Books for Incarcerated Friends

Part of the produce that is given away (and never for sale) at the farm comes in the form of books. These are selected based on Farmer Fred's experience for what has helped him flourish in his own faith journey.

Many of our incarcerated friends love to read!

With some recent generosity of farmily friends, we were able to give the above to Kent County Correctional Facility's Chaplain Library. Our incarcerated friends there can request any of these any time.

Particularly, Farmer Fred is called upon to do video visits with people that request it as well as be a pen pal with others. This is a tiny continuation of the in person ministry that he did there for a few years.

For both pen pals and video visits, he tries to sense the nudging of the Holy Spirit in which titles to recommend to each person based on where they are at in their journey and what their particular faith tradition is.

Thanks so much to all who contribute and pray to make this possible!

The list below is the inventory as of the first week of August, 2024.

_____________

The Great Adventure Catholic Bible - (3 copies)
This is the one Fr. Mike Schmidt uses in his "Bible in a Year" Podcast. "Each book of the Bible is color-coded with a thumb index, indicating where it belongs within the [Great adventure Catholic] Bible timeline. Twelve timeline charts provide a visual overview of the Bible, including: important characters, key events, geography, major covenants, world rulers, and contemporary events in secular history. Twelve articles give a summary and explanation of each period of salvation history. Seven articles introduce and explain the major covenants of salvation history ... Seventy key event call-outs provide a brief description of the milestones in the biblical narrative"

The Bible Timeline Chart - (3 Copies)
This Chart goes along with the Great Adventure Catholic Bible and is referred to by both Fr. Mike and Jeff Cavins as an aid to getting the big picture of scripture. This color-coded Bible study tool shows how all of the books of the Bible fit together to tell the story of salvation history. It arranges the key people, places, and events of Sacred Scripture in chronological order, so that you can get the big picture of the Bible. This chart is the cornerstone of The Great Adventure Catholic Bible Study Program.

J.R.R. Tolkien - Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit (2 copies of each book - 8 books total)
This is a long story of good vs. evil written by a very devout Christian. He is a weaver of myths. The stories take place in a time long after the fall in the garden and long after the great flood that reshaped the world yet long before the coming of Christ. It is full of beauty and truth and love conquering evil… often at the last minute.

Calvin Miller - Singer Trilogy (2 copies of the Trilogy in one volume each)
This is a long poetic telling of the life of Christ (The Singer), the Acts of the Apostles (The Song) and the end of the ages (The Finale). It breathes beauty, hope and love into my heart every time I read it. The fullness of the sacramental vision is somewhat absent, but the beauty of the poetic prose is what keeps drawing me back in.

Dr. John Bergsma - Bible Basics for Catholics (3 copies)
One of the better big picture introductions to Holy Scripture. A very good foundation to build on later with other great works.

Dr. John Bergsma - Stunned by Scripture (2 copies)
A very interesting conversion story of a man who lived and served in the Grand Rapids area for a time. It hit home to me because the family I married into knows his family.

Dr. Scott Hahn - Hail Holy Queen (3 copies)
Dr. Hahn is famous for showing how Catholic practices are deeply rooted in scripture. His conversion story is also very interesting. This book dives into the many misunderstandings about Mary and putting forth a solid scriptural basis for proper respect for the Mother of God. It shows her continuing role (along with all our dear dead dears who mystically part of the Church triumphant in heaven) to pray for us outside the boundaries of time and space.

Dr. Scott Hahn - The Lamb’s Supper (3 copies)
This is in part a retelling of Dr. Hahn’s conversion story and in part a new and refreshing take on the book of Revelation (The Apocalypse). It will help you have a much deeper understanding of the Holy Mass or as they call it in the Eastern Church the Divine Liturgy. It is a beautiful Bible Study as well.

Dr. Peter Kreeft - Jacob’s Ladder (2 copies)
This is an imaginary conversation between two women, one a devout believer and one still searching. In it the believer takes the seeker step by step into a deeper understanding of life and eternity. Very good for helping one understand how a person moves from being completely lost and confused to realizing they must make a decision to either to surrender and follow Jesus or walk away. Very entertaining read.

Fr. Jacques Philippe - Time for God (2 copies)
Fr. Jacques Philippe - Called to Life (1 copy)
Fr. Jacques Philippe - Searching for and Maintaining Peace (2 copies)
These three booklets are by a famous French monk who has a knack for discussing the things of the Lord in rich and uplifting ways. I’ve read the one about peace and found it very beneficial. I have been told the other two are wonderfully delicious and good soul food as well.

Fr. Michael Gaitley - 33 Days to Merciful Love (2 copies)
This book is designed to be read little by little over a 33 day period, sort of like a little retreat in one’s heart. In it, Fr. Gaitley explores what it means to truly trust God, to contemplate what it takes to completely surrender to Him and do His will in the little things with great love. He uses the lives of many famous Christians to demonstrate what this trust looks like and means and ultimately what it means to be a conduit for God’s Divine Mercy to others. Beautifully written and I read it over and over again, including the extensive footnotes on the text.

Fr. Henry Nouwen - Life of the Beloved (3 copies)
Fr. Nouwen wrote this for his secular atheist friends who want him to explain the Christian faith in language that they could understand. Turns out that Christians also love the book which is very rich and nourishing, myself included. One that I reread often.

Rita Simmonds - Convicted by Mercy (Frank’s Biography)  (2 copies)
Rita is a poet and was considering entering a monastery when she met Frank and married him. Her retelling of his life and death is full of good examples of what it means to offer up one’s suffering as a prayer for the benefit of others… just like Jesus did. Beautifully told true story of a life lovingly lived.

C.S. Lewis - Space Trilogy (2 copies of the Trilogy in one volume each)
This is another set of books I return to every few years. The stories are set just after World War II and are beautiful explorations of the soaring imagination of C.S. Lewis who saw that God was everywhere. He saw through the nonsense of science as a religion that had no room for anything it couldn’t see or touch and he demonstrates this with great humor throughout these beautifully written books. Remember, it was written long before actual space travel occurred so you must forgive it’s inaccuracies regarding what Mars and Venus are really like in real life. It is still very good at painting a picture of the Cosmos that is mind blowing and permeated with God’s presence through and through.

C.S. Lewis - Chronicles of Narnia (3 copies of 7 book set in one volume each)
I am not ashamed to say that I read or listen to all seven of these books almost every year. They bless my heart so much! So good to see the tenets of our faith portrayed in the hearts of little children as is done so well in these books. So rich with spiritual truth… these are classic stories of love, life, faith, courage, hope and joy. They expand my mind to make room for Jesus a little more each time I read them!

Christopher West - Pope Francis To Go (5 copies)
Christopher is very good at drawing out the theology of the body wherever he gazes. As he dives into the words of our Pope Francis he does this especially well. You will get acquainted with a proper framework of family and spousal love through reading this sampling of Pope Francis’ words on the subjects, coupled with Dr. West’s extensive insights.

Dr. Brant Pitre:Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary (1 copy)
Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist (2 copies)
Dr. Pitre digs into scripture and helps us learn how Mary’s Jewish roots help us understand her better. In fact, without a thorough grasp of Mary and Jesus’ Jewishness, we are bound to make errors in how we see them both. Both of these books really help us dig into what it meant to be Jewish in their times and how that fact really can enlighten our view on so many levels.

Scot McKnight - The Real Mary: Why Protestant Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus (1 Copy)
Popular biblical scholar Scot McKnight explores the contours of Mary's life from the moment she learned of God's plan for the Messiah to the culmination of Christ's ministry on earth. Dismantling the myths and challenging our prejudices, the author introduces us to a woman who is a model for faith and who points us to her son.

Richards and O'Brien - Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible (1 Copy)
Biblical scholars Brandon O'Brien and Randy Richards shed light on the ways that Western readers often misunderstand the cultural dynamics of the Bible. They identify nine key areas where modern Westerners have significantly different assumptions about what might be going on in a text. Drawing on their own cross-cultural experience in global mission, O'Brien and Richards show how better self-awareness and understanding of cultural differences in language, time and social mores allow us to see the Bible in fresh and unexpected ways.

Remember, all produce on the farm is freely given

and never for sale. All donations to the farm

are tax deductible as we are a registered 501(c)(3).

If you've been blessed by our produce and would

love to make sure others get blessed too,

use the 'Donate' button below to pay it forward.

Fiscal Transparency / Produce Distributed

Contact Farmer Fred by clicking the ‘View Web Version’ 

link below. A form will appear in the right column 

when you do this which you can fill out to email him.

(This note is for phone browsers.)

A Poem Becomes a Prayer

Egyptian Poet Mostofa Ibrahim

My son-in-law shared a beautiful little poem that seems to be all over the Internet and attributed to Poet Mostofa Ibrahim. I wish I could find a book of his poetry... everything seems to be out of print or so rare that it is unattainable. I resonate with with this poem anyway... and all I've done to transform it into a Christian prayer is to address it to Jesus and aim it at myself (replacing each 'you' with an 'I'):

Lord Jesus,
May I never be the reason why someone who loved to sing,
doesn’t anymore.
Or why someone who dressed so uniquely,
now wears plain clothing.
Or why someone who always spoke so excitedly about their dreams,
is now silent about them.
May I never be the reason someone gave up on a part of themselves
because I was demotivating, hypocritical, or even worse
— sarcastic about it.

—A Prayer Inspired by poet Mostofa Ibrahim

See the original Poem by clicking here.

What especially strikes me in the original poem is that in spite of being treated in the manner that the poet speaks of I still do it to others. I can be that critical voice, that mocker, that dream crusher that guy who uses sarcasm as a weapon.

Which is precisely why I saw the need to personalize it, address it to my higher power and make it into a prayer I recite often.

I start my first course in pursuing a certificate in Spiritual Direction this Wednesday through Divine Mercy University. I know that as a person who has sponsored many people in recovery that I have much to improve upon in learning to walk with people gently, truly seeing the true, good and beautiful in each person I encounter.

I sense that this prayer will be a small but important part of that journey of learning to be a truly empathetic companion on life's journey to souls that want such a companion.

God's will, not mine be done.

My Friendly Digital Divorce

I decided to move forward with the digital divorce...

Today I monotasked. I walked into the store without any tech to buy an old fashioned object called an alarm clock. 

Why?

So I can deliver the divorce papers to my phone tonight.

I no longer want to sleep with it or even be in the same room with it when I'm going to sleep, sleeping or waking up.

I want it to be a friendly divorce. I'll still visit digital land and I'll pay attention to our children (this website is one of them). But I'm not sleeping with it any more.

This is all part of a series of little experiments I'm trying in order to live life less attached to the digital realm and live more just as a human, interacting with his surroundings and the people in it.

It has been a long time coming. I remember the decision to leave my phone in the car when going to Mass about six months ago. So freeing. It became a permanent habit about one month into the experiment.

Excellent Ideas and Scholarship

Felicia Wu Song's book, "Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age" is what has encouraged me to try more experiments in this realm. I am grateful for her work and look forward to seeing her in few moments here at the Calvin College Fine Arts Center... in fact I better get going, her lecture is about to start. Back in a bit :D

....

Ok, back in the saddle. 

Dr. Song gave us an excellent presentation and then a fine Q & A afterwards. She is a brilliant scholar and yet delivers her findings with tact and kindness, you won't be shamed by her for participating in the alarming trends that she exposes. Rather, she gives you simple ways to set proper working boundaries in your use of technology.

Which is why I'm referring to my relationship with the digital realm as a friendly divorce.

No, I don't want to sleep with it anymore, but I still value the toolset it has to offer to help live my life. But not on its terms anymore, or not so much I hope. I hope to extract myself from the seemingly compulsive attention to it and perhaps focus more on my marriage to my wife, my relationship to my family, friends and God.

So as I continue to experiment in this new way of divorcing myself from the digital, I ask your patience. I may not check my phone as much. I may leave it behind more. I might not login as much.

Who knows, I might be able to learn to more consistently engage with the world around me full of trees and grass and people and rivers and well, just all things bright and beautiful. I hope you can forgive me and maybe even join me... there is strength in numbers.

Barbie: A Thousand Excellent Questions

I was able to watch the Barbie Movie with my wife this week and I must say I was deeply impressed. It isn't too many movies that ask so many good questions.

Being a student of anthropology and phenomenology I found the movie fascinating. It poses so many excellent questions about what it means to be human in such rapid succession that I would have to watch the movie in slow motion to catch them all. One of the lead characters (a mom who had played with Barbie dolls as a child) posed several pointed and excellent questions out loud, while most of the questions (equally valid) were masked under sarcastic and often dark humor.

This movie kicked my inner Mr. Curious into gear and below are a few of the questions it triggered me to ask:

• What does it mean to be human?
• What does it mean to be treated like an object?
• Who am I?
• What do genitals mean?
• What happens when genitals are not present or distinct?
• What is the patriarchy?
• What is masculinity?
• What is matriarchy?
• What is femininity?
• What does it mean to be a mother?
• Why is fatherhood absent or a joke?
• How do stereotypes harm us?
• What is the difference between a stereotype and an archetype?
• What do we do with the wounds of being objectified and/or oppressed?
• Why did pregnant Barbie get discontinued?
• Why is it not OK to want to be a mom?
• What happens when you realize you actually have distinct genitalia?
• Why didn't Barbie completely destroy the need for playing with baby dolls (despite the haunting implications of the opening scene)?
• What happens when the function of genitalia is removed from society completely (Barbie Land)?
• Why on earth would any human wear high heals?
• Is girl's night or boy's night helpful? What does it mean or point to?
• What are tears? Why do we have them?
• Is all pain bad? What is its function?
• What is the function of bad breath and other bad smells?
• What does it mean to have a real body?
• Just how important is embodiment?
• Does my body even matter?
• Is matriarchy better than patriarchy?
• Why is the definition of feminine beauty so convoluted?
• What is the true source of beauty?
• Is there a way for man and women to live in complementarity rather than struggling to dominate one another?

The truly profound thing about this movie is I didn't sense it trying to force any easy answers to any of these questions. That is a rare gift in our world today in my humble opinion.

The very next night Margie and I watched Oppenheimer, the story of how the power of splitting the atom was harnessed for the mass destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. It was a tedious and heart breaking movie to say the least. But it did add a couple more questions to the thousand excellent questions thrown at me the night before:

• What is worse: twisting the function of nuclear energy into a weapon or weaponizing human sexuality into a game of thrones and domination?
• What is the more powerful force: human sexual interaction or nuclear fission/fusion?

Hmmmmm....

A Joyful Song for Lent

 Passing through the Eastern door of the Church allowed me to be exposed to so much beauty. I'm eternally grateful for it and treasure it in my heart often. The many songs of Lent and Easter still haunt my soul years after I've moved into the western fold.

In the Eastern (Byzantine) Church this particular hymn gets 'busted out' impromptu after many of the extra lenten services and people joyfully join in, belting it out with gusto. I can't explain how moving it is to be immersed in that kind of joy, it brings tears to my eyes just writing about it.

Anyway, I made a little slide show with an excellent female choir (Eikona) singing it. I hope it brings joy to you this lent and always.

______________

For our Blessed Mother on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Year of Our Lord 2021.

Woodcut style icons: Virginia Broderick

Final icon of Theotokus of the Inexhaustible Cup: Ariane Trifunovic Montemuro (www.arianeart.com)

All other icons from the web, please inform me of the artists if you know them and I'll give them credit here.

Music performed by Eikona on their album "Sacred Hymns of the Divine Liturgy"

Lyrics in English and Greek:

" O Pure Virgin" 

by St. Nectarios of Aegina 

Tone 5

(A, B, and C refer to the three distinct melodies within the hymn.)

(A) 

O pure and virgin Lady,

O spotless Theotokos: 

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O Virgin Queen and Mother

O dewy fleece most sacred:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

(B) 

O height transcending heaven above

O beam of light most radiant:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O joy of chaste and virgin maids

surpassing all the angels:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

(C) 

O brilliant light of heaven above

most clear and most radiant:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Commanding chief of heaven above

O holiest of holies

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

(A) 

O ever-virgin Mary

O Mistress of creation:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O Bride all-pure and spotless

O Lady all-holy:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

(B) 

O holy Mary, Bride and Queen

O cause of our rejoicing

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O Maiden Queen most hon'rable

O Mother most holy

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

(C) 

More precious than the cherubim

more glorious than the seraphim:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Surpassing principalities

dominions, thrones and powers:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

(A) 

Rejoice, song of the cherubim

Rejoice, hymn of the angels:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Rejoice, ode of the seraphim

and joy of the archangels:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

(B) 

Rejoice, o peace; Rejoice, o joy

and haven of salvation: 

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O bridal chamber of the Word

unfading, fragrant blossom:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

(C) 

Rejoice, delight of paradise

Rejoice, life everlasting: 

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

Rejoice, o holy tree of life

and fount of immortality:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

(A)

I supplicate thee, Lady,

I humbly call upon thee:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

O queen of all, I beg thee

To grant me Thy favor:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

(B)

O spotless and most honored Maid,

O Lady all holy:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

I call upon thee fervently, 

Thou temple most holy:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

(C) 

O thou my help, deliver me

From harm and all adversity:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

And by thy prayers show me to be

An heir of immortality:

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

[Phonetic Greek]

Agní Parthéne

(A) 

Agní Parthéne Déspina, 

Áhrante Theotóke,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

 

Parthéne Mítir Ánassa, 

Panéndrose te póke.

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

(B)  

Ipsilotéra Uranón, 

aktínon lamprotéra,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

 

Hará parthenikón horón, 

angélon ipertéra,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

(C)  

Eklamprotéra uranón 

fotós katharotéra,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

 

Ton Uraníon stratión 

pasón agiotéra.

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

 

(A) 

María Aipárthene 

kósmu pantós Kiría,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

 

Áhrante Nímfi Pánagne, 

Déspina Panagía

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

(B)   

María Nímfi Ánassa, 

harás imón etía,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

 

Korí semní Vasílissa, 

Mítir iperagía,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

(C) 

Timiotéra Heruvím, 

iperendoxotéra,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

 

Ton asomáton Serafím, 

ton Thrónon ipertéra.

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

(A)  

Hére to ásma Heruvím, 

hére ímnos angélon,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

 

Hére odí ton Serafím, 

hará tón Arhangélon,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

(B)    

Hére iríni ke hará, 

limín tis sotirías,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

 

Pastás tu Lógu ierá, 

ánthos tis aftharsías,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

(C)  

Hére Parádise trifís, 

zoís te eonías,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

 

Hére to xílon tis zoís, 

pigí athanasías.

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

(A)   

Se iketévo Déspina, 

Se, nin, epikalúme,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

 

Se disopó Pantánassa, 

Sin hárin exetúme.

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

(B)   

Korí semní ke áspile, 

Déspina Panagía,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

 

Thermós epikalúme Se, 

Naé igiasméne,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

(C)  

Antilavú mu, ríse 

me apó tu polemíu,

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

 

Ke klironómon díxon 

me zoís tis eoníu.

Hére Nímfi Anímfefte.

Remember, all produce on the farm is freely given

and never for sale. All donations to the farm

are tax deductible as we are a registered 501(c)(3).

If you've been blessed by our produce and would

love to make sure others get blessed too,

use the 'Donate' button below to pay it forward. 

Fiscal Transparency / Produce Distributed

Alternately, you may send a check to Photon Farms.

Simply express your intention directly to us in 

the 'Contact Farmer Fred' form to the right. 

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Contact Farmer Fred by clicking the ‘View Web Version’ 

link below. A form will appear in the right column 

when you do this which you can fill out to email him.

Guns and Theology of the Body

A rare and accurate portrayal of Roman
crucifixion practices

I recently viewed an online seminar with my Theology of the Body Institute professors Dr. Christopher West and Bill Donaghy. It was exploring the theology of Jesus being stripped naked and crucified (yes, the Roman government crucified people naked, simple historical fact that is rarely depicted in movies or art).

The seminar was all about embracing the identity of Christ, naked, vulnerable and crucified. It was also about surrendering my fear and renouncing my identity as a crucifier (one after all leads to the other).

I realized last night in my fitful jet lagged sleep that God was trying to say something to me about that seminar and how it had influenced me to get rid of my Glock.

In my journaling this morning I asked God (aka ‘Papa’) to unpack what he was whispering to me last night. Below is that conversation in its raw unedited form.

May our Papa bless you.

_____________

Papa, remind me what you were saying to me last night…

Son I was merely pointing out to you about how your decision to identify more closely with me the crucified instead of with those who out of fear have become crucifiers has led to your decision to disarm. Your relationship with guns was more of a fun throwing things at a target thing and that is good and fun, it is built into the masculine anatomy of course but is part of the masculine genius overall and can be properly integrated by females.

Guns are not evil any more than penises are evil in and of themselves. When either is used as a weapon however is when the problem starts.

It is completely understandable why some people think that the solution is to ban or outlaw anything that could be a weapon but unfortunately the problem has become much more complex. The reason for this is that virtually anything can be turned into a weapon of destruction and death. Even a casual glimpse at childhood behavior can attest that toys can become weapons.

Some things (like the movie ‘Witness’ boldly claims in the sayings of the Amish) seem to be more readily disposed to harm than be a fun gaming piece or tool for getting work done. They assert that the ‘gun of the hand’ is evil because it is only used to harm other humans. And for the most part this seems to be true… until you go to a cowboy shoot and see how much fun handguns can be in jovial competition.

Bottom line son, laws that deal only with externals are doomed to fail. While it may be understandable why governments implement such laws it won’t ultimately solve the real problem. Only my love channeled through willing and surrendered human hearts can solve the issue and this cannot be legislated by church or state.

An early version of my daily consecration
prayer that includes references to Neo and Leeloo

Only surrender to my love solves the problem and transforms the world back into its original beauty and harmony. Of course very few even in the church believe this to be true. Few trust in the path of nonviolent surrender, identifying with me the crucified who absorbed all the world’s hate and transformed it into the resurrection of love, kind of like Neo the antivirus in the movie ‘Matrix’.


Yes Papa, thanks for those words, that explains much of what has been muddled up in my heart and mind for many years.





Illuminate my muddled heart
Sweep the shadows from my mind
So I might imagine what you are like
And understand the great design

(Da - Darn Floor, Big Bite)


Lord I surrender my right to be a crucifier and embrace your identity as the crucified. I cannot do this but in, with and through you I can do all things. Transform me Lord and use me to absorb hate and violence just like you do every day and transform it into a loving open armed embrace of the world to restore life and beauty with the river of life flowing from your side through me.

I AM and I will son. I love you.

Love you too Papa.

Amen.

Demolishing the Walls of Suspicion

I recently finished reading one of the most disarming treatments of Mary the Mother of Jesus I’ve ever encountered. Written in 2006, Scott McKnight has won my heart by modeling gentleness and compassion toward those who relate to the Mother of Our Lord differently than he does. In “The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace The Mother of Jesus”, Dr. McKnight simply refuses to look at his Catholic brothers and sisters with suspicion. Surely others have done the same, but I’m not sure they’ve done it quite so well.

As a recent convert to the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic folds, I’ve been questioned about my understanding of Jesus’ mother more than practically anything else. My Protestant brothers and sisters are often genuinely puzzled at certain Orthodox and Catholic practices and apparent beliefs. Perhaps from now on I’ll simply recommend they read this book if they’re open to it, rather than have me try to explain. 

The Real Mary was very easy to read and touched upon so many of the things we can agree upon about Jesus’ Momma. The book dove deeply into scripture to get a sense of where Mary was coming from as a young Jewish girl in the first century. From there it allowed us to imagine how strange Jesus’ approach to being the Messiah must have seemed to her and the other disciples. These are very important things to consider when examining what we know about her from the Gospel narratives.

What really struck me however was when Dr. McKnight turned to the many things about which various Christian communities have come to disagree regarding Mary. What genuine love and gentleness has shone through here! Going even further he couples that with a true desire to put those he disagrees with in the best possible light. In essence he has taken great strides toward tearing down the walls of suspicion that have been built during the past five centuries between Protestants and Orthodox/Catholics. What a gift you have been to us Dr. McKnight!

A mere twelve years after McKnight’s book hit the shelves, another excellent effort at reaching across the Protestant - Catholic divide was published by Dr. Brant Pitre. In his book “Jesus and The Jewish Roots of Mary: Unveiling the Mother of the Messiah” he explains that without an understanding of Mary and Jesus’ Jewishness, we as post-modern westerners have little chance of understanding them.

It is interesting that I read Dr. Pitre’s book about the same time I visited the Holy Land. Our Pastor on that journey encouraged us to read O’Brien and Richard’s book “Misunderstanding Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible”. 

All three of these books affected me profoundly as I toured the Holy Land where everything seems to make scripture pop and come alive. While I certainly cannot completely remove my western tinted glasses or climb into the heart and soul of a first century Jew, these writings took me a few steps in that direction.

Dr. Pitre’s work took what I learned in both of the other titles to an even deeper dive into the Jewish Bible and its supporting literature. I was able to see where my current American cultural norms truly blinded me to things that would have been positively obvious to any first century Jew with even a basic training in the Torah. In fact, it would greatly interest me to know how Dr. McKnight and authors O’Brien and Richard would respond to Dr. Pitre’s work. Sounds like a great YouTube discussion in the making doesn’t it? Well, perhaps only for people like me, fair enough!

The common denominator in all three of these works is a tearing down of the walls of hostility between the various strains of the Christian faith. There seems to be a genuine desire for true dialogue and understanding and I for one welcome it. It seems extremely timely considering the world we live in today. I believe building bridges between the various Christian denominations is more important now than ever, which is why I have been experimenting with tiny ways of doing that and writing about it in the “Building Bridges” section.

I think the Mother of Jesus would approve of these books as well. After all, if God is our Father and Jesus is our brother then in a sense we are all her spiritual children. Mommas love it when their kids get along.

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