Experiencing the Faith

I'm going through various audiobooks, fiction, history, sci-fi and the such to get me through the tedious tasks at work that don't require my brain. Data entry. (Sigh) I'll be happy to one day get back to the tasks that do need my brain, but anyway... Several of them have been written by atheists or non-believers, who make their beliefs on non-belief known in their works.
One book I could not finish because the topic that the title promised seemed to be less forthcoming as the author began to take more and more swipes at Judaism and Christianity and make more and more claims that his brand of humanism was correct and based in science. Well I wanted the science and all I got (maybe it was later in the book but he wasn't making it worth my while to stick around) was bad history and disagreeable philosophy.
Another book, an abridged Ayn Rand, was informative and tolerable. I agreed with her on some points but not on others. I'm with the mystics and I'm okay. I respect that in that version she didn't seem to think it worth her while to take many swipes.
I have finished a book by Arther C. Clark where I sense he did not understand people of faith and their faith. The story had aliens who come down bring peace and science and for some reasons this wipes away most (except some form of Buddhism) world religions. I'm not sure why this "science explains it all" is supposed to snatch away the power of the Cross.
The most dangerous, is a book I'm listening to in dribs and drabs. It's by an Anglican who describes himself as friendly to the faith but not a believer. Yeah, that sounds CofE to me. His book actually explains where some of the conflicting parts of the Bible, changes and I gather 'fads'/heresies in Christianity's history and some of the best evidence against believing. I told the Help to stay away from this book, he's not good with conflicting ideas.
With all the books I find myself being very thankful that I have experienced the hand and love of the Trinity. There are parts of my life that are downright mystical, and really hard to explain. I have experienced Christ in the hands and feet of his Church. I have experienced the Holy Spirit in ways that have shaken me and moved me and lead me to a better place. And of all that, I can not logically explain it. Heck I can't really explain some parts when the Help and I witness to each other. From the outside it can look mad.
This experience, fed by the practice, so far beats out the arguments against it for me. And I am thankful. Very thankful.

My important books

Sadly most are cookbooks

1. Curries without worries- For my faves of chicken curry, lamb curries, califlower & pea curry, and other good curries. The book needs to be copied for preservation.

2. How to Cook Everything- M. Bittman. For when I need a general idea of how to cook it.

3. Bistro Cooking. I had this book in grad school (History- UMASS). Never used it. After grad school (Library Science- UMCP) I discovered the lamb & garlic. Love the lamb & garlic.

4. Invention of Tradition. Eric Hobsbaum? As much as I love tradition.....

5. Bible- Please note this list is not in order of importance. No one version.

6. Book of Common Prayer.

7. Four Loves. CS Lewis. I like to review how I'm loving people (or not). I actually like reading this book, and refer back to it often.

8. Old House Journal (the book not the mag)- Renovation book, I got an old house. You figure.

9. Modern Archives Reader. Just for one article/chapter about not grandfathering in old records b/c the damned things managed to sit on the shelf untouched before you got there. Curses be to the earlier staff who took in all sorts of crap just to fill up their shelves. Now we have no space.

10. Frugual Gourmet Cooks with Wine- From here comes the chicken marsala and my standby pasta salad. This book s literally falling apart. I need to find another copy.

Oppressed Methodists

Who knew.
Well I guess studying early modern British history I was supposed to know, but didn't care. I'm listening to an audiobook that I have the darnest trouble wrestling my mind away from, which I need to do when work or home requires all my mental skills and I have to get off auto-pilot. This audiobook is of Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery by Eric Metaxas. Apparently Wilberforce's parents were very fearful of Methodist, which seems to have been too enthusiastic zeal for Jesus Christ and an annoying tendency to bring him into the world (seriously I have no idea what Methodists are about), tendencies. Through the biography of Wilberforce Methodism and Methodist tendencies tend to be this boogeyman that others worried about. It seems Methodists weren't too keen on theater.
The author seems to pit milquetoast Anglicanism against enthused Methodism, which this is my first of hearing of this. Now I know of limp Anglicanism, gad nothing new there and I am vaguely aware of Methodists in history. I have heard of the Wesley brothers, and I did take Religion in America in my undergrad days. However, I just figured them to be like any other Protestant group like Quakers or Baptists to have had the initial hardships then blended into the Christian landscape. Well maybe, depending on one's social class and ambitions. If you really wanted to get anywhere you must be CofE Anglican. And as far as I can tell and I am almost done with the book, Wilberforce, that servant of G-d, never left the Church of England, he just was a really enthusiastic happy moral faithful evangelistic Anglican.