Jeremiah (the biblical book)

Having spent much of my waking moments in the last couple of days working on my theses as the consequence of not having a chapter finished on schedule [although it is every minute according to Dutch standards so i've had a bit of time for coffee and tea and eating and talking and reading emails but not that much]. because my theses are both on the book of Jeremiah, i’ve spent quite a bit of time with it. specifically i’ve been focused on the emotional aspects of the book. the number of emotions and frequency that they’re mentioned is significant. yet, a couple of things seem a bit odd: the LORD weeps for Moab whom He punishes, but the text never mentions Him weeping for Israel whom He’s also finally punishing and loved enough to postpone punishment again and again. And the emotions mentioned by Jeremiah are not necessarily connected to events that one would expect would produce a significant emotional response. For example in Jer 26, Jeremiah is threatened with death, defends himself and his calling, gives himself into the hands of his persecutors (with the likely result being death), only to have someone else come to his defense and then not be put to death. Such an event, along with the instances of Jeremiah’s capture, must have produced some kind of emotional response by Jeremiah – but none of these are mentioned. So why are some obvious instances where Jeremiah would experience emotion neglected and the instances in the text actually included? (i'm hoping that my thesis might be able to answer some of those questions...)

Joanna Phoenix, Making Sense of Prostitution (2002)

a friend of mine has been joking with me about how i´ve been reading all these books on prostitution as part of the methodology stage of my research :) and i would laugh, except that this book was quite helpful in looking at methodology and assumptions that are made and conclusions based on certain research. it was a good mixture of analysis of other research in this area and prostitute´s own stories. the best part of this book was how it looked at the contradictions that are part of prostitute´s lives and how one learns to live with those contradictions. Some of the contradictions are woman as victim vs woman as survivor. men as opportunities for money but also as cost. women as businesspersons but also loving individuals. prostitution as opportunity and cost. for instance, prostitution was a way of becoming independent and earning enough money not to be homeless, but often caused dependency on men who used them or caused them to lose their homes. for me, it shows a strong sense of survival - of attempting to learn to live with difficult situations to which there does not seem the possibility of leaving, even if one wants to.
my question after all these books is how do we, as Christians and society, help those who recognize the damage prostitution is doing to them but can´t see another alternative?

Joyce Carol Oates, Rape a Love Story (2003)

although the title got me interested in the book, the title itself unsettles me. but i had heard of Oates so thought it wouldn´t hurt to pick it up. it was decent enough of a story - her depiction of the victim´s daughter learning the patterns of silence were probably the most insightful. but in thinking of it now, i was a bit disappointed - because her title suggests a connection between brutality and love. and the book allows this false connection to continue.

The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God by John Eldridge and Brent Curtis [and Wild at Heart]

I found John Eldridge's better known book, Wild at Heart, to be somewhat annoying. I think that book has a great analysis of the problem of how Christianity can often seem to promote nice-ness instead of adventure and courage and strength. But I didn't really like his solution - it sounded a lot more like a Christianized version of machoism than necessarily something that was inherently biblical. and even though the book was intended for a male audience (of which i am not), the book had no place in Christianity for me (an unmarried female who 'has not been rescued' and who has not focused her life on pursuing the beauty they seem to think i ought), which i have a problem with. this book seems to carry over a bit of that incomplete concept of beauty for females. although they never specifically say so, the beauty they talk about can easily be confused with niceness and being aesthetically pleasing. they never talk about some of the aspects in nature that make up what we call beautiful: the danger found in waterfalls, the strength and gumption found in a flower in the midst of everything else trying to choke it out, the grace and strength in a bird flying, and the so on. i have no desire to spend significant amounts of my life pursuing the niceties of what most of the world considers beauty, i want to spend my life being faithful to God, growing in faith, and strength, and courage, and knowledge - things that do not seem to fit so well with Eldridge's concept of the female 'desire to be rescued.' sure, i'd love to get married and have someone help me as i grow in faithfulness but i would be unfaithful if i did not also expect to be asked by God to help him as he is helping me.

- (back to The Sacred Romance) i again agreed with their analysis of the problem - many of us don't really realize that Christianity is not about 'shoulds' but about participating in God's deep love and joy. Being a Christian is equivalent to waking your heart and soul to God - and being open to what He's doing - and participating in it (The Sacred Romance). And Curtis and Eldridge, using the concepts of longings (glimpses into the delight that should be involved in Christianity) and arrows (lies that prevent us from living fully in that delight - and as Christians often cause Christianity to be about being a better person) to help people recognize and desire The Sacred Romance. i'm not sure if i would have used exactly the same terminology (even in this post i've interpreted what they mean my way), but i appreciated it and overall agreed with it. my problem is that the book didn't have a lot to say to people who have already recognized the longing and have been trying hard to participate in the healing God is doing in them and who are living (at least partially) in the Sacred Romance. it was a book of first steps but no much about the rest of the journey - and i wish it could have been both.