I love this book by this Anglican housepainter and musician Tyler Blanski! Someone referred to it as "apologetics..." well, sort of, but not in any systematic way: it's more of a romp through the author's mind, heart, and daily pathways that reveals his passion for scripture, sacraments, Jesus, liturgy, and tradition; it also chronicles a few of his conversations with friends. Not only is it not systematic, the book doesn't seem to have any kind of organizing principle, but that's absolutely fine for a volume of fewer than 200 5" x 8" pages that's set in an easily readable sized font. I could discern no obvious "organizing principle," yet maybe there is one, after all, since according to Tyler, we need to reclaim and celebrate the mysterious, the magical, the miraculous, the unexpected, and the unexplainable, and thus we need to listen to, harken to, and hear the voice of the divine "when donkeys talk," (Balaam's ass in Numbers 22) or whenever various other less credible happenings occur in our midst. The only real trouble I have is his frequent use of "Christendom," a word most contemporary Christians have obliterated from their consciousness and their vocabulary. Yes, I get it's about the domain of the Christ, but to me Christendom still evokes empire rather than grace, justice, and love. Lately we've been seeing, reading, and hearing "Kingdom" a lot, too... again, the realm ruled by Christ the King, but that one I can live with a little more easily.
Tyler Blanski himself comes alive on these pages! I hope you'll read When Donkeys Talk, so I won't spoil it for you by revealing any more.
You can read more on Tyler Blanski's site.
my amazon review: mystery, magic, miracle...
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