Comments on: Reflections on summer reading http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2010/08/31/summer-reading/ Secularism, religion, and the public sphere Thu, 16 May 2013 19:41:38 +0000 hourly 1 By: Jill Schaeffer http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2010/08/31/summer-reading/comment-page-1/#comment-22342 Jill Schaeffer Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:37:48 +0000 http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/?p=17353#comment-22342 Well, I usually read one fender bender per summer. This year it was Heschel’s Heavenly Torah. And I’m still not finished with it: Akiva or Ishmael, or (inclusive or) Akiva and, when possible, Ishmael. One day, at a Presbytery meeting where the Moderator was rather concerned about the agenda, I quoted Heschel quoting Akiva. So it went like this:

“Moses goes over to the burning bush which is not consumed. Question: What kind of bush? Answer: It’s a thorn bush. Question: So why a thorn bush and not some other bush? Why did the Holy One choose a thorn bush? Answer: To show that the Holy One suffers with His people.

The moderator smiled.

Aside from Heschel, my bent always has been detective novels, with at least one Agatha Christie read for the umpteenth time. It’s wonderful to be serious about one book and frivolous with all the rest. Summer Reading should not be planned (except for one book, perhaps). It should be spontaneous, uneventful, totally inconsequential. It should be fun. If I keep “shoulding,” I kill the whole thing. Welcome back fall and serious reading. Blessings everybody.

]]>