A modern Scheherezade, this gifted United Methodist pastor unspools a series
of compelling stories as he seeks to draw out the presence of God in the
historical, the legendary, the ordinary and the bizarre events of human life.
Enriched but not overloaded with personal experience, this collection of
sermonic tales is loosely organized around the seasons of the year. Though he
entices the reader with engagingly anecdotal reflections on cultures as
diverse as old society Newport and gossip columnist Louella Parson's hometown
of Dixon, Ill., the essayist has a larger goal in mind. With an engagingly
approachable style, Wood continually draws the reader back to meditate on and
sometimes grapple with the contemporary meaning of the life and work of Jesus
Christ. Whether he is using his hometown IGA supermarket to illustrate the
virtues of simplicity, or President Thomas Jefferson's abridged Bible to
bring home a point about the complexity of scripture, he has an elegantly
minimalist turn of phrase. It says all he wants to and no more. "There is one
light, one person who illuminates that darkness, one person who shines
constantly after our resources are gone," writes Wood in an essay on Christmas
lights. "There is only one, and we need only one." Wood's biblical erudition
blended with his concern for contemporary environmental and social issues
should help him appeal to both evangelical and mainline Christians. This debut
collection has the potential to be a book for all seasons. (Jan.) Copyright
2003 Reed Business Information.
