I’m reading some of George W. Bush’s Decision Points. It seems that people either love W. or hate him. Personally, I find him likable as a person, even though he made many decisions that I disagreed with.
Bush is no more concerned with defending himself in the book than he was as president. If you liked him, you will like the book. If you didn’t like him, the book most likely will not change your mind. What I am enjoying is the personal side of someone who’s public side was always very visible. It reminds me that the politicians we watch on TV are real people.
I wonder if politics would be more civil if politicians always remembered that their opponents had spouses, dogs, and loved to get away for the weekend. I am quite certain that church disagreements would come to quicker resolution if we treated each other with the respect due to brothers and sisters in the Lord.
I’m also reading The Last Patriot by Brad Thor. This is a birthday present from my daughter. Its a great suspense novel filled with politics, exotic locations, and history.
Finally, I’m reading Holy Conversations by Gil Rendle and Alice Mann. Rendle and Mann describe a strategic planning process for churches that is fully spiritual without abandoning any of the sound thinking found in secular planning research. They believe that planning should spin out of conversations about “what is truly important to us — what could we do that would add meaning to our lives?”