Psalms on Sunday: Psalm 19

Ahh. This psalm is one I truly love. It's an encouraging meditation on the nature of God. I can't always connect with the war-torn battle psalms, but there's a very clear place in my heart marked out for the praise psalms.

Verse 1 says that the heavens, meaning the sky, proclaim God's glory; the very sky itself is his artwork. It's so strange that even as a Christian, I think of the sky as this beautiful thing that is just there, without remembering that all the varieties of dawns, sunsets, and clouds are part of God's own artistic work. Nature is the ultimate example of form meeting function!

Verses 2-4 talk about how the glory of God is like a language that is spoken by the day, the night, and the entire world. Verses 5-6 personify the sun, talking about the sun's omnipresence and how nothing is hidden from its heat.

Verses 7-9 talk about God's laws. I think this is partly talking about the Jewish law system set up in Leviticus, partly about the Ten Commandments, and partly about the rest of the Bible, where God's laws and standards are made clear. We are told that God's laws are perfect, and that following them purifies us and makes us wise, and well as bringing joy to our hearts!

Verses 10-11 get more personal, talking about how the speaker in particular views God's laws as something wonderful, even comparing the laws to awesome things like gold and honey. God's laws prevent the speaker from going awry. Verses 12-14 ask God to protect the speaker from more insidious mistakes like hidden sins or presumptuous sins. The chapter ends on one of my favorite verses ever, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." It's a verse I catch myself repeating pretty often in daily life. :-)

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¹The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

² Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

³ There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

⁴ Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

⁵ Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

⁶ His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

⁸ The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

⁹ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

¹¹ Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

¹² Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

¹³ Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

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Psalms on Sunday: Psalm 18

Whew, this is a longer one! Psalm 18 is the first pslam so far to top 50 verses, and it has a lot to do with being in awe of God's strength. Verse 1 even refers to God directly as the source of the speaker's strength. The Lord is compared to several immovable things, like a rock to use as a foundation or a fortress that can protect you in wartime, or a shield to deflect attacks.

Verse 3 is one that I heard a lot and learned as a child--"I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies." It's a very comforting thought, to be able to talk to God in times of trouble.

Verses 4-6 talk about being in serious distress and ready to die, but calling out to God for help. Verses 7-15 are about God's power and majesty, and verses 17-20 are about God rescuing the speaker, with verses 21-24 explaining why the Lord rescued the speaker--because of his uprightness. The rest of the psalm shows more images of God's strength, especially as they relate to war or conflict. Of the remaining verses, my favorite is 46, "The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted," which is another one that I remember from praise songs I heard as a kid.

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¹I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.

² The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

³ I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

⁴ The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

⁵ The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

⁶ In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

⁷ Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

⁸ There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

⁹ He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

¹⁰ And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

¹¹ He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

¹² At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

¹³ The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

¹⁴ Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

¹⁵ Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

¹⁶ He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

¹⁷ He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

¹⁸ They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay.

¹⁹ He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

²⁰ The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

²¹ For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

²² For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.

²³ I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.

²⁴ Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

²⁵ With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;

²⁶ With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

²⁷ For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.

²⁸ For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

²⁹ For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

³⁰ As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

³¹ For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God?

³² It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

³³ He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places.

³⁴ He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

³⁵ Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

³⁶ Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.

³⁷ I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.

³⁸ I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.

³⁹ For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

⁴⁰ Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.

⁴¹ They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the Lord, but he answered them not.

⁴² Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.

⁴³ Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.

⁴⁴ As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.

⁴⁵ The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.

⁴⁶ The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

⁴⁷ It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.

⁴⁸ He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

⁴⁹ Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

⁵⁰ Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
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Psalm on Sunday: Psalm 16

Psalm 16 is another positive sort of psalm. After asking the Lord for help, the speaker does not dwell on his own problems, but rather moves on to discuss the nature of God's mercy and justice.

In verses 2-3, the speaker begins addressing his own soul, sort of talking with himself about how he trusts God. He also supports God's saints, the other people who pursue excellence and serve the Lord. The speaker doesn't just like these people, he is delighted by them, which is more than a lot of us can say about the way we view our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Verse 4 briefly mentions the ungodly, who make offerings of blood to false gods, which disgusts the speaker. But the speaker moves right back to talking about his relationship with God in verses 5-6, which rejoice in the lot in life which God has assigned to him. He is happy with where is and with what has been given to him.

Verses 7-8 talk about being unshakable in your faith--the speaker keeps God in his thoughts constantly, so his actions can't stray too far from the right path.

Verses 9-11 are more praise and thankfulness, saying that God will not abandon the speaker, so he can rest. Verse 10 is actually considered a Messianic prophesy, about Jesus, because "neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption" is taken to mean that God would not allow Jesus to remain dead after the crucifixion.

The takeaway value of this psalm? Be content with the inheritance God has given you, and take joy in walking with God.
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¹Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.

² O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;

³ But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.

⁴ Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

⁵ The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.

⁶ The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

⁷ I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.

⁸ I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

¹⁰ For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

¹¹ Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
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Book Review: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Public domain Kindle book, download it for free here: A Christmas Carol


I've seen about 6 film versions of A Christmas Carol, including one from the 1930's, one from the 1950's, one musical, one CGI film, and one version with Muppets, but I've never actually read A Christmas Carol until now. I'm so glad I did! It's familiar and moving, true, but it's also hilarious, which is something that rarely comes across in the movies. In the famous opening line, “Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that,” the narrator follows up his statement with plenty of proofs about just how dead Marley is, and he continues to makes asides and comments to the reader throughout the book. The narrator is his own character, really, with opinions, tastes, and preferences, and he is very aware that he's narrating and keeps referring to himself in the first person. After some thought, I've decided that A Muppet Christmas Carol with its inclusion of Gonzo as a narrator comes the closest to hitting on the high pitch of descriptive comedy actually contained in the book.

Beyond the funniness, the sorrow in the book is also very palpable, and I'm particularly struck by Jacob Marley's suffering as it's portrayed in the book. There's an extra impact to the lines when they're read:
Scrooge: “What do you want with me?”
Marley: “Much.”
and later, “Speak comfort to me, Jacob!”
-“I have none to give.

Even with all of Marley's evident pain, Scrooge humbugs everything and it's extraordinary how much supernatural interference it takes to make him believe in anything but his own small power. Scrooge does eventually get accustomed to the weirdness, though, and the narrator says that as he waits for ghost number 2, he's expecting the sudden appearance of anything from a baby to a rhinoceros. I was eager to see the book's depiction of the Spirit of Christmas Past because this is the character that has been presented with the most variety in the film versions. I've seen the ghost presented as an old man, an old woman, a little girl, and a living flame. In the book, it's a child who also looks like an old man and a living flame—which clears up my mental image perfectly. (No, no it doesn't.)

I also love some of the details we get about Scrooge's past in the book. For example, Scrooge used to adore (and still gets very excited about) adventure stories like Robinson Crusoe and Abi Baba and the Forty Thieves. And book-Fezziwig is even fezziwig-ier than I've seen in movies, and he's prone to exclamations like “Yo-ho, hilli-ho, chirrup!” But he's not a silly figure for all this exclaiming; his heart is so generous that he brings joy to everyone around him, including people who are unpopular and mistreated.

I find it interesting is that this book with its odd phantoms and strange philosophy still manages to keep the “Christ” in Christmas. Most film versions take out any reference to Jesus' birth or even to God beyond Tiny Tim's “God bless us, every one!” But here, the child born in Bethlehem is mentioned fairly regularly as being a key part behind why we should love our neighbors.

A Christmas Carol is a pleasure to read. It perfectly portrays the contrast between the abundant plenty of Christmas feasts among those with wherewithal, and the the cold, pinched deprivation of people who are outside. The point of the story is that Scrooge must become the kind of person who brings all that warm, hearty merriness from the inner circle and carries it to those who are in need. He does so beautifully and admirably. May that truly be said of us, and all of us. Grade: A

Review: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Mere Christianity

C.S. Lewis

HarperCollins, 1952
Buy it from Amazon.com: Mere Christianity

In this 200-page work of non-fiction, C.S. Lewis presents the edited and slightly expanded transcriptions of some radio radio talks he gave to English audiences in the 1940's. His conversational writing is all about “apologetics,” explaining and defending the Christian faith.

Lewis states early on that he doesn't intend to forward a particular denomination of Christianity or discuss the finer points of theology—he's discussing “mere” Christianity, just the basics of what all Christians say they believe about God and about his son, Jesus. He systematically builds up his logic point-by-point and recaps what he's establishing at the beginning and end of every chapter. The very first building block of his discussion is the idea of the Moral Law, or The Law of Human Nature. Whenever one person fights with another person, they tend to appeal to some higher standard: it was unfair of you to steal my sandwich from the fridge; it was selfish of you to play your music at full blast when you knew I was studying; it was rude of you to cut me off while driving on the freeway. Everyone has an idea of morality, and arguing with another person about their behavior means trying to prove the other person did wrong. Often, the guilty party won't outright say that what they did wasn't wrong—instead, they'll argue that they had special reasons for acting against the moral standard. So there is some idea we all have of fair and right behavior, and we tend to feel uncomfortable/embarrassed/ashamed when we don't adhere to that standard. We come up with excuses and reasons for falling short, but there is still a Moral Law, and none of us fully obey it.

Also, even when we don't want to do the "right" thing, we still feel that we ought to do it--when the instinct to help someone and the instinct to keep yourself comfortable compete against each other, a third, distinct feeling tells you that you should choose to do the more difficult, more selfless thing. From these internal struggles, Lewis concludes that there must be something behind the workings of the universe which incites these feelings, something with a will and a powerful intention to nudge us toward "right conduct". But there's nothing comfy about the Moral Law or the will behind it, and the idea of an absolute good is downright scary: “God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies” (pg 31). This is the first time in the talk that we actually get close to Christianity, because Christianity promises forgiveness if people will turn from their sins, but no one's going to be interested in that offer unless they acknowledge that they have sinned and realize that forgiveness is something they need.

He talks at length about the different conceptions of God, because even after you establish that somebody or something is making reality function as it does, there's still a lot of opinions about who or what is running the control room. Pantheism is the attitude that says there's some sort of God, one that's everywhere, in everything, and doesn't especially care about right and wrong, because it is beyond those sorts of simple distinctions. Monotheism says there is one God, a person who very much cares that you do what is right—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are three major monotheist religions. Dualism believes that there are two equal forces in the universe, one good and one evil, but if we accept that idea, we run into the old conundrum—if we see one power as good and one as evil, isn't there some third thing inside us that makes us regard them as aligning or not aligning with the Moral Law? “Christianity agrees with Dualism that this universe is at war. But it does not think this is a war between independent powers. It thinks it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in the part of the universe occupied by the rebel” (pg 45).

So Christianity believes that we live in a good world that has gone wrong, a place made by a holy God and tainted by a fallen angel, the devil. But if there is an absolutely good God in control of everything, why does he allow this rebellion? Because goodness and rightness are a choice God offers to human beings. If we didn't have free will, our good behavior wouldn't be of any more value than a mechanical toy that walks and talks when it's wound up. Without the choice between right and wrong, we wouldn't be people capable of giving and receiving love--we would be objects that perform a set of programmed actions.       

Now Lewis' discussion moves to the sacrifice of Jesus, specifically. About 2,000 years ago, Jesus came along and claimed to be the human incarnation of the one true God. He offered the forgiveness of all sins, not just forgiving people of wrongs done against himself, but of all wrongs done at any time to anyone. Some say he was a good, moral teacher, but it's impossible to view Jesus as just a man who had some helpful advice, because he emphatically said, within the context of monotheistic Judaism, that he was God in human flesh and that he could forgive sins. With such outrageous claims, he was either crazy, or evil, or he was (and is) what he claimed to be. It's easy to focus on his teachings and miracles, but the main thing he came to earth to do was die and be resurrected. His sacrifice puts us back into a right relationship with God, if we decide to accept him and follow his teachings. One of the big principles of the Christian faith is that we humans don't need to be improved only slightly or made a just little bit nicer—we need to be completely changed and taken over. We have to let go of our own pride and self-will, the idea that we don't need to change and that we're really not so very bad or so very wrong.

Proverbs 11:14 says, ^"Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety," and C.S. Lewis has been one of my lifelong counselors--his wisdom and love for the Lord shine through his writing. I've seldom read anyone so educated and yet so humble. He answers lots of objections to the faith, always in a kind, friendly manner, and he never belittles the reader, and never seems angry or prideful. Mere Christianity was a life-changing book for me. It's excellent reading for Christians who'd like to see an educated former atheist's explanation of God, faith, sin, and repentance, and it's also good for non-Christians who'd like to know what all this Jesus stuff is really about. Grade: A+

Review: The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis

The Four Loves

C.S. Lewis

Harcourt, 1960

Buy it from Amazon.com: The Four Loves

Here's another review brimming with love and admiration, but I can't quite call it a fangirl review, because C.S. Lewis' non-Narnia writing inspires calmer, but no less strong, feelings in me. Beyond his ultra-well-known children's book series, he also wrote science fiction, literary criticism, and theological works, and The Four Loves belongs to the final category. His non-fiction has a very distinct “voice” to it, which can't really be mistaken for anybody else's. In The Four Loves, a guide to human and divine representations of love, his writing feels very Christian, very British, very scholarly, and very masculine, because he was a Christian, an Englishman, and an Oxford professor who spent most of his life surrounded by all-male society. As I'm a believer myself, all that he says in The Four Loves strikes me as exceptionally helpful and spot-on, but I think that almost any type of reader could find beauty and benefit in its brief 140 pages.

The first distinction he makes between types of love is a very basic observation that Gift-love and Need-love are two very different impulses. He explains it nicely here: “The typical example of Gift-love would be that love which moves a man to work and plan and save for the future well-being of his family which he will die without sharing or seeing; of the second [Need-love], that which sends a lonely or frightened child to his mother's arms” (pg 1). He notes that although human love most resembles divine love (the kind shown by God to his creation) when it is giving, this doesn't mean that Need-love is bad or always purely selfish. Is it wrong for a child to need their parents? Is it wrong for teens and adults to seek out the companionship of our friends because we prefer not to be alone? Of course not. In fact, Lewis says that since people truly do need other people, it's a bad thing if we don't exhibit any signs of needing others, “just as lack of appetite is a bad medical symptom because men really do need food” (pg 3).

From here onward, the book is divided into four sections—Affection, Friendship, Eros, and Charity.

Affection: Storge (two syllables, hard “g”), in Greek. Originally defined as the fondness felt between parents and children, and vice versa, but here it has a broader definition. Lewis says Affection is a bit different than regular friendship, since we usually choose our friends because they appeal to us (they're kind or clever or thoughtful or creative in just the precise way that we like), while we may feel deep Affection for people who do not “suit” us, and with whom we have nearly nothing in common. We'll often have Affection for our great-grandmother, our neighbor who collects antebellum coins, or that cashier guy at the grocery store who always seems to be half asleep. Affection isn't picky; all it demands is that the object be “old” and familiar. Also, though Affection often mixes with friendship and with romantic love, it can exist by itself. If you're very fond of spending time with your mother, though she's obsessed with crossword puzzles and the Shopping Channel, while you're into marathon running and rebuilding car engines, that's Affection at work. Lewis calls it a comforting and comfortable sort of feeling, very homey and never loud or braggy. The difficulty with Affection is that, though it's true that almost anyone can be the object of it, almost all of us expect to be the object of Affection and get grumpy when we're not.

Friendship: Philia in Greek, as in “Philadelphia,” the city of brotherly love. Friendship is the least natural of all loves, and not in a bad way. By unnatural, Lewis means it's not a biological necessity. Eros is necessary to continue life and most people are affected by it, and Affection is pretty much necessary to hold society together and most people are affected by it, but plain, strong friendship between individuals isn't something that any of us must experience, and plenty of us don't. Society, or in animal terms, the pack or the herd, can get along perfectly well without the existence of two-person friendships. In fact, “the moment two [people] are friends they have in some degree drawn apart together from the herd” (pg 58). Friendship was lauded as a serious virtue in ancient and medieval times, but in modern times, the love-focus seems to have shifted away from it. How often do you see a novel that's a grand epic of friendship? More often, you see a love story or a family saga than a tale whose focus is two platonic friends. And how many current books about friendships use the friendship either as a segue to romantic love or to the horrible backbiting that results in folks becoming “frenemies” or even outright enemies? In regard to the blending of loves, plenty of people know firsthand that romantic love and Friendship can exist within the same relationship, but “in some ways nothing is less like a Friendship than a love-affair. Lovers are always talking to one another about their love; Friends hardly ever about their Friendship. Lovers are normally face to face, absorbed in each other; Friends, side by side, absorbed in some common interest”(pg 61). Lewis is a great advocate of Friendship and has much to say in praise of it, which ties in with what we know of him and his famous friendship with Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien.

Eros: romantic love. Has to do with the state of “being in love” and is not necessarily what we currently think of as erotic—“That sexual experience can occur without Eros, without being “in love,” and that Eros includes other things besides sexual activity, I take for granted” (pg 91). Eros is focused almost completely on the love-object, the Beloved, and little attention is paid to the self. We don't love the Beloved because we think they will provide us with more pleasure than anyone else can—we love them for their own self, regardless of the affect they have on us. Eros is very unselfish in that fashion, completed situated outside the self and centered on appreciating and benefiting the Beloved. Lewis says that one of the main difficulties with Eros is the tendency to take it too seriously, not in the sense that love isn't a serious and important matter, but in the sense that it's so easy to get swept away by the heightened, near-angelic state of being in love, by the soul-deep gravity of it, that people can forget the lighthearted side and the comedy involved in our behavior when we love. It's important to retain the ability to laugh at oneself! Deadly serious lovers are targets for parody, in real life as in fiction. The other point to be wary of is the tendency to make Eros a god in its own right, to serve the emotion itself with wholehearted devotion because, well, it's just plain awesome.

Charity: agape, in Greek. The three previous examples have been “natural,” earthly, human types of love, but Charity is divine love itself, the source of all the others. Affection, Friendship, and Eros “cannot even remain themselves” or keep from fading or mutating without the help of divine love. And Lewis believes that natural loves don't often compete with our love for God; in fact, we're far more likely to love our fellow human beings too little than too much. Rather than being in competition, the presence of divine love, when it rules in the human heart, nurtures and strengthens all the natural loves. There is nothing needy about Charity, as it's the original Gift-love: “In God there is no hunger that needs to be filled, only plenteousness that desires to give” (pg 126).

I try to keep my reviews positive, but it is a rare book indeed that gets an A+ from me, because it's a grade I reserve for books that have stayed with me over time. Usually, I've read them three times over and can see myself reading them as many more times. These sorts of books haven't just earned a place on the keeper-shelf—they've defined the qualities of literature I want to keep near me, the kind of things I like to have working on my mind. The NY Times Book Review blurb on my copy of The Four Loves says it “deserves to become a minor classic as a modern mirror of our souls, a mirror of the virtues and failings of human loving.” I couldn't agree more. Grade: A+