Reflections for men

Living that matters. Honest conversations for men of faith

By Steve Thomas & Don Neufeld (Herald Press, 2023, 256 pages, $18.99 US)

With Living that Matters, Thomas and Neufeld make an important contribution to spiritual reflection for Christian men. They come well qualified for the task. Thomas is a long-time pastor, arborist, and US coordinator for the Mennonite Men group. Neufeld is a social worker who works primarily with men and is the Canadian coordinator for Mennonite Men.

Mennonite Men is a binational organization of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada. Its mission is to engage men to grow, give and serve as followers of Jesus.

Living that Matters is described by the authors as a guidebook for men searching for identity and meaning. The book is far more accessible and broadly relevant than Peaceful at Heart — Anabaptist Reflections on healthy masculinity, the 2019 collection of essays they co-edited.

Living that Matters is divided into seven sections exploring a broad range of themes: male formation, human needs, personal challenges, sexual wholeness, social practices, conflict tools, and life roles.

Each section contains between five and a dozen two-page reflections on topics related to the theme, followed by questions for further contemplation.

The scope of ideas introduced makes this work ambitious in its breadth, at times at the expense of depth. The material’s staccato delivery makes the book easier to absorb in shorter reads over time rather than coverto-cover in several longer readings.

Still, Living that Matters provides valuable jumping-off points for small-group study or any men wanting to understand themselves and pathways to inner growth better. Worth buying, reading and returning to. – MS

Understanding why we buy Shopomania: Our obsession with possession

By Paul Berton, (Douglas & McIntyre, 2022, 308 pages, $36.95 Cdn)

In 2013, Winnipegger Anna-Marie Epp-Janzen decided to wear the same dress for a month. She did it because her closets were overflowing, and she wanted to see if she could get by with fewer clothes.

No one noticed, including her boss (me). What EppJanzen was experiencing is what author Paul Berton calls “shopititus” in his book Shopomania.

According to Berton, shopititus afflicts people who discover their “houses are overrun with stuff.” It can turn them into “anti-shoppers,” people who are fed up with consumerism and their role in it.

Berton, editor-in-chief of the Hamilton, Ontario Spectator newspaper, decided to write the book — a collection of what he calls “shoponyms” — to describe how, when, where, and why we shop.

It’s not a screed against shopping; Berton acknowledges it is necessary and normal. But he also notes the pitfalls of too much shopping (something he calls “shoparrhea”), including its impact on psychological and emotional well-being.

Arranged like a dictionary of sorts into 75 short chapters with titles such as “Shopophobia,” “Upshop,” “Shopoganda” and “Shoppertunity,” the book is a breezy look at the process of buying stuff and how it can sometimes take over our lives.

One drawback for this reviewer is what feels like Berton’s overuse of stories of celebrity shopping habits. And sometimes the toocute titles for each chapter grate a bit. And yet, the message is important: We might all need to shop, but when do we have enough? By reading Shopomania, you might have second thoughts about some of your own shopping habits. .

On leading ladies

When Women Lead: What They Achieve, Why They Succeed, and How We Learn from Them)

By Julia Boorstin (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, 2022, 432 pgs., $29 U.S.)

When Women Lead is, of course, not the first book written about the skills and success of women in business-related occupations. But Julia Boorstin covers so much territory in her 400page tome that leaders, employers, and workers will pick up insights and tips no matter what their careers. As CNBC’s senior media and tech correspondent since 2006, Boorstin invested untold hours researching and capsulizing the experiences of some 200 women, mostly success stories.

The book covers much more than what happens when women lead. For instance, start-ups using recent technologies will continue to expand in years to come. Boorstin notes that almost all the women in the book have raised venture capital: “Venture capital investment is the magic ingredient that can turn an audacious technology-based idea into a world-changing institution,” she writes, cautioning, “The cycle can continue without anyone ever intentionally trying to exclude women or overlook their ideas.”

The chapter on how to manage a crisis is a must-read for anyone in leadership and offers a probing reminder of what we all went through with the COVID-19 pandemic. Her packaging of how it affected businesses and nonprofits and how these learnings may help us in the future is worth the price of the book. Besides lots of stats and percentages, she heralds women from myriad backgrounds who have used their smarts and bravado to break barriers of gender and race, improve the environment, support, and mentor each other, exude empathy, and champion opportunity in business for all. .