Skip to main content

Easter Stories: Classic Tales for the Holy Seasons




Easter Stories: Classic Tales for the Holy Season (Plough Publishing House)
http://www.plough.com/en/ebooks/e/easter-stories


Light that shines out of darkness, life that comes from death, and newness of life that comes out of the barren Earth, all these themes encapsulate the beauty of the stories in Easter Stories : Classic Tales for the Holy Season published by Plough Publishing.  With writers such as C.S. Lewis, Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and others, these short stories are sure to open your eyes this Easter season. 

My daughter and I read together the first story about the white lily and were amazed at the narrative.  One doesn’t know his own dirtiness until he looks at the radiance of something so pure and clean.  The story reminded me of two things so very important in regards to faith; one, that the kindness of a stranger can make an immediate impact on the way we live out our lives of faith and two, that the beauty of the lily pointing to the Christ figure dispels all the gloominess and sin in our lives.  I was amazed at even how Jane Clement managed to include a change of appearances and attitude in the dog Rubles.

Included in the selection of stories is one by Leo Tolstoy called Two Old Men.  In it, two men, Efim and Elisha, both set out to go to Jerusalem to worship God.  Efim was a steady man of some means who lived a straight life, and Elisha was a man who kept bees, not poor but not rich, a peaceable man who still liked to drink and chew snuff.  Upon journeying toward Jerusalem, Elisha visits a house where the wife and son are dying because of starvation.  Upon seeing their dire need, Elisha gives them bread, stays a while and begins to think about leaving.  Yet, as he wakes up the next morning he stays and helps out with the hut, buying and making food, and going to church with the family.  He foregoes an opportunity to stay with Efim on his trip to Jerusalem an brings hope to one family.  Finally, at the end of the story Efim stops by this hut and they tell of the wonderful bald-headed man who came to help them.  Efim realizes it must’ve been Elisha and hurries back home to check on Elisha. 

Stories like these increase our ability to see the love of God and love of neighbor as central to the Christian story.  The narratives here lift up the life of faith in real and tangible ways that we sometimes miss when they are put in moral maxim forms.  Plough Publishing has also done a wonderful job at putting well-known authors with lesser known authors, giving the book a good compilation of authors.

Thanks to Handlebar and Plough Publishing for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Journible The 17:18 Series: Acts

Journible The 17:18 Series: Acts The 17:18 Series: The Book of Acts by Joel R. Beeke and Rob Wynalda In Deuteronomy 17:18 Moses foretells of a future king coming to reign over Israel and copying the law himself rather than just acquiring a copy of the law.  The role of writing down or scripting the Word of God is of paramount importance for the growth of the believer.  With this truth in mind, Joel Beeke and Rob Wynalda have created Journibles.  This Journible on the Book of Acts is both a resource to copy the Scriptures yourself and engage in some questions about the text. On the right hand side of the Journible is blank lines with verse indicators for you to copy down the whole Book of Acts.  On the left side of the Journible are questions regarding context, theology, and details of the text for you to answer.  In other words, this Journible on Acts incorporates a place for you to write your own copy of Acts while engaging with the details of the te...
1 comment
Read more

God's Grace for All of Life

The Romance of Grace by Jim McNeely III To be honest, when I received this book in the mail I had visions of what it might be like with a title like, ‘The Romance of Grace.’  The emotional rollercoaster and one-sided perspective on how our emotions fuel our faith was my presumption about the book, but this was the furthest thing from the truth as I started reading.  The Romance of Grace by Pastor Jim McNeely III is a careful look at the movements of grace in the way God pursues us with his love and his desire to get us to love him back.  McNeely writes, “We are entering a cosmic romance with a passionate lover, and He is interested in our heart’s truest desire.  His deepest objective isn’t to make us more moral; it is to get us to love Him back.  Virtue is the fruit, not the root” (18).  Why is this helpful?  For one thing, beginning with God’s initiating grace frees us from starting out on the wrong foot in the way we tell the story and...
2 comments
Read more

Rainbows for Rainy Days

http://store.kregel.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=3008 Rainbows for Rainy Days: 40 devotional readings that reveal God’s promises by Catherine Campbell Holding onto the promises of God amidst a broken world full of pain and suffering is not an easy task.  Yet, these devotional readings, entitled Rainbows for Rainy Days, written by Catherine Campbell are a treasure house full of wisdom for the weary traveler on the journey through the Christian life.  Taking a Scripture, providing a short meditation alongside a beautiful photograph, these devotional readings bring to life the ways in which God pursues his people from beginning to end.  I found myself throughout the book saying out loud, “Yes, that is true, Amen to that!”  I would like to point out some reasons why this devotional is so valuable for those following Christ. 1    1.            Details of the Story Catherine takes great pains to draw us into ...
1 comment
Read more