Do all the good you can

"Do all the good you can.  By all the means you can.  In all the ways you can.  In all the places you can.  At all the times you can.  To all the people you can.  As long as ever you can."  John Wesley

John Wesley certainly lived by this mantra.  He is one of my heroes.  You know when you play that game where they ask, "Who, of all the people that have ever lived, would you have lunch with if you could?"  I just may choose John Wesley.  He was an amazing man.  He founded the Methodist Society.  Notice, I said "society," not "church."  He never intended it to be a church.  He knew he didn't have the authority from God to found a church.  But he thought it would be helpful to form a society that would help people develop good, Christian habits and perform them methodically- hence, the title Methodist.  He taught people how to look for truth and it was because of his teachings that the people in England were so prepared when the gospel of Jesus Christ was presented to them.  The entire congregation converted.  He was one of four ordained to the office of high priest when they came to Wilford Woodruff in the St. George, Utah temple.  He spent his life living by this great mantra- Do all the good you can.  Could there be a better mantra?  

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Recapitulation

Recapitulation by Wallace Stegner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I should have liked this book more. I anticipated the sequel to “The Big Rock Candy Mountain” as I so badly wanted to know what happened to Bruce. I could certainly relate to the setting in Salt Lake City- as I could picture most of the landmarks, streets and buildings he described. I was also interested in his frequent references to the “Mormon” church and culture. I also could certainly relate to the theme of returning to where one experienced losing their first love, as I had a similar experience when I returned to the college town where I lost my first love many years after. I was completely stunned with the wash of emotion I experienced just being in that setting. It brought it all back- experiences I hadn’t thought about in years. Stegner captured those emotions and feelings so well. Returning offers a closure that you didn’t even know you needed. Stegner’s writing and turn of a phrase gives me chills. But this book was a bit slow and trudging to me. I think that’s because it was mostly flashback, so the present story was slow and it was easy to lose the story thread as it wasn’t told chronologically. But I guess that’s how memories come- not necessarily in order. Hey, I’m liking the book better as I contemplate and review it. What I think the problem really is: I’m not intelligent enough for this genius of a writer, so he’d lose me- sometimes for pages at a time. I’m sure if I hadn’t had to hurry through to get the book back to the library, and I took time to really think through those difficult passages, I’d find depth and spine-tingling truths therein. I feel certain of that, as that has certainly been the case in every other Stegner book I have read. Overall, at least for this reading, I would rate it 3.5.



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The Associate

The Associate by John Grisham

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Another good, but not great Grisham. The premise of the book was flawed, I thought. Kyle, the protagonist was extorted and blackmailed on something he didn’t even do. I just don’t think a Yale Law school graduate would succumb to that. He would find another way out. The story was exciting and intriguing, but the ending too abrupt and unsatisfying. Maybe it was a set up for a sequel? It sure needs one.



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