"Holding Our Breath" by Stephen D. Bostrom. A Review

 


This 116-page softback contains a series of ocular and odic musings on the coming of Christ. Stephen D. Bostrom, State Minister for the Presbyterian Church in America's Ministry to State, in Helena Montana, has crafted a short devotional manual for the Advent season. He is teamed up with by his son, the photographer Noah Bostrom, whose images grace each meditation. It is a simple read, ideal for the contemplative soul.


The format is straightforward. Each chapter contains a unique photograph. It is then charmed by a poem, or hymn, or carol penned by various writers from centuries ago, or just last year - many of whom you've likely never come across. Most of the time Bostrom gives some historical and personal details about the writers, and then follows through with various considerations about phrases, words, or lines. Each reflection is roughly two to three pages long and able to be read within five minutes.


"Holding Our Breath" is not an academic theology, but it is theological and thoughtful. It is not a treatise on Christology, but it is faithful to who Christ is, and what he has done for his people. Rather, this guide is just that, a guide to lead Christians into pondering afresh the coming of our Lord. I highly recommend the work.


My thanks to the author for seeking me out and sending me a free copy of this book used for my review. He made no demands. Therefore, this analysis is my own.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“The Shift” - 2023 Movie. A Review

Image
  What do you get when you cross a dark dystopian storyline with sci-fi, alternative dimensions, theological and philosophical questions, and the biblical book of Job? You get The Shift , written and directed by Brock Heasley, produced by Ken Carpenter, and distributed by Angel Studios. This roughly one hour and 45 minute tale swirls around Kevin (Kristoffer Polaha) as he moves from one realm of life, with it’s happiness and heartbreak, to another dimension that is a dismal existence clearly governed by The Benefactor (masterfully played by Neal McDonough). A viewer will be asking questions all the way through, and picking up clues and answers that pull the story together bit-by-bit. The story bumps up against an infinite set of alternative possibilities, of time, space, and versions of one’s self that will likely stoke a viewer’s imagination. But the heart of the narrative - besides love, grief, loss, trust/distrust - is around the place of evil, specifically, personal or human evil.
Read more

"On Getting Out of Bed" by Alan Noble. A Review

Image
  When it comes to family members or friends going through a significant mental crisis, or suffering, we often can feel like we’re fumbling about to help them. Sometimes, we can become like Job’s friends, whom he had to call “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2). But very recently Alan Noble, assistant professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee Oklahoma, and cofounder and editor-in-chief of “Christ and Pop Culture” penned a deeply beautiful 120-page hardback that addresses mental affliction. “On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living” is written for those who struggle with mental affliction, but also pastors, teachers, parents, and loved ones, to “help them understand their loved one’s suffering. It is for anyone who ever struggles to get out of bed” (3). I finished this book earlier this week, and kept finding myself saying, “Finally! Someone gets it!” Eight chapters fill up this handy manual. They run through several subjects, like not sounding like Job’s f
Read more

Community?

Image
  (This is from my letter to my congregation I sent out today, 30 August 2023) As one of my elders was leading us through Carl Trueman’s Strange New World in our adult class , I appreciated Trueman’s emphasis on community. And our discussions, especially the last two Sundays, were very fruitful as we thought out loud together about this subject. Therefore, I thought I would share something from David Brooks, an Op-ed columnist that leans into this discussion.   Brooks published a book in 2019 titled, “The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life”. In that work he was taking a gentle punch at destructive trends he has been seeing, and giving some helpful correctives. And so, he notes that “Individualism, taken too far, leads to tribalism” (34). He then shows how the loneliness and spiritual emptiness of individualism taken too far have become more prevalent in our time and the ways that they lead to very dark social consequences. These darker social consequences foster the need t
Read more