Lisa notes

Is This Really Nonfiction? 3 Books Almost Too Weird to Be True
—Nonfiction November

By LisaNotes November 22, 2021 Books I Recommend 12 Comments

The theme for week 4 of Nonfiction November is “Stranger than Fiction.” Link up with Christopher at Plucked from the Stacks.

Here are 3 nonfiction books I’ve read this year that almost don’t seem real.

1. Leaving the Witness
Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life
by Amber Scorah

Amber Scorah was living her life as a faithful 3rd generation Jehovah’s Witness. But little by little, she began to see cracks in her religion. And she wanted out, even though she was now an undercover preacher in China. This is her story.

“Was I a good person? The righteous war of black versus white, right over wrong, good against bad, had given meaning to my life. It was comfortable to know that everyone was wrong and you were right.

“I had known who I was by which side I was on. But there are not only two sides, there are thousands of dimensions to things.

“Living in uncertainty is humbling and terrifying. Uncertainty is pain.”

2. The Biggest Bluff
How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win
by Maria Konnikova

Is it possible for a journalist to to learn how to play poker and become a professional tournament winner in a year? This book is about far more than just the game of poker though. Konnikova also learned lessons about how chance works in life.

“Here was the cruel truth: we humans too often think ourselves in firm control when we are really playing by the rules of chance.”

“More often than that, it’s not the best hand that wins. It’s the best player.”

“Thus my first real poker lesson isn’t about winning. It’s about losing.”

3. How God Works
The Science Behind the Benefits of Religion
by David DeSteno

This isn’t actually about how God works per se, but about how religion works. DeSteno shares fascinating research about religious rituals among many belief systems from around the world.

“Uncertainty in the realms of morality and fate—the realms that religions dominate for many people—is taxing not only because it requires the brain to simulate so many options, but also because of the emotional consequences involved. And it’s here that belief comes into play.

“With belief—that God will intervene, that a ritual will heal, that a choice never to lie or cheat ensures the best outcomes—comes certainty.

“And with certainty comes a kind of inner peace.”

[more thoughts here on How God Works]

Have you read a nonfiction book that seemed almost too strange to be true? Share in the comments.

READ MORE:

Three of the Best Books on Writing I’ve Read This Year (Week 3)
Why Fiction and Nonfiction Books Are More Alike Than You Think (Week 2)
7 New Books to Make You a Better Person (Week 1)

One Word 2021 Linkup for November + FILL OUT THIS SURVEY

By LisaNotes November 21, 2021 One Word Community 7 Comments

It’s time for the monthly linkup about your ONE WORD!

1. Revisit any initial writings you had about your word at the beginning of 2021. Do you view your word differently now than you did then?

2. What are two or three lessons you’ve learned as you’ve journeyed these months with your word?

Take the Survey

Will you take this 1-minute survey about your experience with our One Word 2021 community? Should we offer the group again for 2022?

There are 6 simple questions to gauge interest for continuing together into 2022. All answers are anonymous.

Thank you!

This linkup for ONE WORD will remain open from November 21-30.

The next ONE WORD linkup will open on December 21.

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Link Up About Your One Word!

Do You Have to Spell It Out for God?
—Grace & Truth Linkup

By LisaNotes November 19, 2021 Grace & Truth Link-Up, Prayer 10 Comments

The Curse of Knowledge

“Mom, you’re not always clear. If you know what you want, it’s okay to ask for that. Be specific.”

My daughter Jenna is right. Sometimes I don’t make myself clear to others.

When I already know what I mean in my head, my words can take a shortcut. We all do this occasionally. It’s called the “curse of knowledge” bias.

I assume others are at the same starting point about the situation as I am. So I leave out details. I forget to add, “and can you please call me?” after I say, “I am hurting.”

Wouldn’t everybody already know that?

No. Of course not. It’s too much (as well as impossible anyway) to ask of each other. None of us are mind readers.

Well, except one.

He Already Knows

God knows us inside and out. We don’t have to explain ourselves to him. Or justify ourselves. Or try to convince him of anything.

Because God made us out of love and sustains us out of love, he is always acting out of love for us already.

Love is God’s default position toward us.

Granted, we might get in our own way of receiving his love. Or other people may try to block it. Or life itself can make us doubt it.

But his knowledge of us and his love for us are always there.

Because of this, when we talk with God, we can pray with confidence that he needs no backstory. We may go into detail if WE need to talk it out for ourselves, but we don’t have to fill in every detail for God’s sake.

We don’t have to get our wording just right for him to understand. Or to persuade him to act.

He knows. He loves. He acts.

We may need to continue spelling it out for each other (wise advice, Jenna).

But we don’t have to spell it out for God.

Featured Post—“Help Me, Jesus”

Lois explains it all so well.

“We don’t have to reiterate to God what we’re fretting about. He already knows.”

It’s okay to simply say, “Help me, Jesus.”

Read all of Lois’s post here at her blog, then link up your own blog posts below.

“HELP ME JESUS”

Are you an over- or underexplainer? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
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LAUREN SPARKS
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LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
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Click here to enter

My Antidote for Uncertainty

By LisaNotes November 17, 2021 Uncertainty: My One Word 2021 13 Comments

She’s Going to Fall…

Where is she?

I can’t find my little girl.

She was here just a second ago, but now she’s gone. I hear steps and look to my left. I see her blond hair swinging as she walks toward an outside staircase.

I begin running and call out to her.

But she doesn’t hear. She keeps walking.

Up the steps she goes. I know she’ll fall.

I must run faster.

The Invisible Nets

But she reaches the top of the staircase before I do. She does indeed fall, but she is caught. She is safe.

There is a net for such occasions.

I had not known of the net. It was hidden from my view.

I feel immense relief. Such as I’ve never felt before.

And I awake.

It has all been a dream, a nightmare, really. There was more (isn’t there always more in our dreams?), but the gist has stuck with me for over 30 years ago when I first dreamt it:

God has set up multiple safety nets around us, unbeknownst to us.

God is always loving our loved ones, even when we aren’t around. Our children, anything in our care really, aren’t our responsibility alone. They aren’t loved only by us. God loves them even more than we do.

And while yes, he primarily uses us to tend to those in our care, he also uses others. Sometimes we each step up and do our part.

But sometimes we don’t.

In those times, we pray the invisible safety nets will hold.

Uncertain of What, Not Who

As I reflect this month on my One Word of the year, UNCERTAINTY, I am reminded of that dream I had when my firstborn daughter was a baby.

It has brought me great comfort in my life.

But has it not promised any guarantees.

Life still happens. And death. Many types of deaths.

Sometimes someone has cut a hole in the safety net. Or the fragile body rejects being caught. Or we crawl out of the net ourselves.

Thus, uncertainty still frightens me (I believe; help my unbelief). I still long to fully understand each mystery, to find the complete instruction manual, to flood the whole path with light instead of one step at a time.

But I’m discovering my antidote to uncertainty is not more certainty.

It’s simply trust.

Not trust in what will happen next, but trust in who will be there when it does.

I can’t know the what. But I can know the who.

As I flounder through my current season of uncertainty, I’m finding a measure of peace in knowing God throws safety nets out here. For me. For those I love. And for all those he loves, which is everybody.

Even when I can’t see him, I can see we are his safety nets of love for each other.

May we each be found safe there.

Who are your safety nets?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Read More:

sharing at these linkups

Three of the Best Books on Writing I’ve Read This Year

By LisaNotes November 15, 2021 Books I Recommend 25 Comments

If you’re a writer of blogs or books or even social media posts, you may also be a reader of writing books.

Here are three favorite books on writing I’ve read this year.

This is Week 3 of Nonfiction November. The topic is Be/Ask/Become the Expert, linking up with Veronica at The Thousand Book Project.

1. Charitable Writing
Cultivating Virtue Through Our Words
by Richard Hughes Gibson

This book isn’t necessarily about HOW to write, but about WHY you write.

It presents writing as a spiritual discipline for you and as a blessing for those you write for.

2. Murder Your Darlings
And Other Gentle Writing Advice from Aristotle to Zinsser
by Roy Peter Clark

This is a vast collection from the best of 50 of the best books on writing. Not only does this book contain great writing advice, but you’ll end up with even more books about writing to add to your to-read list.

3. Storyworthy
Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling
by Matthew Dicks

Technically this isn’t a writing book at all. Rather it’s a book about oral storytelling. But isn’t writing also about telling stories? This is a fabulous and motivating book not only about sharing your life stories, but also about collecting and keeping track of them in the first place.

Do you read books about writing too? Share in the comments.

READ MORE ABOUT READING:

sharing at these linkups

What Is a Normal Reaction to Being Falsely Accused?

By LisaNotes November 12, 2021 Book reviews 17 Comments

I Did What???

We’ve all had this happen to us: a false accusation.

Someone has said something about us or to us about a flaw in our character or our behavior. And we know it’s not true.

How do we respond?

The normal reaction (which recently was mine, too) is anger. Sometimes a lot of anger, depending on the accusation.

And does that help resolve the situation? Rarely.

I Take My Coffee Black

In Tyler Merritt’s new book, I Take My Coffee Black: Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America, Tyler tells about being falsely accused of sexual misconduct when he was a youth minister at a church.

He knew it was not true. And it made him angry.

But even though he was innocent, he couldn’t shake the voices who accused him. Or even the voices in his head fueling more shame.

It took his mama’s voice to shake him awake to his true identity:

Tyler writes,

“My mom said, ‘Do not believe those lies. Do not let this man define you. Do you hear me, son?’ I could hear her, but only barely, because I was sobbing. This was the first time in weeks that anybody had confronted that loud voice of shame and dared to shout back.
Quiet, you.
Shut up!
You are a liar.
This does not change Tyler’s life.
This does not change Tyler’s effectiveness.
This does not change his worth.

I sat on that bench, soaking it all in, gulping it down like a man emerging from a desert. Sometimes, you just need to hear your mama’s voice reminding you of who you are.”

Tyler recovered by listening to voices of hope.

Before You Call the Cops

Tyler’s memoir continues with other stories about bad times and good times and everything in between. He’s brutally honest in his book about what it’s like to be six foot two and black with dreadlocks.

Tyler also writes about a time he was walking down the streets of Nashville wearing his wireless headphones, his sunglasses, and a bandana around his head. As he approached a crosswalk he saw an older white woman in a truck ahead of him.

And he knew. When he got closer, she would be afraid of him. Just because of who he was.

So before he approached her, he took off the hood of his sweatshirt to expose his face, he removed his sunglasses so she could see his eyes, and he put on the biggest, brightest smile he could.

But it didn’t help.

When the woman saw him, she still lost it. She was terrified.

If she’d only known she had nothing to fear.

Tyler was sad about it. He was angry about it, too.

And eventually he made a video to tell the world to see him, really see him, so they wouldn’t be so afraid.

Watch all 3 minutes here of “Before You Call the Cops.”

It’s incredibly moving.

Have you been wrongly accused? How did you handle it?

Share your thoughts in the comments.