Fingerprints of God
Barbara Bradley Haggerty
Riverhead Books, 2009
This is a terrific book about science and religion in 21st century America. I have read it twice and made notes on every chapter.
Barbara Bradley Haggerty is the religion correspondent for National Public Radio.
She takes as her departure point The Varieties of Religious Experience written by the famed Harvard scientist William James in 1901. James concluded that while science could never prove or disprove the existence of God “Our normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different.”
Haggery explores those “potential forms of consciousness entirely different” by tracing her own spiritual journey, describing the latest scientific explorations of the human brain, near death experiences, the effect of western and eastern meditational practices on the brain, speaking in tongues and the diversity yet unity in the great religious traditions of the world.
She writes clearly about science, religion and her own journey. She observes that “Scripture is metaphorical, explaining the world in a way that humans could understand at the time it was written, thousands of years ago. I do not think it was meant to be freeze-framed for all eternity.” p.282.
Haggerty concludes that there is no one way to God and that a transforming encounter with another type of reality is not confined to one religious expression.
Good Quote: “...the universe is stitched together not just by infinite intelligence but also by love and justice and beauty....We have all about us the fingerprints of God.” p. 284-5
We Took to the Woods
Louise Dickinson Rich
Lippincott, 1942
A calm, humorous and gently reflective book by a one time school teacher who met a divorced Harvard engineer while hiking in Maine in the 1930’s. A best seller when it came out during World War II, the book continues to have marvelous staying power.
It describe what it was like for two educated people to live in the backwoods of Maine without electricity or running water, while raising a son, six Huskies and a skunk.
My grandfather owned a copy, which I first read when I was 12. I reread it every five years or so. I dont know what happened to my grandfather’s book but mine came from a used book sale at the Stanford library and has the book plate to prove it. “Gift of Dr. Raymond Jadarola”. I feel sure I would have liked Dr. Jadarola.
Good Quote: “The three weapons to use against axe cuts are: [a] sense enough not to get cut, [b] a good working knowledge of how to apply a tourniquet, if the worst occurs, and [c] a philosophical attitude.” 245.
Charles
