ZEDS Blog


I enjoy the essays of Dafoe, Addison, and Samuel
Johnson, all of which were published in pamphlets. Pamphlets were in vogue from 1650-1800, providing writers a forum to express views on politics, society, religion, and art. This has been revived in modern times in the form of blogs.

This is now a slight revamp of my blog that started in 2008.
My reading has become a little more specialized, although previous books commented on show I was heading this direction. At this point I will review mainly Christian texts or other texts from a Christian perspective. I intend to post more regularly with book reviews.

I consider reading and writing as part of the spiritual
journey toward maturity and, I hope, wisdom. These are postings of what I’m learning along the way.

Rod Zinkel, August 19, 2015


Sunday, November 15, 2015

Living With a Practical Brave Heart


Living the Braveheart Life is a motivational book by Randall Wallace, the writer of the film Braveheart. In this book he describes the characteristics of and actions taken by the ‘braveheart’, a way of living for every person. William Wallace, the historical figure of the film, and the film itself, illustrate this way of living, marked mainly by courage. Much of the book is autobiographical, illustrating the universals with his personal experience. Wallace writes of relationships, especially his relationship with his father. (This is reflected in the film, though briefly. In the book Wallace is able to expand on it.) He also writes of his relationship with his sons, mother, wife, colleagues.

Those who like the film may take an interest in Wallace’s thoughts behind the story – on the figure of William Wallace, the relationships between characters, etc. – and some of the circumstances in Wallace’s life he associates with the film.  

Overall the book’s theme is what a braveheart is and does. The braveheart life includes fitness, ignoring pain but acknowledging wounds, always learning and teaching, loving of stories, embracing mystery, living a lifelong campaign. It is not a hard heart. It is a “crucial point” to Wallace’s philosophy that “the heart that is brave is not ours; it is God’s” (182).   

Reading this just after reading a chapter of Ravi Zacharias tells me how motivational and inspirational books are similar, but may connect better than other books with certain demographics, based on the metaphors and images the authors use. The chapter I read of Zacharias’s book, The Grand Weaver, will connect, in part, because of the exotic culture of India he uses, (exotic being foreign or alien to Western readers). It will also connect with those who take interest in arts and crafts, as Zacharias uses the details of intricate rug-weaving to illustrate points. Living the Braveheart Life is likely to connect with different demographics, most likely with men. Both books offer good reading for Christians.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Ah, book reviews very welcome. Having a go at Jules Verne again. Just off Dasheill Hammett, Mickey Spillane, Max Collins and S.ACDoyle. Will use this as extension of my 'Endeavor' subscription.
As Ever, your friend,
M P Riley

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See the latest on Sheepshead Review, UWGB's Journal of the Arts:

www.uwgb.edu/sheepshead


Chapbook: Two Natures

The Neville Museum series has published a chapbook of 15 of my poems. They are of human and spiritual natures. Here are two poems from the book:

Two Natures

On still water of the pond
two natures you may notice--
where scum has been gathering,
there also grows the lotus.

One Way

There's a boy
who stands knee-high
to a July cornstalk.
He stares one way
down the dirt road
his mother has gone.
He find Fortune
has desrted him,
like the poverty-stricken,
society-forbidden parent.
"I can't take care of you," she said.
I am the child who mirrors
his mother's tears without knowing why?