Seven
Sins for a Life Worth Living
by Roger Housden
Harmony, 2005
review
by John
Tintera
One
of the ironies of modern Western civilization is that despite all
of our freedoms, we still haven’t figured out how to end the
“quiet desperation” at the heart of our lives. Faith,
family, and friends; volunteerism; and maybe even our careers provide
for a certain amount of contentment—but where’s the
abundance that Jesus promised? In his latest book, the
author of the Ten Poems Series and How Rembrandt Reveals
Your Beautiful Imperfect Self provides some helpful tips for
finding greater contentment in life.
The
“seven sins” mentioned in the title are not the traditional
deadly sins, but are tiny ways to rebel against some of the “thou
shalts” of modern life. These are: Thou shalt
race through your life; cram as many things into your day as possible;
do nothing impractical; fill your head with tons of information—especially
the daily news; never appear not to know; be a productive citizen;
and never ever make a mistake. While none of Housden’s remedies
are that original or drastic (thankfully!), he writes in such a
charming, winning style that just reading the book will make your
cup overflow.
For
many, the approach of middle age brings on a sense of loss or disappointment,
a wondering why our lives aren’t bigger or why we’re
not famous or more successful. Unlike when we were in school, where
achievement was clearly measurable, in the real world, true success
is much more elusive. Housden speaks to this by telling us a few
things about his own life, which for the most part was spent traveling
around the world seeking adventure. For many years he was a super-achiever,
but now he’s discovered a different sort of pleasure:
In
my living room, near the window, is a long table with a round
blue bowl on it. It must have been there for a year or more, but
it’s only recently that I’ve begun to notice that
large blue bowl. Even a week ago I barely knew it was there. Now
it fills me with pleasure, I don’t know why.
Comparing
the bowl, which is thick and ordinary, to a blue-collar worker,
he continues:
It
holds a few grubby finger marks, a scattering of dust, a solitary
lemon, and some long silver slivers of light from the window…
This morning I trailed my fingers over its welcoming lip, and
was surprised by the cool touch of china.
Through
the image of this bowl, Housden launches the reader into a wonderful
set of reflections on the pleasure of being ordinary. Here’s
how he concludes:
And
beneath our content or discontent is the deeper condition we all
share, whether we acknowledge it or not: we are here, we are human,
a glorious nothing much to speak of, whoever we are, an essential
flash in the pan whose purpose will always be in the living and
not in the telling…
Martin
Luther is reported to have said, “Be a sinner and sin boldly,
but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly for he is victorious
over sin, death, and the world.” The sins in this book are
not really sins at all, but small things anyone can do to recover
a sense of contentment amidst what Housden calls “the deluge”
of our days.
Copyright
©2006 John Tintera
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