A Tale of Two Young Men

Anything that Nikki Grimes writes is going to be "Christian."

Even if it isn't cataloged as such, or published by Zondervan or the like.

That's because (I think- I mean, I don't know her and I haven't read anything about her faith) she is a Christian.

Being a Christian is in all that Christians do, right?  Like being Jewish is in all that Jews do, or being Hindi is in all that Hindus do.

This was the first Christian-labeled Nikki Grimes book I have read and I loved it just as much as I have loved her other books.

Christian or not, writing about God or not writing about God, Grimes is an incredible writer. Just so gifted and insightful and fresh and- blessed.

This is the story of two boys who grown into young men.  Two men of faith.  One you know, Ishmael of the Bible.  And one you don't know, but will love as soon as you meet him, Sam, whose father has fallen in love with another woman, has divorced Sam's mother and is marrying this new woman.

The parallels between Ishmael and Sam are clear.  Sam's father's new wife is white.  Ishmael's mother, Hagar, is black.  They both become old step-brothers.  They both feel (and are) left by their fathers.  And they both have amazing faith in their Father.  But very real faith, one that questions Him, and the great thing we know is, God is okay with that!

Fantastic book.

The Blame Game

Adam and Eve were just like us, man. Well just like me. Today I started the Bible in a Year program and read Genesis 1:1-3. It is hard not to read through it all quickly because I've read it before and everybody knows the Creation story and the Apple story, but I tried to slow down and noticed again what Adam and Eve did as soon as they were busted by God for eating of the wrong tree. As we know, Adam blamed God first for giving him Eve and then Eve for giving him the fruit and then Eve blamed the snake.
It was your fault! It was her fault! It was the snake's fault!
I am big on personal responsibility, as I have talked about on here a lot. And I know that it is something with which I struggle. Reading this again makes me realize it is a struggle as old as time.

Reading through the Bible

I mentioned that I was attempting to read through the Bible this year and so far, I am on track. Of course, it is only the tenth day of January! Today I finished half of Genesis. Man I had forgotten how truly weird the stories in Genesis are. God in the OT sure is different from God in the NT. Now I know that isn't really true. God is the same and stays the same. What I really mean is those who wrote the OT and the folks who wrote the NT had totally different reasons for writing. They were totally different types of writers, types of people. For me, reading the Bible isn't something that I can do without looking at a bunch of commentaries and spending time in prayer after I read the text for the day so it takes a long time. Time well spent! I'm just saying it takes me a long time!
Then there are the parts of the OT that I just skim, skim and skim! Like those long genealogies! I am sure there are folks who get into them but not me. I can see why the Bible in a Year guides mix the OT and NT. If I just had to read all OT for a bunch of days in a row, I know I would have given up by now!