Not written in a while, but now back out in India and preparing for a 6 month stint here. I'm really looking forward to it, though I'm sure it'll be as much of a challenge as anything I've ever done.

One of the things I've made more time for is reading a few books. It's a great past time and offers a way to reconnect with your internal culture, rather than the one around you. It's also a great opportunity to check back at what I'm thinking - rather than what I'm necessarily acting in order to blend well into a different culture.

So far, the two books I've read are Richard Hammond's On the Edge, and The Shack, by WM Paul Young.

I found Richard Hammond's book pretty striking, as it was refreshingly honest and offered a really no holds barred approach to the situation that he and his wife, Mindy, found themselves in after his high speed crash filming for Top Gear. It also spoke to me in terms of the way in which sometimes the things we love mean that we put ourselves in massive danger, and despite all we do - there may not always be enough checks to guarantee safety. He and Mindy also speak openly about their reliance on prayer; whether or not they explicitly state that they believe in God, or have a serious religious conviction.

The Shack is a much more profound book in terms of it's hidden meaning, and theology. A writer and theologian have got together to produce a pretty deep account of how God supposedly works. It's one of those books that attempts to explain how God looks at the world, or at least explain as much as we are able to understand.

It's put into a story format, which allows for an emotional outpouring should one so wish. It's a mixture of the Starfish Story, Rusty Bucket and many other theological stories rolled into one. If you're unsure of where you stand on God's love, take a read.

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