Book Description
"No better than a pack of heathens." That's what their grandmother called Charma Deane, Bess and Minnie, three cousins growing up in rural Orla, Arkansas. To them, nothing could be better than being a heathen girl. But when life gets complicated, even the wildest girls grow up. Charma Deane learns that lesson the hard way when Bess steals her fiancé, fails to tell her about her mother's death and then threatens to evict their aunts from their family home.
Now, years after leaving the "Aunt Farm" behind, Charma Deane's back to make peace with the past and repair the strained ties with Bess. Together again, the three heathen girls face their demons and remind each other of their old vow: live without limits, love without question, laugh without apologies and make sure that whoever dies first won't be sent to heaven looking like hell.
Customer Reviews:
Looking for a great summer read.......2006-06-15
If only there were a whole shelf of Luanne Jones books to read my summer would be all about reading. Her characters are real with the flavor of the south. I am waiting for more from this very talented author.
Novel has Southern flavor, but themes are universal.......2006-02-05
The epic journey is a time-honored theme in fiction, and Luanne Jones's new novel HEATHEN GIRLS rests both plot and character on that theme. Although the main character Charma Deane's journey doesn't cover thousands of miles geographically, it does cover a lot of ground emotionally.
Charma is summoned to the Aunt Farm, the George family's spiritual center, where she spent summers with her cousins Bess and Minnie. Bess is about to evict her aging aunts, Fawnie and Shug. Both the older women were, at different times, married to the same man who died years before. They are affectionate rivals now for family attention.
In returning to the family home, Charma confronts ghosts from her own past as she attempts to deal with her aunts' eviction, her cousin Bess's pending death, and her cousin Minnie's conflicts with her own daughter. Mother of two grown sons, and now divorced, Charma dances around feelings for the man she almost married, Guy Chapman. Guy literally left Charma at the altar many years before, but as the story unfolds, it becomes apparent he had good reasons for doing so.
The story line rests on each character coming to grips with what the cousins call the "sacred self." Interwoven into the narrative are snapshots of Southern culture, both past and present. Urging the reader on are family secrets and customs, both specific to the George family, but also familiar to anyone with a large extended family.
There's a poignant passage where Guy Chapman, now owner of his family's funeral parlor, speaks of the new South, but the message stretches across a nation. Guy returned to his hometown to save the family business, but in truth, the business is run by Dathan, an African American. But Guy keeps up appearances, knowing the business would falter if the townsfolk knew the real brains didn't reside with a member of the Chapman family. "You know they can make folks integrate the schools and the work force," he tells Charma. "But in those most private places where you have to lay your hands on someone..."
Charma knows what he means, responding, "Churches, mortuaries, and beauty shops." (pg. 295)
The novelist tells her story in an unpretentious, spontaneous manner, with Charma as narrator. The main character and those closest to her complete a personal journey that, in the end, makes each of them a wiser and stronger person. Some passages will require a careful read; it's obvious the novelist has a higher aim than writing just another chick lit tale.
The reader will enjoy a zany romp through antics of a Southern family whose aunts are irreverent, and whose cousins prove that blood is thicker than near-sibling rivalry. Luanne Jones rests much of the storyline on dialogue, and it is inevitable for a reader to entertain hope that the book might make its way to the big screen.
HEATHEN GIRLS is an entertaining read and offers home-spun philosophies on families and friends that keep the story in the reader's heart once the book is closed. Jones is a very good story-teller. We could use more of that in contemporary fiction.-Reviewed by Kay Day, editor, Creative Writer US*;Based on a review published at CW
Great Story! Must Read........2006-01-17
This story of cousins who share a deep bond along with some family secrets is a must read for anyone who loves irreverant humor and characters who stay with you long after the book ends.
From the opening pages when I first met Charma Deane, her nemesis Bess, and the women who live in and around the Aunt Farm I was charmed, touched and tickled. The story explores relationships in all forms including social Southern small town life, true love, old friendships and new. But most of all it shows the power of women.
This is the kind of book that would be perfect for a book club or just to share among friends. It will be on my 'keeper' shelf.
Heathen Girls.......2006-01-11
Charma Deane thinks that her aunt has just summoned her to yet another "death watch" at the "Aunt Farm", Fawnie's regularly irregular decision that this is it, she's on her way out of life. However, that's not quite the case. Her cousin, Bess, has decided to dispose of the Aunt Farm, throwing Fawnie and Shug out on the streets, as it were. Charma has been elected to stop it. Charma's resented Bess for years, thinking that somehow Bess' pushing her into the water and the subsequent rescue by Charma's father caused his death. Now, she's ready for battle, in a weary way. However, it's a bit more complicated than that; Bess is dying, and wants to spend her final days at the Aunt Farm. She also wants to reconnect with Charma and Minnie, to make peace. That is something Charma definitely needs. She's had a few other things against Bess over the years, and has been trapped by all her fears. In her own way, she's dying inside. Now, the three cousins will have a chance to live and love again, in the shadow of death.
*** This is a complex book, in the vein of Nicholas Sparks or Steel Magnolias. The characters are earthy and real. Like the aforementioned books, this one takes a different spin on what a happy ending means. It's a rainbow composed of smiles and tears, not tear free. Though the plot is virtually not present, there is a lot said here. ***
Amanda Killgore
intriguing family drama .......2006-01-04
Growing up in Orla, Arkansas, their grandmother dubbed the three cousins the "heathen girls" for their wild antics. Several years later, the oldest Bess steals Charma's fiancé Guy causing a deep rift in the family. Now three decades later, Aunt Fawnie calls Charma pleading with her to come home because Bess owns the "Aunt Farm" and plans to evict the family from the homestead.
Reluctantly Charma, accompanied by her friend Sterling, comes home to pick up the urn containing her mother's ashes and to confront Bess with what she is doing to their aunts. Instead Bess challenges her to take charge of her life and that of her family as she is dying from cancer and someone must care for the relatives with Charma the only one capable of doing so. Bess also says her only regret is stealing Guy but definitely not her exposé book on "Home among the Heathens". She even sets the example to live to the fullest when she falls in love with Sterling, who reciprocates as he is awed by her gust for life though she knows her days are limited. Charma begins to understand and believe again, but wonders if it is too late for her and Guy.
HEATHEN GIRLS is an intriguing family drama in which secrets and hurtful actions have divided loved ones. The broken relationship between Charma and Bess drives the plot with the latter trying to patch things up before she dies while the former struggles between reconciliation and eternal resentment. Fans of character driven tales with little action, but a deep cast with personal conflict and grudges will enjoy Luanne Jones's fine second chance tale.
Harriet Klausner
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Amante Perfecta, La
Stephanie Laurens
Manufacturer: Avon
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer
ASIN: 0060837519
Release Date: 2005-10-25 |
Customer Reviews:
la amante perfecta.......2006-08-29
Simon frederick Cynster y Portia Ashford son dos personas muy distintas. Siempren han tenido conflictos.Pero un dia se vuelven ha encontrar,en una reunion familiar y es como si se vieran por primera vez y surge una arrebatadora pasion entre ellos.Eso es como si siempre se hubieran amado. Simon se da cuenta que ella es la mujer de su vida.
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LA Amante Perfecta: Como Atrapar a UN Hombre/the Perfect Love : How to Get a Man
Ivonne Munoz Gonzalez
Manufacturer: Libra Editorial
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 9686636277 |
Average customer rating:
- Argh, Matey!
- Argh, mateys!
- A truly delightful children's book
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Commander Toad and the Space Pirates (Commander Toad Paperstars)
Jane Yolen
Manufacturer: Putnam Juvenile
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ASIN: 0698114191 |
Customer Reviews:
Argh, Matey!.......2002-10-09
Boredom settles over the crew of the space ship STAR WARTS and Commander Toad has to do something quick. Lieutenant Lily, Mr. Hop, Jake Skyjumper and Doc Peepers are all unhappy. They've watched all the ship's movies-SPLASH GORDON, THE TOAD WARRIOR, INDIANA FROG AND THE LILY PAD OF DOOM-and read all the ship's books-ROBIN TOAD, THE LIZARD OF OZ, and SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN WARTS-and played a lot of croak-kay, leapfrog, and hopscotch. There is nothing to do and they're all going a little crazy. That all changes the day Commander Salamander and his pirate crew arrive. Commander Salamander boards STAR WARTS and takes everyone captive except for Doc Peepers. Only a little while after that, Commander Salamander makes Commander Toad Hop the Plank at sword point! Only Doc Peepers can save the day!
Jane Yolen is an award-winning children's book author as well as a writer of adult science fiction and fantasy. She's earned the Caldecott-given for the most distinguished picture book, the Nebula-given to the most distinguished writing in the field of science fiction and fantasy, the Golden Kite-given by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and the World Fantasy Award. She's written seven Commander Toad Adventures, including COMMANDER TOAD AND THE LONG VOYAGE HOME, COMMANDER TOAD AND THE PLANET OF THE GRAPES, COMMANDER TOAD AND THE SPACE PIRATES, and COMMANDER TOAD AND THE BIG BLACK HOLE. With dozens of books written in many genres, Jane Yolen is a great author to introduce to young readers.
Fun to read out loud and filled with puns and sight gags really well drawn by Bruce Degen, COMMANDER TOAD AND THE SPACE PIRATES is a blast to share with young or reluctant readers. The sentences are short and choppy, driving the story on and filling the events with laughs. The pirate talk, "Yo-ho-ho, me slithery-slees!" is top-notch and will inspire young readers to quote the lines long after the book is finished-if an adult is willing to read the passages in a properly piratical dramatization. The solution to the pirates, once revealed, is hilarious and makes perfect sense even to pre-readers who understand story and set-up that comes in narrative repetition.
The Commander Toad series, all seven books, is recommended for imaginative young readers who have already been exposed to STAR WARS, STAR TREK, and various other science fiction based television shows and movies. Jane Yolen is one of the most entertaining authors for young minds out there.
Argh, mateys!.......2002-10-01
Boredom settles over the crew of the space ship STAR WARTS and Commander Toad has to do something quick. Lieutenant Lily, Mr. Hop, Jake Skyjumper and Doc Peepers are all unhappy. They've watched all the ship's movies-SPLASH GORDON, THE TOAD WARRIOR, INDIANA FROG AND THE LILY PAD OF DOOM-and read all the ship's books-ROBIN TOAD, THE LIZARD OF OZ, and SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN WARTS-and played a lot of croak-kay, leapfrog, and hopscotch. There is nothing to do and they're all going a little crazy. That all changes the day Commander Salamander and his pirate crew arrive. Commander Salamander boards STAR WARTS and takes everyone captive except for Doc Peepers. Only a little while after that, Commander Salamander makes Commander Toad Hop the Plank at sword point! Only Doc Peepers can save the day!
Jane Yolen is an award-winning children's book author as well as a writer of adult science fiction and fantasy. She's earned the Caldecott-given for the most distinguished picture book, the Nebula-given to the most distinguished writing in the field of science fiction and fantasy, the Golden Kite-given by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and the World Fantasy Award. She's written seven Commander Toad Adventures, including COMMANDER TOAD AND THE LONG VOYAGE HOME, COMMANDER TOAD AND THE PLANET OF THE GRAPES, COMMANDER TOAD AND THE SPACE PIRATES, and COMMANDER TOAD AND THE BIG BLACK HOLE. With dozens of books written in many genres, Jane Yolen is a great author to introduce to young readers.
Fun to read out loud and filled with puns and sight gags really well drawn by Bruce Degen, COMMANDER TOAD AND THE SPACE PIRATES is a blast to share with young or reluctant readers. The sentences are short and choppy, driving the story on and filling the events with laughs. The pirate talk, "Yo-ho-ho, me slithery-slees!" is top-notch and will inspire young readers to quote the lines long after the book is finished-if an adult is willing to read the passages in a properly piratical dramatization. The solution to the pirates, once revealed, is hilarious and makes perfect sense even to pre-readers who understand story and set-up that comes in narrative repetition.
The Commander Toad series, all seven books, is recommended for imaginative young readers who have already been exposed to STAR WARS, STAR TREK, and various other science fiction based television shows and movies. Jane Yolen is one of the most entertaining authors for young minds out there.
A truly delightful children's book.......1998-11-28
Jane Yolen's "Commander Toad" series is a charming science fiction spoof, and an excellent children's book. The detailed, zany illustrations by Bruce Degen are the perfect complement to the witty text and off-the-wall characters. The test of any children's book is its reception by actual children, and "Commander Toad and the Space Pirates" gets full marks there. It has been requested so many times by my 5- and 3- year-old siblings that I can now recite it from memory. The text stands the test of many repetitions, and my five year old brother, just now learning to write, can often be heard to request "Mom, how do you spell 'Commander Toad'? How do you spell 'Space Pirates?'.
Average customer rating:
- A huge disappointment
- Brave and bright, bright and brave, Commander Toad
- The BEST intergalactic toad book I have ever read.
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Commander Toad and the Big Black Hole (Paperstar)
Jane Yolen
Manufacturer: Putnam Juvenile
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0698114035 |
Customer Reviews:
A huge disappointment.......2007-08-16
I bought this book for my science-oriented 4yr old grandson who is fascinated by "black holes" in space. This book is a huge disappointment as the illustrations are unattrative, the story is silly and it teaches nothing. The back cover states it is a "space spoof." I wish I had known that before I bought it. Nowhere in any reviews was that made clear. Additionally, my copy had 8 pages missing text. It certainly is not for a 4 year old, nor was there anything in it for his grandmother.
Brave and bright, bright and brave, Commander Toad.......2004-11-01
I totally loved these books when I was a kid! I really wish I still had this one. :D It has that eerie quality that most kids just love.. not scary at all, just strange, it will stick with a kid. It's that indefinable magic that shows up so much stronger when you're young, and maybe reading books like this will keep it alive later on. :D The characters are great too, this is how all kid's books should be!
The BEST intergalactic toad book I have ever read........1997-04-03
This book really fills a big black hole in modern literature. The subject of toads in space has been constantly avoided, mishandled, and disregarded since the publication of Ivan Rabinavski's "Why Toads could never make it on the moon." Jane Yolen places the space-toad in its proper perspective in a beautiful and meaningful manner, pulling no punches and using no foul language. I loved it
Book Description
Often called the greatest of the post-Reformation English mystics, William Law was born in King's Cliffe, England, became a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and was ordained a priest in the Anglican Church. After losing his position at Cambridge for refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance to George I, he became the center of a small spiritual community. He was a religious guide to the Gibbon family and included among his disciples John and Charles Wesley.
His practical work as a spiritual director-as expressed in this, his best-known piece, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life-deeply influenced the English Evangelical Revival. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church says this of the book: "The simplicity of its teaching and its vigorous style soon established the work as a classic, which has probably had more influence than any other post-Reformation spiritual book except the Pilgrim's Progress." In his later years Law became an intense admirer of the teaching of Jacob Boehme on the coincidence of opposites. He gave this doctrine an original turn in his little-known but exquisite mystical treatises-the most important being The Spirit of Love. This double selection, edited from first texts instead of reprints, demonstrates the range of Law's thought and his development as a genius of style and devotion.
Customer Reviews:
A great mystic of Anglican spirituality.......2006-10-13
William Law is a great mystic who combined great spiritual insight with brilliant literary gifts. Aldous Huxley commended his work extremely highly, quoting Law abundantly in the 'Pereniall Philosophy' and describing his works as one of the finest in the English language.
Law grew up in a fairly religious environment and was set for a good career in the Anglican Church. A devout Protestant, from an early age Law's piety was noted by all who encountered him, and he was fondly remembered by the father of Edward Gibbon (who hired Law as a tutor for the family) as one of those rare men who carried out in deed what he claimed to believe.
This collection of Law's works contains his long book 'A serious call to a devout and holy life' and another work called the 'Spirit of Love', a dialogue based on Law's interpretation of the mystical visions of the German shoemaker, Jacob Boehme. The first work is a brilliant attack on all forms of Christian hypocrisy, ranging from inane gossiping to the seductions of earthly power and prestige to the traps of lust and money and the threats they pose to Christians from all walks of life. One of the most original ideas in Law's works is that all vocations, no matter how menial or of what type, can be good and holy in the sight of God; a key insight of other Protestant reformers like Luther and Calvin who were deeply concerned to stress that the good gifts of God are to be seen in all callings and in all people, in all areas of society, not just in monastic or clerical elites. However Law also recognised there is a deep danger in any worldly vocation that the constant temptations of ordinary life and of our own ego can very quickly and easily lead us into many forms of sinful behaviour and thought, which are in the end deeply destructive to our spirituality and our relationships with others.
Law as a great writer doesn't just talk in abstract ideas but makes his themes concrete through 'characters' he introduces in the Holy life, to represent the sincere Christian as opposed to the Christian who lapses into the temptations of the world. It is disturbing at how often you see yourself reflected in the Christian who succumbs to temptations, and how rarely you see yourself in the Christian who doesn't.
The Call was a deeply influential work, and had a strong influence on no less a figure than John Wesley, the founder of Methodism and also of the evangelical revival in England. However, Wesley came (perhaps understandably) to have deep reservations about Law's later mystical writings, and his enthusiasm for Boehme.
'The Spirit of Love' is a long dialogue which draws out Boehme's mystical themes, at least as interpreted by Law. The key is the love God has for the universe and all creatures (even fallen man) and that even though the Protestant emphasis on God's anger and wrath for sin are appropriate, these images reflect a deeper truth in that the Godhead is in actual fact entirely love, in essence as well as act. Even God's wrath or anger is in fact really God's love taken as pain, but it only occurs as pain because the creature is sinful and its will is turned away from God's will. In this sense Law's mysticism agrees with that in the Theologica Germanica, where perhaps even the devil would be saved in an instant if he turned from his self will to conforming with God's will.
Law seems to skip over other aspects of Boehme's strange mysticism, from Boehme's idea of God being an 'ungrund' or fathomless abyss, from which the Trinity and another figure called 'Sophia' (a female personification of divine wisdom), to Boehme's use of very obscure language borrowed from occult sources (especially alchemy and astrology) to try and work out the connections between the world of spirit and the created world. Nevertheless, there is strong merit in Law's focus on God's total and complete love for us, which can be obscured if we only see God's hatred and judgement for our sins in his actions and in the Bible. Law would like to remind us that even if God hates sin more than anything else, we can so easily reconcile ourselves to him by turning to his son, Christ, and once again being cleansed from our sin and our selfish will against God we can be restored to what God made us to be in the beginning.
Regardless of whether or not you would agree with Law's points, his works, especially the Call, contain many valuable warnings and lessons about the life of the spirit in the Christian context and well worth reading.
A Glorious Spiritual Classic for All Time!.......2004-10-29
This timeless classic by William Law is for anyone in search of God. I have read it again and again. It is full of encouraging words, gems of wisdom, and biblical insight that satisfies the intellect as well as the soul!
An amazing spirit..........2004-02-27
William Law was one of the great mystics, clerics, and educators of the Church of England. Born in 1686, he was educated at Cambridge, eventually taking a teaching position there in addition to being ordained in the Church of England. He lost his position at Cambridge for being a Non-Juror (the Church of England being a state religion, clerics and others are required to swear oaths of allegiance to the monarch, and this Law could not do with regard to George I). He wrote the first work, `A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life', one of his best-known works, while in retirement as tutor in the Gibbon household (he was tutor to the father of the historian noted for the work on the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) in the 1720s.. He wrote the second, much shorter work, `The Spirit of Love,' in 1750s.
The first is a major work of spiritual practice, rightly deserving the description as a `classic' or `masterpiece'. For a course we teach at my seminary, this book is on the list of spiritual classics one may choose to use for inspiration and spiritual reflection, and for good reason. Influenced by Law's readings from other mystics such as Thomas a Kempis, Johann Tauler and others, this book is full of mystic insight and practical wisdom. It was popular from the start, and remains an enduring classic of post-Reformation spirituality.
Law has a fairly ecumenical audience, though he is not without controversy. Law is very much a man of the church, and of a high-liturgy and sacramental church at that, thus some Protestants may find difficulty with some of his unstated but very present assumptions. Law resists bibliolatry, does not accept the doctrine of Calvin of a complete corrupt humanity, and never assumes to try to prove the existence of God, taking that for granted. It is interesting, in our post-Christendom world, that Law is more widely read than ever before, given that it would seem there is much concern about whether or not there is a God, and often those of a more mystical mindset shy away from mysticism so firmly influenced by ecclesial structures.
Law's work in `The Serious Call' takes the form of 24 chapters, each one beginning with a simple spiritual rule, observation or proposition. Sometimes these can take a directive form as a spiritual practice - some chapters, for example, recommend prayer at certain times of day (chapter 16 recommends 9 a.m., chapter 20 recommends 12 noon, etc.) and prescribes the content and the manner of the prayers. Some work from a proposition (chapter 13 - that any life, full of vanity or even more humble, will ultimately show misery and emptiness) and some work from proclamation and argument (chapter 24, of the excellency and greatness of a devout spirit). `Devotion signifies a life given or devoted to God,' Law writes in the beginning. This devotion is not just church work (although it involves that), and not just prayer (although it involves that, too), but is an entire life given over to God, and as such can be something all can do, not just clerics, mystics and monastics.
Unlike `A Serious Call', the second work contained here, `The Spirit of Love', can be very difficult reading, as there is no organising principle similar to the logical progression of the earlier work. It is done in a dialogue form, in the shape of letters, and better known according to the editors in piece-meal collections of highlights or selected passages, given Law's general lack of method and organisation of texts later in his life. However, there are those who love `The Spirit of Love' and proclaim it to be Law's best work, particularly for his identification of the wrath of God as something that separates us from God, but is in fact not to be found in God, but in us. Our redemption and reconciliation with God requires our removing this wrath and embracing the divine love always freely offered.
The editions here are fairly standard, authoritative ones. The history of Law's work in print is laid out, and selection reasoning is given in the introductory material, which also includes (as do all of the Paulist Press editions of this wonderful series) biographical information (not just simple historical, but also spiritual biographical information), textual notes, and other information of interest.
Beatific.......2002-06-25
To find a man like William Law in 17th century England is as unexpected as finding a violet blooming in the Arctic. It's almost beyond anyone's powers to fully describe the beauty, benevolence, and wisdom--and good solid sense--of his spiritual advice. Consider instead the character of those who have praised him: there's Samuel Johnson, who took up Law in a frivolous mood in his youth and found himself nearly bowled over; or closer to our own age, C. S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley. The most memorable parts of the _Serious_Call_ are those where Law (following the model of Theophrastus's _Characters_) describes several spiritual types and how their natures relate to the pursuit of the devout life. The _Spirit_of_Love_ is a later work, written after Law had been influenced by the German mystic Behmen; if you're not acquainted with Christian mysticism, it might be hard to follow. But do not miss Law's account of the Atonement, particularly if you're one who has always felt scandalized by the "blood sacrifice" theology emphasized in traditional Protestantism.
A Challenging Book on Truly Following Christ.......1999-10-02
This is the most challenging book I have ever read on following the teachings of Christ practically in every day living. The conviction was so fierce that it was hard to get through the first chapter. His words bear so much truth it motivates you to want to be more like Christ himself.
Customer Reviews:
An amazing spirit..........2005-10-28
William Law was one of the great mystics, clerics, and educators of the Church of England. Born in 1686, he was educated at Cambridge, eventually taking a teaching position there in addition to being ordained in the Church of England. He lost his position at Cambridge for being a Non-Juror (the Church of England being a state religion, clerics and others are required to swear oaths of allegiance to the monarch, and this Law could not do with regard to George I). He wrote the first work, 'A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life', one of his best-known works, while in retirement as tutor in the Gibbon household (he was tutor to the father of the historian noted for the work on the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) in the 1720s.. He wrote the second, much shorter work, 'The Spirit of Love,' in 1750s.
The first is a major work of spiritual practice, rightly deserving the description as a 'classic' or 'masterpiece'. For a course we teach at my seminary, this book is on the list of spiritual classics one may choose to use for inspiration and spiritual reflection, and for good reason. Influenced by Law's readings from other mystics such as Thomas a Kempis, Johann Tauler and others, this book is full of mystic insight and practical wisdom. It was popular from the start, and remains an enduring classic of post-Reformation spirituality.
Law has a fairly ecumenical audience, though he is not without controversy. Law is very much a man of the church, and of a high-liturgy and sacramental church at that, thus some Protestants may find difficulty with some of his unstated but very present assumptions. Law resists bibliolatry, does not accept the doctrine of Calvin of a complete corrupt humanity, and never assumes to try to prove the existence of God, taking that for granted. It is interesting, in our post-Christendom world, that Law is more widely read than ever before, given that it would seem there is much concern about whether or not there is a God, and often those of a more mystical mindset shy away from mysticism so firmly influenced by ecclesial structures.
Law's work in 'The Serious Call' takes the form of 24 chapters, each one beginning with a simple spiritual rule, observation or proposition. Sometimes these can take a directive form as a spiritual practice - some chapters, for example, recommend prayer at certain times of day (chapter 16 recommends 9 a.m., chapter 20 recommends 12 noon, etc.) and prescribes the content and the manner of the prayers. Some work from a proposition (chapter 13 - that any life, full of vanity or even more humble, will ultimately show misery and emptiness) and some work from proclamation and argument (chapter 24, of the excellency and greatness of a devout spirit). 'Devotion signifies a life given or devoted to God,' Law writes in the beginning. This devotion is not just church work (although it involves that), and not just prayer (although it involves that, too), but is an entire life given over to God, and as such can be something all can do, not just clerics, mystics and monastics.
Unlike 'A Serious Call', the second work contained here, `The Spirit of Love', can be very difficult reading, as there is no organising principle similar to the logical progression of the earlier work. It is done in a dialogue form, in the shape of letters, and better known according to the editors in piece-meal collections of highlights or selected passages, given Law's general lack of method and organisation of texts later in his life. However, there are those who love 'The Spirit of Love' and proclaim it to be Law's best work, particularly for his identification of the wrath of God as something that separates us from God, but is in fact not to be found in God, but in us. Our redemption and reconciliation with God requires our removing this wrath and embracing the divine love always freely offered.
The editions here are fairly standard, authoritative ones. The history of Law's work in print is laid out, and selection reasoning is given in the introductory material, which also includes (as do all of the Paulist Press editions of this wonderful series) biographical information (not just simple historical, but also spiritual biographical information), textual notes, and other information of interest.
Books:
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- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- How Like an Angel: A Novel (Sweetwater Fiction: Originals)
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- Les Liaisons dangereuses (Oxford World's Classics)
- Life and Loves of a She Devil
- Long Have I Loved You: A Theologian Reflects on His Church
- Love and Hydrogen: New and Selected Stories
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