Bond Reviews

This book helped me to identify forces that had been influencing me as I worked with patients -- forces I had been impacted by but which had remained out of my awareness...probably due to my need to survive in this era of managed care. I am grateful for the opportunity to look more deeply into myself and the work I do with patients, and realize that we have all been compromised by the managed care environment. Bravo to the courage of these authors to challenge us all.

This book is a major entry in the debate over managed care. In addition to its theoretical and historical chapters, it offers the real and complex experiences of seasoned clinicians wrestling with the juggernaut of managed care. And in so doing, it provides a significant source of learning for psychologists, social workers, and psychiatrists entering the work force and for the supervisors and educators involved in their clinical training. This should be read.

"Once upon a time..." is the way all good stories begin & Alma Bond's is no exception. We meet a very little fairy with wings the color of the sky, who is called Bluey for short.

One day she flies off to the Whispering Woods for a day of leaping with frogs & rolling acorns. When a summer storm drenches her wings, she can no longer fly & that's when an Old Apple Tree who's been watching her play all day, speaks to her, offering a safe dry place to rest, & an apple to eat.

As a thank you, Bluey asks the Old Apple Tree(one could be forgiven for saying she demands!) what wish she may grant him. Well, he's really only ever had one -- he wants to see a mountain & the sea, & there's no other way to get him there than to fly.

Whimsical, delightful & interesting, THE TREE THAT COULD FLY is the story Alma Bond told to her children. It is destined to become a classic with families who still love to read bedtime stories.

It is beautifully illustrated & decorated by Barry Sandefur & Gladys Natchez.

A fairy tale that is sure to delight children of all ages! My own children were completely mesmerized by this old-fashioned fairy tale, reminiscent of the old Hans Christian Andersen tales. Surely this will become a favorite bedtime story of children throughout the world. As a mother and a fairy tale lover, I highly recommend this book!

L. Susan Bond's book, Trouble with Jesus: Women, Christology and Preaching, has been an important book for me. Perhaps the key insight I take comes from early in the book, with her highlight on the discontinuity between preached messages and the liturgies. Coming from a tradition in which liturgical flexibility and adaptation is not the norm, this is of concern to me, as it requires me to pay particular attention to the meaning of the words and symbols in the Eucharistic ritual with regard to the message intended by the sermon.

In her first chapter, Bond asks the question of how new theologies impact the local pastor. Bond emphasizes the difficulty for women simply being in the pulpit, much less trying to speak a new language to the congregation that they might resist regardless of who preached it. Exactly how preaching is theological is a difficult question, which Bond addresses through various lenses, highlighting the particular difficulties women have of dealing with male saviour, dealing with ideas of glorified victimisation, and difficult tasks of embodiment and relationality.

In her second and third chapters, Bond looks at theological/Christological frameworks historical and modern. Looking at historical theologies is important, so that present-day preachers can avoid the pitfalls of later layers of interpretation as well as mistaken notions of the writers due to their cultural influences. 'Women preachers canavoid reinscribing "special incarnation" status to the Jesus of the New Testament writings, since Jesus' ontological status was not a primary concern of the early writers. By avoiding the divinity problem, women preachers can also avoid reinscribing anti-Judaism onto Jesus.' (p. 46) In examining the modern theologies, Bond shows the contexts and the limitations many of them face. She highlights the lack of consciousness of other races in mainstream feminist thought, the latent anti-Judaism in Third World thought, etc. Her summary here argues for a Christology that takes a real world approach without settling for simple answers. She also warns against an always-changing and inconsistent approach. 'We can't use a Sophia Christology one week, an erotic Christology the next, and a Jesus-as-feminist Christology another time.' (p. 107)

In the fourth chapter, Bond sets out to provide a framework for the construction of a modern Christology that draws on resources from the past and speaks to the future. Acknowledging her cultural position and bias, Bond sets forward a series of questions that any should ask in constructing theological ideas:
· Is the image intelligible?
· Does this image enable transformative praxis?
· Is this image disciplined by historical data?
· Does this image affirm plurality?
· Does this image enhance the community's worshipful devotion?
· Does this image maintain the priority of God?
· Does this image trivialise or romanticise suffering?
· Does this image support any type of mind/body dualism?
· Does this image project a vision of the community's shared commitment toward the world that God so loves?

These questions are particularly important for constructing theologies and sermons that are accessible to women. These should not lead to an easy or simple solution. Using the idea of the theology of salvage, deriving from the same root but still different from the idea of salvation, Bond shows power present for preaching, yet this is not an easy task to develop. Certainly preaching is not ultimately meant to simply be a series of pleasing platitudes. 'Preaching is nothing more and nothing less than the invocation of the dangerous memory, the subversive presence, and the transformed future of the God we know in Jesus/Christ.' (p. 150)

In the final chapter, Bond examines the different practices of the church and community in light of her framework of salvage. Eucharist, baptism, hospitality, stewardship, etc. - all these are developed in this light, leading to her final statement: 'To follow the way of Christ is not primarily an exercise in the disciplines of individual perfection, but a headlong and risky communal commitment to the messy work of justice: a sign of the inbreaking basileia.' (p. 182) In all, Bond seeks to instill an importance for the true work of the church and the gospel message of justice through all people through some reasonably radical (if one may use that terminology) systems of thought. Wherever she teaches, the institution that receives her will be challenged and blessed.

I read this book as part of a project on Women in the Pulpit at my seminary; the recovery of women's voices in the church has been an interest of mine for some time (please see Saved from Silence: Finding Women's Voice in Preaching and Women - To Preach or Not To Preach; likewise Women's Ways of Knowing and In Her Own Rite: Constructing Feminist Liturgical Tradition are good resources). I was blessed to have a woman preach at my ordination; I have been blessed to have the support of many women prior to and during my ministry. These works go some way toward helping women to recover their own sense of vocation and ministry.

Finally, a smartly written and highly readable book for Christian preachers, teachers, and students of preaching that skillfully navigates the historical and contemporary cross-currents of theologies of Jesus, and then boldly wagers a homiletical Christology for the 21st century church.

L.Susan Bond spots, especially among women clergy, "trouble with Jesus." Uneasy with various historical interpretations of Jesus, women pastors (as well as men) have found it increasingly more difficult to relate the Jesus of scripture and church tradition to everyday human experience. The result has been sermons preached without Christ, an odd state of affairs for Christian preaching, or sermons that drift from one view of Jesus to another contradictory understanding.

The writer deftly explores contemporary women's responses to this theological problem with Jesus: how to preach and teach Jesus Christ today when so many interpretations of Jesus seem to reinforce gender, racial, cultural, and socio-economic injustice? Bond offers fresh readings of select feminist, womanist, sophia/wisdom, mujerista, African, and Asian approaches to Jesus Christ. She artfully evaluates these new direction in theology on the way to constructing her own compelling proposal of how, with intellectual integrity and worldly responsibility, the contemporary church can continue to affirm its faith and base its practices upon Jesus Christ.

Bond suggests the evocative Christological methaphor of "salvage" as one helpful way forward. She writes, "[T]he power of God in Jesus/Christ is the power to tenderly salvage what is salvageable, the power to be in solidarity with those who suffer, and the power to proclaim and to practice life in the midst of death." The people who practice this "salvage" operation in the world are the church, of course. The ones who by the power of Jesus Christ join hands in suffering and redemptive hope with those people who the powers of death routinely toss upon the trash heaps of the world. Bond salvages the real work of the church even as she outlines a Christology of salvage.

Don't be mistaken. Clearly Susan Bond understands the world of the academy and academic theology. But in this book she speaks to preachers who every Sunday climb into pulpits "smack in the middle of folks who have lost jobs, beaten their wives, lost children" and cast their votes for presidential candidates. She knows that Jesus Christ has direct bearing on this real world of the congregation. She offers challenging theological insight and sound rhetorical guidance for those preachers and teachers, women and men, who are honest enough to admit "trouble with Jesus," and who are faithful enough to seek some answers.

If you happen to be one of those people, grab a good cup of coffee, and read this book!

This book was written out of one of the most beautiful marriage experiences that I have ever witnessed. I have known the Saunders since 1968 and they have "lived out the experience of marriage according to the contents of this book.

Recently I read one of the best books on marriage I have ever come across. Over the past 27 years of my own marriage I have read and studied a great many books on this subject in a attempt to understand and improve my own married life. " The Unbreakable Marriage" by Rick Saunders is the most practical, hands on, right where you live discourses I have come across in many years. It is easy to read, and Rick's easy writing manner and humorous examples held my attention throughout the book. Rick and Gloria have vulnerably exposed their marriage foilbles and trials and allow us as readers to connect with people just like ourselves. Rick presents great examples of how to keep the passion in marriage burning brightly and ways to enjoy and appreciate one another's differences. This is definitely not your same old theme on marriage. This book stands out with a fresh, new outlook on maintaining and building a rock solid marriage. I know these folks personally and they live exactly what Rick has written. For sure I give " The Unbreakable Marriage" 5 Stars.

After seeing "The Hours" I knew I had to read more on Ms Woolf. What a great woman she was. What a great tragedy when the world lost her.

This book is definitely a must for anyone wanting to know Virginia Woolf.

When I taught a graduate seminar on Virginia Woolf at Iowa State University, I told my students to read this book if they wanted, as students always do, to understand the multitude of reasons for Woolf's suicide.

Most biographies skirt the responsibilities of the other people in Woolf's life -- the exact topic that Alma Bond takes on so thoroughly. This book had to be written exactly because other writers have not been willing to examine all dimensions of Woolf's death. Hurray for Alma Bond for applying her psychoanalist's expertise on this literary/historical subject!

This book gave me much to think about how I relate to my adult sisters. The stories of the siblings told by the siblings are well-written by Susan Scarf Merrell. I look forward to her next book.

Wow, what a terrific book! Adam and Noah and the Cops is not only a great book for young readers, but adults as well. The adventures that these two boys seem to end up in all the time puts children in their places and pushes the question, "What would I do if I were Adam or Noah?" Being a teacher myself, I read this book to my students everyday and it was a sad day when we reached the end of the book. In fact, they asked me to read it again. "You already know what is going to happen," I commented, but they were hooked. I personally give this book 5 out of 5 stars as a teacher, a student and an avid reader. Enjoy, I know I did!

A worthy follow-up to the author's _Wordless Rhetoric_, this book studies 5 pieces in great detail, including a lesser-known cantata by Mendelssohn and Berlioz's _Harold in Italy_. The explorations are devoted and careful, abd remarkably free of scholarly cant. From them, Bonds illuminates much about musical thinking and life in the 19thc. and beyond.

Extremely well written, thoughtful, thought-provoking and intelligent. Much recommended!

'The Angry river' is a classic book enriched with beauty, drama and adventure. Ruskin Bond has created, vividly described, beautiful pen-pictures which only a true artist can create. It is about a little girl called Sita, who lives with her grandmother in a thatched hut, on a small island surrounded by enchanting scenery and greenry. Once when Sita's grandmother becomes sick, she has to be taken to a hospital by boat.Sita is left alone at home. And then the island becomes flooded--for the first time in twenty years! Sita is frightened, but does not give up hope. She is swept away, but she clingers on to the trustworthy old tree which has been there as long as she could remember. Sita's dogged, ruthless,unbending determination helps her to survive.She does not abandon hope. In the end, she is saved by a boy with a boat, Krishna who has been given the title of 'the boy' in this extremely imaginative book. It has been truly said that 'Winners never quit, and quitters never win.' It is indeed another one of the 'masterpieces' of Mr. Ruskin Bond. I highly recommend it. Let's hope that Mr. Bond keeps on writing books as well as this one.

The Archetype Of Renewal: Psychological Reflections On The Aging, Death And Rebirth Of The King by D. Stephenson Bond, (Faculty Member, C.G. Jung Institute, Boston, Massachusetts) is a learned treatise on the eternal theme of "the King is dead, long live the King", and all that such transitions metaphorically symbolize, including exorcizing old processes and systems of understanding for new views and perspectives that are more accurate and effective. From ceremonial renewals of the King practiced in ancient Babylon, to the ever-changing challenges of the modern day, The Archetype Of Renewal embraces both Jungian psychology and the evolving human spirit. The Archetype Of Renewal is a welcome and very highly recommended addition to Jungian Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.