The Fisherman's Testament

The Fisherman's Testament, by Cesar Vidal

This was a good read. It was simple and was not a daunting length. Mr. Vidal wrote it in Spanish and it was translated into English quite well. In fact, despite its simplicity, I found several words (in English) whose definitions I did not know. It brought back memories of 4th grade, when every book I read became vocabulary homework. This was one of the several ways in which I found the book edifying.

The basic premise of the book is that the main character, Vitalis, is a Roman soldier at the end of his life, and is telling a story about an event that occurred shortly before his retirement. The event was Emperor Nero's interrogation of a Jew named Simon, with the Greek name Petros and the Jewish nickname Kephas. Anyone know who that is?? Yep, Simon Peter.

The story itself, as a courtroom drama, is engaging and exciting. Because our knowledge of Peter is based on things found in the Bible and other sources, it is often Peter's testimony TO the non-believers, rather than THEIR reactions to what he is saying. I found the book fascinating because I got to understand how a first century Roman would have reacted to the story. Jesus emphasized compassion for the poor, a "strange" fascination for females, and a kingdom in which the rulers are not motivated by greed but by servanthood. It was completely backwards, and furthermore, by being backwards (and not motivated by greed) it did not threaten the Roman empire in the least. (Nero still found it enough of a threat to instigate a wave of persecution against Christians).

Another enlightening aspect of the book is a look into Roman culture. I have already alluded to the treatment of underclass people. The old or sick were left to die, or ostracized to prevent the spread of disease. They were never healed, so Jesus' miraculous healings were that much more amazing to them. The story of Jesus healing Jairus' ten year old daughter was amusing to me, because the Romans could not believe why He would have healed a female child. Women were seen as a burden to society, so a family would never have more than one female child. If another was born, it was left on the roadside, in a ditch, or otherwise disposed of. It was also pointed out that when Jesus alluded to his death, the only follower that "got it" was a woman, the only people that followed Jesus to the cross to see him to the end were women, the only ones to venture out of doors (being unafraid to be recognized in the streets as a follower of Jesus) to go to the tomb were women, and subsequently, they were the first to see evidence of his resurrection. This emphasis on women in and of itself was enough to astonish the Romans listening to the court proceedings.

Overall, I thought it was a nice change of perspective. Instead of seeing the traditional Jewish perspective, or Roman-centurion-serving-in-Judea perspective, we get to see the customs and court proceedings in Rome- the capital of the world in Jesus' day- as well as an internal perspective on how the message of Jesus would have been received. There is even a "surprise revelation" like in all courtroom dramas, which is unusual for me. One would think that having spent the majority of my life studying the Bible and reading Bible studies and commentaries, and spending practically every Sunday listening to a sermon, there would be no more surprises for me. But no, it appears that there is always a new way of seeing every story.

I highly recommend this book, especially for someone who is curious about the person of Jesus (who IS he?) or someone who loves ancient history.

Untitled Manuscript

Untitled Manuscript, by Nellie Saxton

This is an autobiography, of sorts. It is a collection of my grandmother's memories, experiences, and funny stories that she wrote down as a Father's Day gift for my great grandfather in 1981. It has never been published, however, I think that it should be.

I find it extremely interesting that despite growing up in a different era from me, she still had very similar experiences, and yet, so very different. Neither of us spent a significant amount of time in a public school, but the reasons were very different. As she got older, she spent time traveling, in some cases on her own, and in other cases, with her friends, just as I have done. She tells a story of her daughter adopting a stray cat, only to discover it was pregnant. I find this particularly humorous, because her OTHER daughter (my mom) adopted a stray cat, with the same results, and I continued the tradition by adopting a kitten, although I broke the tradition by having HIM neutered right away.

If I ever have the opportunity, I would like to correct a few grammatical errors, replace a few pronouns with proper names, perhaps add a family tree diagram in the front, and then ask my mom to write a similar story, perhaps writing one myself when I have kids... and then getting the whole three generations published in a book. Since my mom, my grandmother, and I all enjoy writing, I think it is feasible and appropriate that we should attempt this.

I'd like to give you an excerpt, since my grandmother's writing style is as natural as if she's there telling you the story, and in fact she tells pretty good stories too. My favorite excerpt? "Mother never did forgive her [Grandma's 4th grade teacher] for asking if I was getting enough to eat at home. I was always so skinny and always ate more than anyone else in the house. Mom always made us hot cocoa with lots of cream and then would drop a big blob of butter on top, trying to fatten us up. She put butter in everything, but we were just naturally thin. I guess we took after Dad as he was always so thin that he could get into his World War 1 marine uniform and march in the Memorial Day parade until he was about 65 years old."

See what I mean? Its like a conversation, flowing from one topic to the next but still illustrating the point. I think with a little editing and organizing, it could be publishable. Except I'm not a publishing house, so maybe all those editors disagree with me.

Anyway, I would recommend this book, if it ever gets off the press. Without a doubt.