Two Very Different Books Worthy of Your Devotional Reading

I’ve recently finished two very different books that touch on the issue of escaping our “in-ward bent”, as Martin Luther put it, and experiencing God’s grace.

Deliver Us From MeVille, David A. Zimmerman, is a both a humorous and reflective look at the issue of narcissism. Through self-disclosure and heavy doses of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Thomas Merton, and Henry Nouwen, David explores the sin of pride (“superbia”). The reader is confronted with the reality that we are unable to escape our own self-absorption and then is offered a Jesus that is “pro-me.” Paradoxically, its Jesus being for us that helps us get over ourselves.

Sin Boldly, by Cathleen Falsani, is a bravely written memoir of how grace intersects her own life. Cathleen writes with a nimble style, charged with wit and intelligence. In a variety of settings, from Africa to a reeling New Orleans, Cathleen catalogues her surpising run-ins with God’s favor. Some of these encounters are subtle while others are breath-taking. What is always true of Cathleen is that she refuses to protect herself with her writing. Cathleen presents herself fully human so we can appreciate the beauty of God intersecting her life.

For me, that transparency provoked a fresh encounter with grace.