In the Middle of…

Yesterday, I realized that it’s been almost two weeks since my last post, and the days have zoomed right by. I’m in the middle of books, in the middle of projects, in the middle of preparing for the start of the church year. I’m so much in the middle that it’s hard to write an on-the-other-side post. So, let me share instead a few recommendations for books and music that I’m in the middle of, in case some of you are looking for Labor Day entertainment (related to religion, of course!)

• Unitarian Universalist singer-songwriter Ellis’s album “Break the Spell.” Hat tip to Kari Kopnick, at the blog for “Westside UU Congregation Religious Education” who identifies Ellis as a Unitarian Universalist. I’m listening my way through “Break the Spell.” If you like folk music, this is an easy listen. My favorite of the songs so far is “Red Light.”
• Mara Einstein’s Brands of Faith. Einstein commented on Looking for Faith ages ago and mentioned her book. I’ve been woefully slow about getting it out of the library, and now I’m woefully slow in finishing the last thirty pages of the book. But that’s not for lack of interest. The case studies of how brands that are religious (Kabbalah) and spiritual (Oprah) are very detailed and thought-provoking, and the writing is very clear. The weakness of the book for me is the premise that all religions offer essentially the same thing, and that the way religions can and do distinguish themselves from one another is through a brand identity. More on why that’s problematic when I’m finished reading!
• One Perfect Day, by Rebecca Mead. I’m not very far in, so all I can tell you so far is what the book promises, which is to address this question: “What…does the American wedding tell us about the rest of American life?” There’s a chapter on the religious aspects of weddings, juicily titled “God and the Details.”

So more on these two books when I’m done — if you read them over Labor Day, have read them already, or have suggestions for other religion-related media that I and LFF readers might enjoy, please comment.