Subtitle: Simple Musings on Living Well

This is a collection of essays written by Philip Gulley, a Quaker minister; they are organized according to the Bible verse: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; etc.

I love Gulley’s writings, and particularly like his novels featuring Sam Gardner, pastor of a Quaker meeting house in small town Indiana.

In these essays he waxes poetic on gardening, birth stories, the advantages of front porches and stone patios, a child’s joy in exploring the woods, the pitfalls of gossip, the loyalty of neighbors and the joys of love. There is a nostalgia to his descriptions that recalls my own childhood and just brings a smile to my face (and to my heart). Gulley can get a little preachy at times, but that’s to be expected, as ministry is his life, and his personal reflections on the meaning of that life are bound to come out in his essays. There is still plenty or room for humor, however.

Having just lost a dear friend in the past two weeks, this was the perfect read at this time of my life. Gulley’s writings give me great comfort and a sense of peace. ( )

I guess I should have known that this book wasn't going to be about "psychology", like the used book sellers at the church said-- about real people and human characteristics. I really should have known better than to think that a Christian book was going to help me. Should I be surprised that a Christian couldn't really tell me about life? Couldn't I have guessed that this was going to just be a succession of so many trite anecdotes (one of which could almost have been lifted from "The King of Queens", except that the guy's too pious to watch television, so he wouldn't know.... although the comparison is probably unfair to James, Remini, and Stiller.... although you know what I mean when it comes to formulaic anecdote-production), and the excavation of the same tired old Bible thoughts, like, read the Bible! Trust in Christ! Suffer the believer's tribulations gladly! It's a blur of Bible tropes. And it shouldn't have really come as a surprise that the only actual mention of "psychology" would come as a bit of dismissive hand-waving about them new-fangled ideas. In fact, new-fangled customs are consistently represented as being less worthy than old-fangled ones, if you will. (Just as you would expect from this most liberal of all Christians.) And of course this isn't just generational bias, no. In fact it's implied that this is all because of God's Word. He implies that prim small-town ways are the best and that's written in the Bible as a fact, and he's only half-joking. Music was the best before 1940--before the perversions of Buddy Holly and Elvis, I guess-- and movies used to be sweet wholesome little morality tales about cowboys who assassinated each other in saloons, sandlot baseball was more pure and children would frolic in the glen like deer or butterflies or something, newspapers used to be not only fountains of civic wisdom but a valuable source of employment for adolescent boys working as apprentices-- he literally seemed to prefer that to university training-- and of course, the sky was bluer, the grass was greener, America was a land of backyard gardens, and sex was less pleasurable. And people were just "nicer" and more trustworthy back then, because all they did was put on little neighborhood re-enactments of the events of "The Sound of Music".... Such is the Truth of Christ, little ones.
But there's also a less friendly side than mere quaint uselessness. Of course in the good old days before killing pagans became impractical, Mighty God would "zap" people for believing in their own chosen gods and goddesses.... but, get this-- hey, aren't I relevant!-- people still have "idols" today, and God's still upset about that. People who listen to rock music are taking big risks with their immortal souls. (The message to the girl from Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'": You can't have Elvis and Jesus; you must choose only one! What are you, gonna cheat on Jesus, you little b--) Guys who prioritize their career and the needs of their families over that of the missionaries in Asia (who have better things to do than take care of some little girl, these are real men, with a cosmic mission!) and think that doesn't make them a benighted heathen too, girls who think that attention to feminine beauty-- "vanity, vanity, you girls are all filled with vanity!" (liberal Christians call themselves "nice to women", but they put the bar so low that they're bound to trip over it.... 'Hey, "Saint" Paul, what's your take on women?', 'An obstacle inbetween Man and God, but don't worry, just let them feel prim and superior compared to pagan girls they feel jealous of, and you can kick them in the head as many times as you want and get away with it.' 'Okay, but I'm a liberal Christian; I'm gonna try to find a new and fair kind of demonization of women and sexuality which is compatible with the old.' 'Stupid hypocrite! Be more consistent! Just steal all their mirrors and their shoes and everything they love and kick them in the head! Or else be a real loser and don't hate and resent them at all!')-- isn't going to land them straight in Hell, four levels below Hitler, who despite his flaws-- and doesn't Christ forgive everyone, except for that unspeakable Lydia Bennet-- at least wasn't lewd or anything like people are today.... and young adults who think that sexuality is part of maturity-- if you can meet a possible future spouse there; it's not the place where you should be! Go to church, dammit! Meet your spouse there! And so help me God, don't try to meet people at church, listen to the preaching! ("Abandon your wife and children, and come follow me.") What are you, a pervert? Trying to meet people, at church! This is not that kind of place! I don't know where you'd get that idea!-- and not an unnatural curse placed on our debased existence.... and people who kill.... *shrugs* be careful about that too, you might go to jail or something.... and besides, it's part of our Laws, the Ten Commandments!.... anyway, all the people like that are idol-pagans, and they're goin' to Hell, and in the good old days of the Crusades, when pornography was banned in New York City by the Pope himself, that bad bad stuff wouldn't have probably happened at all! Nothing bad happened in the world before 1967 when the BBC legalized rock music, (remember that, liberal Christians, it's on God's test!), except for one or two things before that, like the events that followed "The Sound of Music", and the events of "The L-Shaped Room", and anyway in the good old days a girl losing everything she had because she got 'in trouble' because of sex wouldn't have mattered anyway, because it's not a wholesome story like sandlot baseball or cowboys trying to murder each other in a rural crime hotspot, or a polite topic of conversation, like Fordyce's Sermons Attacking Young Women. Ah, yes, the good old days-- when nothing bad happened to upright Christians, because if it did, they deserved whatever they got because they weren't good people to begin with.
Yes, the good old days. Back when everyone in the castle village was a Christian, and if they weren't they were damn afraid of getting found out, and ending up far, far below the castle, in a cold, dark place.... Yes, it was a simpler world by far. A world of Christmas carols and prejudice, a world without troublesome diversity of thought or the troublesome notion that the neighbors might be doing something you disapprove of in their own house. It was a world of a gentle snow falling on a country cottage in mid-winter; it was a world that was good for the people that really mattered. Nestled in a little cocoon of repression, they were safe from the outer tempests of what could have been their lives.
And they certainly didn't need any sentimentality, romance, beauty, or ballet-- scandal! No, they had Christ, they had their grim little preacher man, 'making all his nowhere plans for nobody', and a very special little tome from.... well, the good old days, back when the sons of Israel divided up their little world, good and fair.... yes, they had all that, and that was all.... that, anyone needed.
*shakes head* I hate to be the one who knows who doesn't do it right; I'm reluctant about that-- which is why I let things like this stupid book get foisted on me, like an idiot-- but every time I start to think that the Christians aren't so bad, they prove me wrong: again and again and again.
I'm actually quite disappointed with myself, for having wasted my time in so avoidable a fashion.
Mediocre is far too kind a word, but let's just call it that, and be done with it.
(7/10) ( )

This series of essays is based on the famous poem in Ecclesiastes 3 (also famously set to music as "Turn, Turn, Turn"), which begins, "For everything there is a season…." Phil Gulley, the author of the Harmony novels and several other books, pens an essay for each of the balanced short phrases in the poem, such as "A Time to Seek" and "A Time to Lose."

Like most of Gulley's writing, these chapters are rooted in his careful observation of his small town Indiana neighbors. These are gentle writings, but deliberate ones, offering moments of truth and grace in the ordinary moments of life. Gulley's wants seem small, and he encourages the reader to opt for a simpler view of life. He is as excited describing an annual minister's conference at a local state park as many people are about luxury vacations.

The chapters are as varied as the poem's lines, incorporating stories about death, dancing, preschool, pet peeves, movies, silence, and so many other things. For many, these are but the mundane pieces of our lives. Gulley finds meaningful truths underlying them, serving as a model of how most overworked, overstressed, cynical people could find more joy in their lives by simply appreciating what they already have.

Unfortunately, and unlike Gulley's other writing, a few of these essays seem a bit lacking. As a fan of Gulley's, this is difficult to admit, but certain parts felt like they were written in haste to meet a publishing deadline; as such, they lack the buoyancy and insight of many of Gulley's stories, feeling a bit perfunctory and pat. Gulley himself admits a certain frustration with this book: in an introduction entitled "Disclaimers and Dedications" he writes that some of the chapters were a struggle to write, which might reflect his own frustration with parts of this project.

Still, this is mostly a quibble considering the wealth of enjoyable and edifying stories in this book. If the entire project is not quite up to Gulley's usual standards, many parts of it certainly are. Given that most people trying to help people find joy in buying more things, going new places, or uncovering "the secret" of life, its refreshing to read someone who appreciates the life he already lives and who encourages us to do the same. ( )

Great stories that after your done reading will make you feel good. Better than the Chicken Soup books. ( )