I've been so busy lately, I've hardly had time to read. When I have a minute, though, I pick up my non-fiction book this quarter, The Year of Living Biblically by: A.J. Jacobs. I really like this book for a number of reasons. I like the author. He has a great sense of humor, which I appreciate, considering the content. Jacobs can make "bible talk" over dinner with a Jahovah's witness funny. However, his humor and jokes are very respectful. He understands that the bible is an important book to a lot of people, that people have died because of their beliefs, and the jokes are respectful.
Past the jokes, though, there are many deep revelations. This book really makes you think. On any given page, you can find a message from the bible or one in Jacobs' discoveries that makes you rethink something you do everyday. Personally, I'm not very religious. It just doesn't suit me, but The Year of Living Biblically has raised questions for me about how much we really know. One thing that was written really stuck in my mind.
Near the beginning of the book, Jacobs tackled the rules that perplexed him most. One of those rules was that you should not wear clothes with mixed fibers. To make sure his clothes were kosher, he called a man referred to as Mr. Berkowitz, whose profession is to check that clothing is made of all one fiber. Jacobs and Berkowitz begin to discuss some of the rules in the bible, and, when Jacobs asks "Why?" Berkowitz replies:
This is a law that God gave us. We have to trust Him. He is all-powerful. We're like children. Sometimes parents have laws that children don't understand. Like when you tell a child not to touch fire, he doesn't understand why, but it is good for him.
I think Mr. Berkowitz's trust in the bible is astonishing. His faith, his belief without proof, is powerful and beyond anything I feel. I can relate to Jacobs' feeling about religion and am excited to finish this book and learn his revelations.
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