LITERARY SPIRIT \ Religion in the media

"Born to Kvetch" by Michael Wex (St. Martin's Press, 303 pages, $24.95)
Yiddish, the author suggests, is the language of Jewish subversion.
It seems to be mostly Old German with bits of Polish, Russian, Hebrew and other languages threaded through it. But the idioms, ah, the idioms! Only someone steeped in the culture, beliefs and rituals of Eastern European Jewish life over the past couple of centuries can really understand.
The book goes into word-by-word analysis of hundreds of Yiddish expressions that only a serious student of languages will want to follow. But some of it is funny -- the intricate curses and insults are an art form. And it captures and explains the humor and philosophy encapsulated in the word "kvetch," which means much more than simply "complain."
"The Power of Forgiving" by Everett L. Worthington Jr. (Templeton Foundation Press, 96 pages, $12.95)
Forget about forgiving and forgetting, writes psychologist Everett L. Worthington Jr.
"Forgiveness requires remembering, not forgetting," he advises. "When we forgive, memory is not erased. Rather, it is transformed."
Worthington is no amateur in the business of forgiving. His mother was killed by intruders in a robbery. Weaving his own experience with research and the teachings of the world's religions, he packs much hard-won wisdom into this little book.
He makes a compelling case for forgiving not only others but also oneself, and offers specific insight and instruction on the process as a path to spiritual peace.
Interwoven throughout the volume are quotes of poets, philosophers and others, such as the Chinese proverb, "The man who opts for revenge should dig two graves."
Consider this book a profound primer on the subject, one you can read in an hour -- and reread and ponder for many hours to come.
"Renovation of the Heart" by Dallas Willard and Randy Frazee (NavPress, Interactive Student Edition, 218 pages, $9.99)
If you've read anything by Dallas Willard, a philosophy professor at the University of Southern California and author of "The Divine Conspiracy," you know he's no lightweight. He compels his readers to contemplate, underline and reread heavy passages to grasp his ideas.
Author Randy Frazee has taken on the task of rewriting Willard's "Renovation of the Heart" for a younger audience. Frazee, a longtime student of Willard's, keeps to the format and concepts of the original book, in which the professor tackles a central question of the Christian faith: how to be more like Christ.
The student edition is designed for a group study and adds four new features: Read Out Loud, Activities, Group Prayer and a Wrap Up that involves the student's writing of a "Personal Renovation Plan." This is a great study for a get-down-to-business youth group or even a place to begin for readers who couldn't seem to wade through Willard's "adult" version.
"Too Small to Ignore" by Dr. Wess Stafford with Dean Merrill (Waterbrook Press, 266 pages, $16.99)
Jesus' message to the disciples was clear: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God." (Mark 10:14)
The book is an outgrowth of Stafford's work as president and CEO of Compassion International, a worldwide ministry to children.
Stafford makes his case through vivid stories of his life growing up as the son of missionaries in a tiny West African village called Nielle. Though he finds love, kindness and nurturing in Nielle, he cannot escape the cruelty that goes on at his missionary boarding school many miles away.
The book is a compelling battle cry for leaders and even churches to change the way they think about and treat God's little ones.
"The Four Seasons of Marriage" by Gary Chapman (Tyndale House Publishers, 218 pages, $22.99)
Marriages, he says, are like the seasons, shifting back and forth from spring with all its hopes and possibilities, to the happy contentment of summer, to the coolness of fall and sometimes finally to winter, cold and bleak.
The stories from couples he has counseled are riveting and instructive. It becomes clear that even in spring and summer marriages, there are minefields. Equally clear is that each season holds potential for growth if couples are willing to work at it.
What Chapman, author of the best-selling "The Five Love Languages," aims to do is give couples tools to be successful. The book includes a study guide with discussion questions and Scripture, and provides suggestions for enhancing marriage in any season.
"The Rosary" by Garry Wills (Viking, 185 pages, $24.95)
For Garry Wills, devotion to the rosary is highly personal. The noted author and lifelong Catholic writes of reciting it while awaiting the birth of his first child, while walking in strange cities at night, while jogging in Venice.
But one doesn't need such a "backlog of associations" to embrace the rosary, he writes. Repeating its prayers while marking one's progress tactilely is a form of meditation, "one way of entering into oneself," where God awaits.
This small, tenderly written guide is in two parts. The first is a brief history of the rosary (its name comes from the Latin rosarium, meaning "rose garden," a symbol of love). The second is a discussion of the "mysteries," the wondrous events in the New Testament that Catholics are instructed to contemplate as they say their Hail Marys and Our Fathers.
"The Great Theft" by Khaled Abou El Fadl (Harper San Francisco, 308 pages, $21.95)
In this work, Khaled Abou El Fadl makes a careful yet impassioned plea for moderate Muslims to reassert control of the Islamic religious tradition.
As a scholar equally at home with classical Islamic law and Western legal traditions, his presentation of Islam is multifaceted. He draws on developments in the Muslim community and a broad understanding of political and religious sociology to illuminate the situation of contemporary Muslims in relation to one another and the West.
El Fadl uncovers the origins of Islamic puritanism. He explains that this puritanism is an aberration from Islamic tradition and the daily life of most Muslims; and he tells why it's a potent threat to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
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