For the Mind: Discovering a Living Creation
Bring your caffeine! Elizabeth A. Johnson’s book, “Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love” is not an easy read. It challenged my understanding of evolution, science and the world around me. Yet, it also affected me deeply and unexpectedly, compelling me to look at the world in a new way.
I can no longer look out my window and see a stagnant world. Now I see a living, dynamic, evolving cosmos which flows freely from a Loving God who embraces my heart. Reading “Ask the Beasts” affirmed in me the core message of Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’: we are all connected.
For the Heart: Finding Wonder in Our Connectedness
To sweeten the journey through Johnson‘s thorough analysis of Darwin’s work in “Ask the Beasts”, I highly recommend as a companion book, “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. “Braiding Sweetgrass” blends the solidly, intellectual knowledge shared in “Ask the Beasts” and steeps it in the beauty and poetry of Native American indigenous wisdom. Where “Ask the Beasts” spoke to my mind, “Braiding Sweetgrass” spoke to my heart.
For the Soul: A Story of Love, Forgiveness and Belonging
Adding soul to my journey is a third and final book, “The Parchment of Leaves” by Silas House. I recommend reading this novel, along with the two others, to ground oneself in the human.
This book describes forgiveness and love in the life of an Appalachian indigenous woman. “The Parchment of Leaves” reminded me of our shared need to flourish as humans, while realizing the connection we have with the world around us. This novel spoke to my soul.
I guess when I was reading these three books together, messages for my mind, heart and soul, I experienced the truth of the African Ubuntu teaching, “I am, because we are.”
Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love
Elizabeth A. Johnson
Braiding Sweetgrass
Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Parchment of Leaves
Silas House
Join the Conversation
Have you read any of these books? We’d love to hear what you thought.
Leave a comment below to share your reflections, or tell us what you’re reading right now. Your recommendation may become food for the journey for someone else.
