The Broken Circle

"The Broken Circle" by Rodney Barker (1992) is a well researched account of what was considered a racially motivated crime committed in 1974 against three Navajo men in Farmington, New Mexico. 

Geographically, Farmington is a "border" town on the eastern edge of the vast Navajo Nation and demographically, 70% of the population is caucasian and 16% Native American.  In 1974 race relations between the whites and the Navajos reached a boiling point due to the discovery of three brutally murdered Navajos.  Three teenage white boys admitted to the savage killings that were thereafter referred to as the Chokecherry Massacre.  While the killings were quite shocking, the people of the town and the nearby Navajo Nation were in complete disbelief when the three boys received light sentences in a juvenile facility.

The author of the book was traveling through Farmington in 1974 and inadvertantly participated in a civil rights protest scene during a parade and was jailed along with a number of native Americans.  While incarcerated, he learned more about the reasons behind the protest and felt compelled, as a journalist, to rally round the American Indian Movement.  Soon the "movement" lost momentum and his interest in the cause slowly waned.  He therefore moved away from the area to pursue other work and he only occasionally spoke of his brief involvement in the Indian civil rights movement in Farmington.

Fourteen years later, at an art show in Palm Springs, California, upon seeing a painting of the "Shiprock" peak that rises from the desert west of Farmington, he strikes up a conversation with the artist and hears something that renews his interest in the events of 1974.  What piqued his interest was Navajo witchcraft.   Following the art show, he finds himself back in Farmington to begin his chronicle of the murders in 1974 and the fates of the murderers. 

Primarily, the author traveled back to the Four Corners region to investigate the story about curses from a Navajo shaman placed upon the three murderers, and ends up with a 326 page journal covering the lives of everyone involved in the events: the murdered, the murderers, the surviving families, a Navajo Shaman, and a variety of people involved in the American Indian Movement and the Navajo Commission on Civil Rights.

Whether or not the murderers' fates fell to the curses of the Navajo shaman or were simply destiny could not be determined through the story telling.  I found that to be a disappointment due to the lead in of the author's promise of researching the mysterious. Instead of exposing the possibility of the supernatural as the cause of the three boys' ill fates, far too many paragraphs are dedicated to explaining the political processes of the various civil rights groups.  The racially motivated events in Farmington in 1974 are compared to the civil rights movements in Birmingham, Alabama, but not enough evidence is presented to substantiate such a comparison. 

Still however, the book is well written with rich vocabulary, great chronological journaling, and in-depth detail.

Pros

• Excellent background information on the crimes
• Geographic and demographic details of Farmington area
• Well-rounded presentation of several sides of the story

Cons

• Lengthy detail on the various political groups with no practical placement of the ideas
• Not enough time dedicated to the Navajo witchcraft contention that led him back to Farmington

"Each person is his own judge." ~ Native American quote

Rating:
4 of 5 Stars

The Five Love Languages

"The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman (1992, 1995, 2004) is a self-help book (it's ok Reverend, some self-help books are actually good for you!) aimed at understanding the loving heart of your companion.  Love is a many splendored thing, but it can be a very splintered thing as well.  How do you and your mate express and accept love?  Do you speak the same language?

Creation and DNA make us unique in every way, thought and action, however, there are generalities in the communication of love that Dr. Gary Chapman has identified and he calls them the five love languages:  Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service and Physical Touch.  Speculation here, but I'm thinking that a marriage counselor would find it difficult to find much humor in his clients woes, however he does inject some humor into the stories.  Although not great literature, Dr. Chapman translates each of the languages to the layman using real life examples and a down-to-earth style.

Basically the premise of the book is that everyone has an emotional "love tank" and yes, like a gas tank, it is either full, empty or somewhere in between.  Getting the love into the tank depends upon your love language and whether or not your partner speaks that language.  Remember this works both ways if you want your relationship to be happy and healthy!

So for example, if spending quality time with your mate keeps you happy as a clam at high tide, but your mate speaks the words of affirmation language, you're probably swimming in different directions and not filling up any love tanks.  In order to ride the same wave and keep a steady flow of love moving into the two tanks, each should learn the language of the other and practice it regularly. 

The good doctor says that everyone has a primary love language and that your love tank fills more quickly to that language than to the others.  If your love tank hits empty, your relationship could be in danger of ending.  However, if you understand and practice your partner's love language you can keep their tank full forever.  Discovering your and your partner's primary love language can be as easy as answering the short profiles provided at the end of the book.  In order for the discovery to be meaningful however, you should then find ways to express that love language to your partner.

So, if you find that no matter how many times you compliment your wife's cooking or how great she looks in those jeans, she still seems unhappy or low on love fuel, perhaps you haven't figured out that she really just wants you to spend more quality time with her doing things you used to do together when you first met.  What you are likely doing is expressing to her your primary love language of words of affirmation because you think that if it makes you feel happy, it must do the same for her.  On the other hand, if she thinks that asking you to go fishing or to the movies together every weekend is the way to your love tank, maybe you should let her know that you'd rather hear her say that she is excited about and appreciates the great work you did on your latest home improvement project.

Ultimately, the book isn't a solution to every ailing marriage or relationship, but certainly any partnership can benefit from conscience efforts to make the other person feel happy and loved and if the book helps you find insight into the quickest path to expressing love in the way your partner finds most meaningful, then it was worth the read. Generally speaking, the book offers great advice for anyone interested in giving and receiving love in a happy, healthy relationship.

Pros:

• Examples of the love languages come from Dr. Chapman's own clients
• The concepts are easy to understand
• Profiles for husband and wife at the back of the book

Cons:

• Christian slant (not that it is a con, I just wanted to mention it in case that isn't your style)
• Outdated ideas of modern relationships (Leave It to Beaver marriages are virtually over)
• Probably could have summarized each language in less words

"You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly."
          ~Sam Keen
Rating:
4 of 5 Stars

The Shack

"The Shack" by Wm Paul Young (2007) features one man's journey from tragedy to the trinity; from apathy to acceptance.  The story of Mackenzie Allen Phillips (apparently no relation to the actress Mackenzie Phillips), as related by his good friend, Willie, begins with not so subtle hints that something tragic will send "Mack" into a depression that is described as "The Great Sadness".  The story itself is not so much about the abduction and murder of Mack's youngest daughter, Missy, but about Mack's spiritual and emotional journey out of "The Great Sadness" that occurs four years after the tragedy.

The tale begins rather abruptly and it doesn't take long for the author to smack the reader with the telling of the tragedy that causes "The Great Sadness".  Still, the introduction of the horrible event early on is intriguing and does give the reader incentive to move past the vague references and awkward sentence structures that plague the first few chapters of the book. 

The forward of the book prefaces how Mack's spiritual growth was cut short in his early teens by an alcoholic father who punished him unmercifully for confessing to a church elder that his father was a mean, vicious drunk who beat his mother.  Remind me never to confess to a church elder because this one went straight to Mack's dad revealing the fact that his son could cause him trouble if he spilled his story to the police.  Mack's dad set out to teach Mack that what happens at home stays at home and ties Mack to a tree for two days of belt beatings and bible readings.  At the impressionable age of thirteen, the lesson inspired him to put rat poison into all of his father's hidden booze bottles and walk away from home forever.

Mack's character development on the subsequent journey from homeless teen to an older, married Mack with a guilty conscience, isn't expressed with enough depth for the reader to fully comprehend that much of Mack's enigma revolves around his lifelong contradiction of being in awe of, and simultaneously, angry with God.

Four years after his daughter's tragic kidnapping and murder, Mack receives an invitation from God ("Papa") to meet at the shack where his daughter's bloody clothes were found.  He accepts the invitation and what follows is what any true Christian would consider an unorthodox and unbelievable weekend at the "Shack" where Mack meets the Trinity of "Papa" (God) in the form of a large African woman, Jesus as a working man dressed in a flannel shirt (kind of the Jewish carpenter type and definitely the most believable character) and the Holy Spirit as a tiny Asian woman named Sarayu.  Each "person" leads Mack through a show and tell program aimed at assisting him through "The Great Sadness" and back onto the path of acceptance in the existence of God and the comfort provided through belief, even in a world of injustice and cruelty. 

Mack's anger with God provokes the journey and his awe of God creates his capability to accept the various depictions of the Trinity.  Of course, in the end Mack learns the best lesson (the one his father couldn't teach him) in acceptance of the unequivocal love of God in the life we live regardless of its hardships, adversity and misfortunes.

The book is easy to read, but difficult to understand as it is in large part, the author's subjective discourse on theology.   However, difficult questions warrant difficult answers and Mr. Young does a good job in offering solace to Mack as he poses questions that many ask to God about the inhumane and unfair acts committed upon the innocent.

For a person who was raised devoid of spiritual faith, the book was a stretch for my reading list, as is most anything to do with a traditional belief in God, but the author's use of unusual characters to represent God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit helped to open my mind to an understanding that a disregard of mainstream religion does not negate one's unique and personal transformation of mind and spirit regarding the acceptance of and satisfaction in, the life we choose to live.

Pros:

• "The Shack" is easy to read
• "The Shack" offers insight into some of life's big questions about God and fairness
• "The Shack" explores the nature of free will

Cons:

• Character development is minimal
• Dialogue is forced
• Sentence structure is awkward

"“There's too much tendency to attribute to God the evils that man does of his own free will.”
     ~Agatha Christie

Rating:
3 of 5 Stars