faith, the issues of our day and our own little world.

Nice job, bishop. -- bz

Quotes show comments in past were as nasty as today's

"Distory,"

by Robert Schnakenberg

Don't believe the voices clamoring about our 21st-century society being exceptionally rude and willing to belittle others more virulently than ever.

"Distory" proves that people -- especially some in high office -- have been saying ugly things about the rest of God's children for a good long time.

When Charles the Fifth led the Holy Roman Empire, he slammed an entire country: "I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse."

Nineteenth-century Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative Thomas Reed blasted congressmen of his time with the cutting remark, "They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge."

And author Charles Dickens once called Henry VIII "a blot of blood and grease upon the history of England."

The whole book is like that, a series of quotations by individuals who have taken the kidgloves off and vented about another.

Insults through the years

Because the quotes are organized into chapters of insults by and about a) Americans, b) Brits, c) military figures, d) other nations and e) miscellaneous, and because they are listed chronologically, "Distory" can claim to teach us a bit of history as well.

Robert Schnakenberg subtitles this St. Martin's Press work "A Treasury of Historical Insults."

"Treasury" might not be the choice of nouns that polite folks would have used. In fact, some of the remarks are clever and witty. Others plain mean and graceless.

But I found it valuable to read the American chapter from beginning to end. It was a refresher course in history -- and a mostly witty one at that. I learned, too, what some of the great names in history felt about others of their time, perspectives that weren't in my elementary or high school history books.

Guess about whom pamphleteer Tom Paine -- the lauded author of "Common Sense" -- called "treacherous in private friendship . . . and a hypocrite in public life"?

Would you believe George Washington?

John Quincy Adams termed Andrew Jackson "a barbarian who cannot write a sentence of grammar and can hardly spell his own name."

General George McClellan called Abraham Lincoln "nothing more than a well-meaning baboon."

Teddy Roosevelt said that William McKinley "has a chocolate eclair backbone."

Press no shrinking violets

Media are often accused of being much more mean than their predecessors, but Baltimore Sun columnist H.L. Mencken was as nasty as they get when it comes to insults. He wrote this about Franklin D. Roosevelt:

"If he became convinced tomorrow that coming out for cannibalism would get him the votes he sorely needs, he would begin fattening a missionary in the White House backyard come Wednesday."

Journalist Hunter S. Thompson at the end of the 20th century had a poison pen as well. Thompson on Richard Nixon:

"He was a foul caricature of himself, a man with no soul, no inner convictions, with the integrity of a hyena and the style of a poison toad."

And Gerald Ford said, "Jimmy Carter wants to speak loudly and carry a fly swatter."

Brits: Masters of the 'craft'

Our friends across the pond, of course, have made political insults a science. Politico John Bright in the 19th century said of prime minister Benjamin Disraeli: "He is a self-made man and worships his creator."

Disraeli came back with this about the man who was both his predecessor and his successor, William Gladstone: "If Gladstone fell into the Thames, it would be a misfortune. But if someone pulled him out, it would be a calamity."

My favorite quotations, however, are this clever bit of repartee between playwright George Bernard Shaw and Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Shaw: "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring a friend -- if you have one." Churchill replied: "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second -- if there is one." -- bz

When baby No. 2 comes along...

"Not Yet, Rose,"

written by Susanna Leonard Hill,

illustrated by Nicole Rutten

"Is the baby here yet?"

Every parent who has another baby on the way will empathize with the answer "Not Yet, Rose."

Better yet, parents will want to read it to their toddlers -- and because the story is so right on, they won't mind reading it over-and-over -- fact-of-life for parents of toddlers -- because it offers such teachable moments.

Teachable moments for adults are there, too, for those able to get past the exasperation of their child/children and see the book's parents as role models worth emulating.

Sibling rivalry is most likely going to happen later, for sure, but Hill's gentle touch is sure to ease the mind of many a first-born as they wonder about their own life after the baby comes out of mommy's tummy.

Will my life change? Will it be the same?

Do I want a brother? Would a sister be better?

Maybe I don't want a brother or a sister at all!

Rutten's illustrations with their soft palate and warm tones create just the right atmosphere for cuddling up with this wonderfully done book from Eerdmans.

Baby No. 2 on the way? Buy this book. -- bz

Minnesotan Leif Enger has winner in 2nd novel, too

"So Brave, Young and Handsome,"

by Leif Enger

Come along with two delightful characters, Monte Becket and Glendon Hale, on a journey that's a classic American tale and a wonderful, satisfying read.

Becket is the author who hit it big with his first novel but can't seem to come up with winning story idea No. 2.

Hale -- is that his real name? -- is an old man building a boat on the shores of Minnesota's Cannon River, but he's a bit mysterious about his past.

Together they go off in search of -- just what is it this unlikely pair are looking for as they head west?

What they find is an adventure every step of the way, a surprise around the corner of every chapter.

Seemingly inching their way across the country during the time of train travel and the early days of the automobile, the duo encounter amazingly unique characters, and Enger's way with words makes a reader feel as if they can picture each one and just have to know how these folk will impact the quest of Becket and Hale.

No sophomore jinx

Enger, who lives in Minnesota, resembles his author character Becket only that they both write. After hitting a literary grand slam with his debut novel "Peace Like a River," this second novel -- now out as a Grove Press paperback -- is every bit as good.

Enger is a wordsmith, plain and simple. When one of the side characters departs from this life, Enger puts it this way:

"Death arrived easy as the train; Hood just climbed aboard, like the capable traveler he was."

Never in your life would you think of the situations Enger places his protagonists, and just when you think you've figured out what's going to happen next something totally unexpected either pushes our intrepid heroes further along the trail or postpones their journey for some ungodly reason.

With choices to be made at every intersection, "So Brave, Young and Handsome" s a novel filled with moral dilemmas.

What our travelers decide in each instance makes for fulfilling reading, and a hunger for more from Mr. Enger. -- bz

Be inspired to put love into action

"Love is a Verb,"

by Gary Chapman

"Love has to be more than something we feel," Gary Chapman writes. "It has to be something we do. We have to demonstrate it concretely."

And inspiring story after inspiring story, that's what "Love is a Verb" reminds.

Chapman of course became somewhat of a celebrity with the publishing of "The Five Love Languages," which sold 5 million copies.

Here he offers 40 "love stories" by a whole gamut of people who share their real-life experiences of love in action -- often not what you and I -- or they themselves -- expected.

Many are by writers who have a vital faith life, so they not only know how to tell a story but they get -- and pass along -- the spiritual they find in the episode they share about.

Chapman, a Baptist pastor in North Carolina, makes each story a teachable moment by adding a "love lesson" at the end of each piece.

Read a story a day

This is not a book to read from cover to cover.

You could, of course. The brief chapters -- the longest may be seven or eight pages and most are four or five -- make for quick, easy reading.

Better to savor the piece and its lesson a day at a time.

In fact, don't start at the beginning. When your -- um, "loveliness"??? -- needs a pick-me-up, crack open this 248-page Bethany House book and start reading a chapter wherever your fingers take you.

Let the stories soak in.

Then get to work.

Because love is a verb. -- bz