LITERARY SPIRIT \ Religion in the media

"The Tulip & amp; The Pope" by Deborah Larsen (Alfred A. Knopf, 256 pages, $24)
At 19, Deborah Maertz took a taxi with several friends to the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dubuque, Iowa. They smoked their last cigarettes, passed the remains of the packs to the cabbie and walked inside to become nuns.
It was 1960. The young women were serious about their pursuit. But what does someone that age know of day-by-day, year-by-year convent life? Can she know enough about living, or about desire, to make such a pledge?
In direct yet evocative prose, the author takes readers along as she exchanges her Sunday best for black serge and begins a life in which almost every moment is different from what she's known, though she grew up in a devout household.
Readers also follow as she contemplates her devotion and decisions. Studying Catholic poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, reading in the convent library, and hearing theologian Paul Tillich have led her to decide that traditional marriage can be spiritual and holy. Today, she celebrates a happy marriage, a writing and teaching career, and continuing faith.
"Unlikely Angel" by Ashley Smith with Stacy Mattingly (William Morrow, 272 pages, $24.95)
For Ashley Smith, a 2 a.m. run to the store for cigarettes turned into one of life's defining moments. When she returned to her apartment, she was taken hostage by Brian Nichols, a prison inmate who had escaped from an Atlanta courthouse after a deadly shooting spree in March.
In "Unlikely Angel," she recounts the seven tense hours she spent with him.
The gist of her story was well-publicized -- how she attributed her survival and release to God -- but the book offers details about her life before it intersected with Nichols.
From the beginning of the ordeal, she asks God to help her establish a rapport with her captor. She pleads with Nichols to let her live for the sake of her daughter, whose father was murdered.
Her internal dialogue with God is realistic, allowing readers to put themselves in her shoes.
While the book reads like the preliminary script for a Lifetime movie, the story is compelling. The first part moves quickly, as Smith wonders whether she is going to live or die. And the epilogue offers hope.
"Cinema Nirvana" by Dean Sluyter (Three Rivers Press, 304 pages, $14)
This may be the first spiritual book to draw from the Bible, the Dalai Lama's teachings, Bob Dylan limericks and Mel Brooks' "Spaceballs." The result is equal parts inspiring, quirky, fascinating and fun.
Dean Sluyter, a meditation instructor and former film critic, uses elements found in famous Hollywood movies, ranging from "Casablanca" and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" to "Independence Day" and "Memento," to draw parallels with humanity's spiritual quest.
In his eyes, James Bond's gadget-filled Aston Martin from "Goldfinger" symbolizes the fluid sense of self and the openness required for spiritual practice. John Williams' menacing theme from "Jaws" reflects the "two-engine stroke of dualism" and the menacing presence of the shark.
Some conclusions are a bit strained, but overall, "Cinema Nirvana" will make you look at film and faith in a new light.
"The Contraception Guidebook" by William Cutrer and Sandra Glahn (Zondervan, 235 pages, $14.99)
Contraception. Birth Control. Family planning. Say the statements and you'll almost always evoke some strong response, particularly within the Christian community.
Dr. William Cutrer, an obstetrician-gynecologist, teams up with journalist and professor Sandra Glahn to write a comprehensive guide for Christian couples. Backing up their findings with medical expertise and, where possible, the Bible, this book is one in a series from the Christian Medical Association. But don't let the academic associations and wordage scare you away; the authors write in a relaxed personal manner.
For most newlyweds, the "having children" conversation -- that dares to ask when and how many -- is not an easy one. The questions at the end of each chapter are a safe place for most couples to begin. The authors dedicate almost 50 pages to appendixes, glossary and resources chock-full of help. They also provide an accessible handbook for Christian counselors and pastors.
"We Jews" by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz; Translated by Yehuda Hanegbi and Rebecca Toueg (Jossey-Bass, 224 pages, $24.95)
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, a professor and prolific writer, has thought deeply about the state of Judaism today and the divisive issues affecting his people politically, spiritually and in matters of identity.
He defines those issues here in 12 chapters, each exploring a different question.
"Are we a nation or a religion?" Neither, he says. Jews are a family, defined in the Bible as the House of Israel.
"What is our role in the world?" The Torah instructs the House of Israel to be a nation of priests, a holy people bearing the "burden of the kingdom of heaven."
The questions are pointed, and the answers can be difficult to swallow. But Rabbi Steinsaltz is an acknowledged leader in his faith, and his analyses merit attention.
"The Mystical Language of Icons" by Solrunn Nes, William B. Eerdmans, 112 pages, $30). European iconographer Solrunn Nes offers a fascinating survey of Christian icons, covering artistic technique, historical context and theological commentary accompanied by full-color images of her work. She explains that icons, literally, are holy images that refer to teachings of the Orthodox church. Artistically, icons are conventional works, bound by prescribed form and content and representative of community faith. Also interesting are the step-by-step photographs at the beginning of the book that show the process of icon painting.
"Where God Was Born" by Bruce Feiler, William Morrow, 405 pages, $26.95). The author documents an arduous, sometimes harrowing trip through the Middle East as he explores the history of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. He argues that the faiths share common roots and were born in a spirit of tolerance. Readers may not share the author's passion for accommodation among the faiths. But the book is worth reading for its description of ancient sites mentioned in the Bible and for Feiler's engaging travel narrative.
"An End to Suffering" by Pankaj Mishra (Picador, 404 pages, paperback, $15)
"To have faith in one's history," writes Pankaj Mishra, "is to infuse hope into the most inert landscape and a glimmer of possibility into even the most adverse circumstances."
It's moments like these, epiphanies of such profound clarity and depth expressed with simple eloquence, that keep readers turning the pages.
Equal parts memoir, historical novel and textbook, there are many points at which Mishra's literary hybrid could have gone terribly awry. But like a chemist working with a potentially unstable solution, the author is careful, overall, to keep the disparate elements seamlessly tied together.
Mishra is a natural storyteller, and he's at his strongest when he uses those gifts to meditate on his personal journey -- and at times, his sheer frustration -- with the Buddha, noting the resentment he feels towards Westerners whose easy conversions to Buddhism have been facilitated largely out of economic privilege, rather than necessity.
Knight Ridder Newspapers