New Column From Norris Burkes

Subject:
Please use "bibliophobe" not "bookaphobe."


Column:

It's probably best to use "bibliophobe" not "bookaphobe."

 

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New Column From Norris Burkes

Subject:
Labor Day weekend colum 2018


Column:

Confessions of a Recovering Bookaphobe

Normally, I use this Labor Day weekend column to share my annual recommendations of books. However, before I do that, I want to confess something that few writers would ever make public. Here goes.

I began reading only at the turn of this century. 

That's right. I was a bookaphobe. I didn't read whole books in earnest until my 43rd birthday.  

I got by in school by skimming the assigned books, occasionally completing one only for a required book report. For leisure, I read extensive sections of magazines and newspapers, but never books.

I'm hoping most of you will glaze over this confession, but I fear this revelation might compel serious readers to abandon all association with this columnist.

So why risk alienating any of my readers?

Because sometimes, confessions spur "me-too" type movements and help inspire change. If you include yourself among the less-well-read folks, I'd encourage you to labor this weekend to make a personal change.
 
I know the excuses for not reading. I've made them all, still do sometimes. I'm busy. Books are too long. Reading is laborious or boring. 

Well, guess what. Retired life remains busy. I'm still a bookaphobe, but I'm recovering. I find the time to read books on my smart phone or tablet at bedtime or while traveling. You can too.

Yes, it can be daunting to pry open a long book. That's why I often "read" audible books on my phone while I'm jogging or driving. In this way, I'm not intimidated by the book length because I'm listening during down times. And I can speed the book along by increasing the playback speed.

If you're a slow reader like me and you're challenged by long books, commit to only a chapter at a time. Most authors use chapter division to tell a new part of the story. Take a break at the end of each chapter. This is how I took a year reading the Pulitzer winner, "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power."

Of course you needn't select a long book. My favorite book in all the world is another Pulitzer prize winner, "Gilead," by Marilyn Robinson. I'm reading it now for the fourth time. 

"Gilead" is one of the few fiction books I enjoy, but this year I'm adding "Small Great Things" by Jodi Picoult. This story follows a black neonatal nurse as she tries to care for the premature baby of a white supremacist. Read it before you see the movie adaptation with Viola Davis.

On my rather large nonfiction shelf I've added "The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us" by Lucy Jones. Almost spiritual in nature, the book explores the randomness of, and in some sense, the philosophical issues faced during cataclysmic events.

"The Soul of Money" by Lynne Twist is another spiritual book that will liberate you from tired assumptions we make about money―earning it, spending it and giving it away. 
 
"Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone" is written by social scientist, Brené Brown. The book is an expansion of her TED talk, "The Power of Vulnerability" (viewed 40 million times).

As I run out of space to say more, allow me to recommend these last five: 

1. "City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris" by Holly Tucker
 2. "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Grann
3. "What Doesn't Kill Us" by Scott Carney
4. "Beartown" by Fredrik Backman
 5. "The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story" by Douglas Preston (Recommended if you're going to Honduras with me in March 2019. See more at Chispaproject.org/volunteertrip

Finally, don't forget to read my books listed at thechaplain.net. They are under 175 pages and are written as a compilation of my column series.  

_______________________
Share your reading recommendations at comment@thechaplain.net or leave me a voicemail at (843) 608-9715

 

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New Column From Norris Burkes

Subject:
Spelling correction for column


Column:

The correct spelling for the last name of the tattoo shop owner is Hendricks

 

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New Column From Norris Burkes

Subject:
last column for Aug 2018


Column:

Editors: I highly recommend pics for this story if you have room. If you reply to this email, I will send you pics. You can also google foresthill bridge in Auburn and find plenty of file pics.


Punching Holes in the Darkness

On a Sunday afternoon, my wife, Becky, and I visit the Crimson Tattoo Parlor in Auburn, Calif. We're not looking to get a painful heart-shape tattoo, but rather to help alleviate the spiritual pain of suicide.

Shop owners, Jon and Brittney Hendrix, invite us inside where a dozen volunteers are emulating a suicide prevention tactic recently started by a woman in the UK. The idea seems beautifully simplistic - write and attach anti-suicide notes to any local structure known for suicides.

Jon welcomes me at the front desk where we chat for over a half hour as he laminates about 200 notes written on multi-colored construction paper. His local strategy calls for us to post these notes along the span of the Foresthill Bridge.

I strain to read the writing of one person at an adjacent table. "Life is hard and impossible to go through alone. You are not alone. Call 800-273-8255." (24-hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline). Another writer composes, "Silence is overrated. Scream at the top of your lungs when you need help. Call 800-273-8255."

Jon seems a gentle soul, a pastor's son, so I ask what spurs his interest in the topic. He tells me he's a combat veteran, an infantryman with tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Some of my friends didn't survive our coming home." He points toward Brittney. "She knows those stories, so she worries about me."

Jon checks his watch. The evening shadows hint at dusk, so he dismisses us to our cars. Ten minutes later, we find the Foresthill Bridge straddling a massive canyon, 730 feet over the north fork of the American River.

I park near a special call box with a sign, "Crisis Counseling. There is hope. Make the call." The call box is an unadorned reminder that since the 1973 bridge construction, 87 people have jumped from this bridge, the fourth highest in the country.

Our group scatters along the half-mile span. Each of us carries a plastic bag holding a dozen notes written with a rainbow of permanent ink colors.

With the blessings of county officials, we walk both sides of the bridge, zip-tying our inspirational messages along the fence line. The railings have been raised to 6 feet, 6 inches in hopes of dissuading spontaneous jumpers. Sadly, I'm told, the retrofit does little to stop the single-minded who bring small ladders.

Hikers stop to examine the messages. Some of them voice the hope that our notes might stop one person from "…making a permanent choice to solve a temporary problem," as one bright piece of paper states.

One young passerby asks Becky if he can hang one of our notes.

"A good friend committed suicide just last week," he says, explaining his random request. Becky gives him a note along with an understanding nod.

We start our walk back to our car with the aid of glaring headlights from passing vehicles. The darkening sky stages the obvious metaphor of overwhelming gloom descending on victims of suicide.

"Do you think this will do much good?" Becky wonders aloud.

"Maybe it'll be like holes in the darkness," I suggest.

"Pardon?"

"It's an old sermon illustration from Robert Louis Stevenson," I explain. "Stevenson spent his childhood in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the 19th century. As a boy, he was intrigued by the lamplighters who used a torch to ignite the streetlights of the town.

"One evening, Robert's parents asked him what he was gawking at." With great enthusiasm he exclaimed, "Look at that man! He's punching holes in the darkness!"

We look back across the bridge. The notes seem to light the span with florescent colors and vibrant messages.

"May God bless our efforts," I say, "to throw some punches through this darkness."
_______________________________
For more visit, www.thechaplain.net. Email Norris at comment@thechaplain.net or @chaplain or (843) 608-9715

 

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New Column From Norris Burkes

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Column for 17-19 August 2018


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Buying What People Ain't Sellin'

Last month, my wife, Becky, and I were moving into our new home in Auburn, Calif., when Becky's sister, Melissa, stopped by to help us unpack. A few hours into the job, Becky put down her boxes and started making sandwiches for us.

"Hey," she said to me, "I think the neighbors down the street are getting ready for a garage sale. Go see if you can find the yard tools we're going to need."

I peered out the window at our barren one-third of an acre. "What yard?"

"Go," she ordered.

I blinked. Given the opportunity to escape the tedium of unpacking, I needn't be told twice. I grabbed my car keys and suggested that Melissa follow.

A few minutes later, we pulled into an empty driveway where I couldn't believe my eyes. These were quality products, yet oddly enough, there were no customers. Stranger still, the homeowners were also absent.

"I wonder where they are," Melissa said as we got out.

"Probably inside taking a break from the heat." I shrugged. "I'd rather shop without the seller barking prices every time I touch something anyway."

She agreed and picked up a pair of Keen sandals. "Hey, I think these are a fit."

"Nice," I said. "How much?

"I don't know." She turned her attention to a bag of bedding. "They haven't priced anything yet."

We shopped for another five minutes before I decided to give the door a light knock, then reported back. "No answer."

Continuing our search, Melissa put aside the sandals to hide them from the mob we were expecting.

My eyes quickly fell upon a nice selection of yard tools – Home Depot on a blanket.

"Wow, this is everything I need. Rakes, pruning sheers and even a leaf-blower." I laid aside the best and returned to the front door to make a lowball offer.

I gave the doorbell an aggressive ring. This time, the dogs erupted with barking. I paused expecting human footsteps. Nothing.

I returned to my pile of tools, spouting the old garage-sale cliché, "No price tags, no bodies, so it must be free."

Melissa pointed to a small pile of sweepings at the edge of the garage. "Norris, I don't think this a garage sale. I think we've interrupted a garage cleaning.

"That must mean…" My voice trailed.

"We're trespassing!" Melissa said.

Just then the house curtains jostled, either by canine snout or human hand.

I dropped the tools, and before anyone gave chase, we beat feet to the car.

The garage sale gaffe brought to mind three common platitudes.

First, the familiar triteness that says, "If the shoe fits, wear it," isn't necessarily true.

It only seems true because there are a lot of folks who'll force their images upon us trying to match their assumptions of us. They insist that the shoe fits us, so we chain ourselves to their preconceived impression.

Just because the proverbial shoe may fit, doesn't necessarily mean you have to wear it or own it. If you don't see yourself in the shoe, then drop the shoe.

The second platitude encourages us to pray that God will open doors for us. Well, the chaplain is here to testify that just because a door is open doesn't mean that God opened it. We need to ask God to help us discern whether the opening is a welcome pathway or a trap door. In other words, stay out of unmarked doors.

Finally, you can't buy what people ain't selling. At least that seems to be the pesky thought behind the tenth commandment: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house…your neighbor's wife, or… or anything that belongs to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:17 NIV).

When Melissa and I returned to report our failed grand-theft attempt, my diplomatic wife profusely apologized for her erroneous tip – at least that's what I think she said in the midst of her hysterical laughter.
____________________________________________

Leave message for Norris at (843) 608-9715 or comment@thechaplain.net or @chaplain

 

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New Column From Norris Burkes

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Column:

Editors,

I've writing about Honduras one last time this year. If you have any objection to that, please respond to this email to request a "norris classic" from past years.


Changing Your Story through Helping Others

Two weeks ago, I invited you to go with me to Honduras in 2019 to create children's libraries through my daughter's nonprofit, Chispa Project. So often, those in mission work will talk about the differences we can make in the lives of others. But as I've discovered, the experience of working in Honduras changed more than "others." It changed me.

You needn't take my word for it. Read today the journal of my friend, Joseph Torres. "Joey" is a pastor and third-year Ph.D. student at the University of California, Davis. He is currently spending two months volunteering with Chispa Project. Read his touching account of what God can do with an open and willing heart:

"All week, I awoke to roosters crowing and children giggling as they ran past my window and down the dirt road to school. These noises were distant cries from the echoes of gunshots and broken windows that I once feared would be keeping me awake.

"I'm staying in El Sauce, a tiny community in the countryside of Honduras, where I help deliver books to a library established through Chispa Project. Chispa builds community-run libraries with the goal of creating a spark, a "chispa," of inspiration for reading and educating for a lifetime.

"And please do not be mistaken. The news of violence you have likely heard is real and true for many people here in Honduras. Extreme poverty creates desperate situations that, in turn, birth unfair systems of wealth and greed. That greed spawns cycles of gangs, corruption and very poor infrastructure for the rest of the country.

"However, these are not the only stories that should be told about the people of Honduras. Catrachos, as Hondurans call themselves, are also loving, family-centered, honest, hard-working people who are remarkably generous with what little they have.

"Hondurans, like all people, are complex. They are the living, breathing culmination of many different stories at once. They remind me that I feel closest to God when I see, hear, and experience the complexity of God's creation through stories.

"Jesus, as I understand him, was an engaging storyteller. His stories helped his followers see that people are more than just sick, more than just poor, more than just "bad hombres." He shed light into the spirit of God that exists in all of humanity. That spirit is love. I'm certain that the many stories I've heard here will permanently change my life.

"Roger, my host in El Sauce, shared his experience in welcoming extranjeros, guests from outside his country. He told me, in Spanish, "God blessed me with this house because this is my way of showing God's love to people like you."

"Roger's house is humble by any measure. It has dirt floors and no hot water. Everything has been constructed by his own two hands. Despite these limitations, I've been shown more love and hospitality in his home than any home I have ever entered in the US. That is because Roger gave from what little he has.

"In my attempts to be like Jesus, I feel a responsibility to listen and understand the intricate stories I hear from people who are different than me. That's why my time here is invaluable.

"Chispa's motto is that 'books change the story.' Not only are the lives of these young Hondurans changing with every page, the story I will now tell of them will be more beautifully intricate because of what they have shared with me."

Joey's words tell me he is being transformed by his journey. If you're open to having your story changed, please come with me to Honduras March 10 - 17, 2019. Visit chispaproject.org/volunteertrip for more information.

______________________________
Contact Norris at comment@thechaplain.net or @chaplain or (843) 608-9715. We have raised 80% for a new library. Learn more at chispaproject.org/thechaplain

 

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New Column From Norris Burkes

Subject:
Would it be OK to use guest columnist?


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Editors,

Just a question -- Would you object to me using a guest columnist twice a year or so?

I would write introduction of the guest and then let him or her write 500 words.

Thoughts?

 

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