This Weeks Enlightening Reads

The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore by Deepak Chopra

I was never a fan of Deepak Chopra, sometimes I think he talks out of his ear, but I was intrigued by the title of this book, I skimmed through it in the library and it looked interesting enough for me to at least give it a shot. At first, I had a huge chip on my shoulder, I thought "This guy is a flake", "He doesn't know Jesus from Joe". But I kept reading, because the more I read the better the book seemed. I didn't agree with some stuff he said, but some of what he wrote was enlightening. And by the end of the book, though still not of fan of Chopra's, I had to appreciate the effort that went into this book. He does admit he is not a commited Christian, which is why I initially thought this book would be full of bull, but maybe it takes someone who approaches the religion from the outside to see how it works (or doesn't). The chip is no longer on my shoulder, and I am thinking a little differently about Jesus. I cannot say this is the best inspirational book I've ever read, but it was worth the read.

I wanted to post a synopsis from Amazon, but there isn't one. However, they have loads of editorials about the book, all positive in praise. So I'm thinking that is a little one sided. So I will have to try and give a brief synopsis for you.

Deepak talks about Jesus and religion today. How today's Christian doesn't know the real Jesus, how the church hides and misuses doctrine. He takes passages from the Bible and attempts to explain them for the average person to understand. This is where the chip on the shoulder comes in, how can someone who is not Christian explain the Bible to me? However, he does a pretty good job, I think he's explained it better than people who have been Christian all of their life.

4/5 stars for This one.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

I've been avoiding this book since it came out. I don't know why, the premise seemed so sad. But it was in the library and I thought, WHY NOT. It was a quick read. The first two-thirds of the book was OK, it started like any other memoir, talked about childhood, marriage, life in general, dying...etc. The last third of the book grabbed my attention. He starts doling out the advice, things he's learned over the years. Things I have learned, but forgot or chose not to follow. Some of the writing is sophmoric, but the good intention was apparent. For myself, this came at the appropriate time, things were going real bad and going down hill fast. This book didn't cure it, but it helped me think about things differently, which made my day better.

From Publishers Weekly
Made famous by his Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon and the quick Internet proliferation of the video of the event, Pausch decided that maybe he just wasn't done lecturing. Despite being several months into the last stage of pancreatic cancer, he managed to put together this book. The crux of it is lessons and morals for his young and infant children to learn once he is gone. Despite his sometimes-contradictory life rules, it proves entertaining and at times inspirational.

4/5 Stars for This one.