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Book Review: “What Your Counselor Never Told You” by Dr. William Backus

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What if some of your emotional and psychological problems aren’t just a medical problem–what if sin is playing a role?

Dr. William Backus challenges the common assertion that all psychological illnesses are merely a physical or medical phenomenon in this fascinating treatise on the seven deadly sins. Note the word “merely” carefully. Backus does believe that true psychological illnesses do exist–problems that are medical or biochemical in nature and require medical treatment. But, he argues in this book that many psychological illnesses also have a component of sin co-existing with, and often intensifying the effects of, that psychological illness.

One might think that a book about sin would be a book filled with condemnation. What Your Counselor Never Told You is anything but. Backus does more than encourage his readers to examine themselves regarding sin–he also offers his readers practical steps for getting out of sin.

Backus’s stresses repentance and reliance on Christ as the most important step in becoming free from besetting sin. Then, he speaks of “three important rules for success”. First, he encourages his clients to “check [their] Spirit-given internal speech”. Basically, he is saying that we should choose to listen to the Spirit of God rather than the sin-driven self-talk. Second, he encourages his client to “choose incompatible behavior.” If greed is your problem, learn to practice charity. If pride is your problem, choose to praise others. If envy is your problem, choose to rejoice in others’ fortune. The third principle Backus speaks of is “zealous determination.” Here, he says that we really need to WILL to overcome sin. We need to decide that we are no longer WILLing to let sin have mastery over us.

As someone who has struggled with seasonal depression, which certainly has a physical and biochemical link, I struggled a little with the discussion of depression in this book. Backus’s studies have found depression to be highly correlated with the Deadly Sin of Sloth. I struggled with this chapter because I experienced such a rapid and life-altering response to beginning antidepressant medication that I felt sure that MY condition was ONLY the result of biochemistry and had nothing to do with sin in my life.

But as I read Backus’s discussion of depression and sloth, I became more and more convinced that this information, however difficult it might be, is vitally important for anyone who suffers from depression. Backus does not downplay the role of the psychological and clinical diagnosis depression–but he challenges the idea that all depression is “nothing but” biochemical. Backus describes sloth as “sadness and apathy in the face of spiritual good.”

At least from my reading, Backus seems to suggest that many individuals use the real, biochemical, clinical depression as an excuse for sinful thoughts and behaviors. Often depressed individuals assume that because of the feelings brought on by the depression, they have no choice in the matter–and they give in to apathy, slothfulness, and a sinful view of God and His blessings.

I think of Romans 1:21 and begin to see how Backus’s assertion has been true in my own life: “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” There were certainly times when, in the depths of my depression, I turned my eyes from Christ. Even though I KNEW Him, even though I had EXPERIENCED His great love, I turned my eyes to my feelings and was not thankful–and it led me to increasingly futile and dark thoughts. At that point, my condition went from merely the biochemical seasonal affective disorder to the spiritual sin of despair. Marilla Cuthbert was right when she said, “To despair is to turn our backs on God.” The sin of sloth is when I look at my circumstances or feelings as greater than God and His mercies and despair.

While Backus’s book is undoubtedly not perfect, I think it is a worthwhile read for any Christian–particularly for those who suffer from or have friends or family who suffer from a psychological illness. This book can raise questions that can allow you to begin to truly take your thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. And, if you gain nothing else from this book, Backus’s three step “plan” for freedom from sin include some of the most simple and powerful concepts I have ever seen in relation to overcoming the power of sin. I highly recommend this book.

Rating: 5 stars
Category: Psychology/Christian
Summary:Dr. William Backus discusses psychology and the 7 deadly sins.
Recommendation: A thought-provoking, and spiritually adept discussion of psychology and sin. I highly recommend this title.

Categories Reading My Library

Africa calling, Nighttime falling

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Working my way through the children’s section of my library, a la Reading My Library, I came upon Daniel Adlerman’s Africa calling, nighttime falling.

The jacket inscription had me a bit worried: “At night when you dream of far away place you will find the animals. They will protect you. They will comfort you. They will call to you. Wander through this book. Let the engaging words transport you, and the stunning illustrations keep you there. The animals of Africa are calling you. Come!”

The part about the animals protecting and comforting made me fear that the book would be pervaded by animism. Thankfully, the book jacket advertised falsely.

Africa calling, nighttime falling

Africa calling, Nighttime falling turned out to be pure poetry, introducing the reader to a half dozen African animals through lilting rhyme and hypnotizing cadence. As the book draws to an end, we see a young African-American girl sitting in her bed, surrounded by her favorite African stuffed animals. “Slumbering through the darkest night, I sleep protected till morning light. Africa calling, nighttime falling. Warmly beaming, peaceful dreaming.”

The artwork is exquisite–three-dimensional collages that combine watercolor, found objects, and torn or cut paper figures. I’m not usually big into illustration–I tend to skip straight to the words–but these illustrations forced me to linger. They’re beautiful, artistic, but still approachable and down-to-earth.

Africa calling, Nighttime falling turned out to be a pleasant surprise in my children’s book reading venture. Why not check it out yourself?

Categories What's on Your Nightstand?

What’s on Your Nightstand?

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It’s time for 5 Minutes 4 Books’ monthly meme. Check out what I had on my nightstand last month.

What's on Your Nightstand?

What I actually read was:

Fiction

  • The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy by Sara Angelini
    I do not recommend this title. It had a neat concept to start, but quickly degraded into a s.ex novel.
  • When Calls the Heart by Janette Oke
    It’s been a while since I read the Canadian West series–I don’t remember being too impressed with them when I read them as a pre-teen. I’m inclined to think now that these might be among Oke’s best works.
  • The Carousel Painter by Judith Miller
    This is the first work I’ve read by Judith Miller and I’ll definitely be going back for more. The “historical” part was detailed enough to be informative, but understated enough to not bog down the reader.
  • The Measure of a Lady by Deeanne Gist
    I loved this title! Gist honestly portrays desire and denial, respectfully lays out a “moral”, AND simultaneously tells a good story. Not many can do all three. Brava!
  • Barren Corn by Georgette Heyer

Nonfiction

  • Catastrophe by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
  • Guinness World Records 2010
  • Somebody’s Gotta Say It by Neal Boortz
  • Beyond the Wardrobe: The Official Guide to Narnia
  • A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
  • The Most Brilliant Thoughts of all Time
  • Dave Barry Slept Here

Juvenile

  • Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
  • The Dashwood Sisters’ Secrets of Love by Rosie Rushton
  • Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
  • The Princess Test by Gail Carson Levine
  • The Fairy’s Return by Gail Carson Levine
  • Mystery in the Sand by Gertrude Chandler Warner
  • Mystery of the Flying Express by Franklin W. Dixon
  • 7 picture books by Verna Aardema
  • 17 picture books (Ab-Ad)

On my nightstand for next month, I’ve got:

On my nightstand

Fiction

  • Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes
  • The Gatecrasher by Madeleine Wickham
  • The Good Nearby by Nancy Moser
  • When Comes the Spring by Janette Oke

Nonfiction

  • Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Healthiness by Dean Edell
  • Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
  • Cultural and Historical Allusions by Sylvia Cole
  • Books: a memoir by Larry McMurtry
  • The Art of Conversation by Catherine Blyth
  • Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets Christmas Poems
  • Michael Hague’s Family Christmas Treasury
  • PC Magazine Digital SLR Photography Solutions

Juvenile

  • Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep by Gail Carson Levine
  • Cinderellis and the Glass Hill by Gail Carson Levine
  • Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gail Carson Levine
  • Mystery Behind the Wall by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Don’t forget to stop by 5 Minutes 4 Books for more.

Categories Books, Homemaking

Bean Porridge Hot

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Laura Ingalls Wilder writes of playing “Bean porridge hot” with her sister in The Little House on the Prairie. She says that the song was true. “No supper was so good as the thick bean porridge, flavored with a small bit of salt pork, that Ma dipped onto the tin plates when Pa had come home cold and tired from his hunting. Laura liked it hot, and she liked it cold, and it was always good as long as it lasted. But it never really lasted nine days. They ate it up before that.”

Soups are like that, I find, which is one of the reasons I love soup so much. A good soup or stew recipe is good the first time, and good the second time, and stays good all the way to the last drop.

I’ve recently found a winner in the Better Homes and Gardens New Flavors from your Crockery Cooker Cookbook.

Beef Cider Stew

This Beef Cider Stew was good when I tasted it the day I made it, good when I had a bowl a day later, and is still good on the fifth day. I doubt I’ll make it to 9 days. Give this fantastic recipe a try!

Beef Cider Stew

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 1 Tbsp cooking oil
  • 4 carrots or parsnips, sliced
  • 2 medium red-skinned potatoes, cut into chunks
  • 2 onions, halved and sliced
  • 2 apples, cored and cut into chunks
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp cook cooking tapioca
  • 1 cup apple cider
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tsp instant beef bouillon
  • ¼ tsp dried thyme
  • ¼ tsp pepper

Instructions:

  1. Brown meat in hot oil.
  2. Place all vegetables in crockpot. Sprinkle tapioca over top. Add meat. Combine cider, water, and spices and pour over meat.
  3. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

For my own part, I rearranged the instructions a bit. I prepped all my vegetables in the crockpot the night before and moved my precut stew meat from the freezer to the fridge. That way, all I had to do before I left for work in the morning was brown the meat and dump it and the cider/water/spice mix over the top of the veggies (and turn the crockpot on, of course). Easy as pie–and just about as delicious!

What about you? Do you have a favorite soup or stew recipe that you can eat hot, cold, or many days old?

Categories Reading My Library

Reading the Aa (Verna Aardema)

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Reading My Library I’ve been working on my own quest to read every book in Eiseley Library since September 5, 2006. I’ve been doing it in a remarkably unsystematic way. But when Carrie at Reading to Know decided to read the picture books in her local library and record it at Reading My Library, I was struck by her system.

Not that I’m ready to give up my haphazard approach to the library entirely. But for the picture book section, Carrie’s approach seems incredibly sensible.

So, I went to my library and got every picture book by the first author in the alphabet–who just happened to be Verna Aardema.

Aardema’s signature is retelling folk stories from different cultures, primarily African cultures but with the occasional Latin American culture thrown in. She includes a lot of onomatopoeia, particularly for the sounds animals make.

I was not universally impressed with Aardema’s writings. While none of the books were bad, per say, few of them were really anything special. While the stories were vaguely amusing, most had little point. Silly things happened, the end. I tend to prefer stories that either have a plot or a moral. The majority of Aardema’s stories had neither.

There were two exceptions, however–and those exceptions were pretty exceptional.

Bringing the rain to Kapiti Plain book cover

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain was featured on Reading Rainbow in one of its earliest episodes–and the book certainly deserves it. Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain tells of a plain suffering from a drought, and a smart young cow-herder who brought the rain to Kapiti Plain. The book is told in a sing-songy manner that builds an additional line with every page. So when one page starts with “This is the cloud all heavy with rain, that shadowed the ground on Kapiti Plain”, the next page builds with “This is the grass, all brown and dead, that needed the rain from the cloud overhead–The big, black cloud, all heavy with rain, that shadowed the ground on Kapiti Plain.” And so on and so forth. This is a well written, enjoyable tale that is a delight to read.

Koi and the Kola Nuts book cover

Koi and the Kola Nuts is a second jewel from Verna Aardema. Koi is the youngest son of an African chieftan. When his father dies, his brothers get all the inheritance. All that’s left for Koi is one Kola tree. So Kola harvests the nuts from his Kola tree and sets off to make his way in the world. He meets a variety of different animals in various predicaments and has compassion on them, offering them his Kola nuts to solve their problems. When Koi finds himself vying for the hand of a neighboring chieftain’s beautiful daughter, the friends he has won for himself certainly come in handy!

Koi and the Kola Nuts is a story reminiscent of Aesop’s “The Lion and the Mouse” but with fun twists of its own. The story reads like a cross between a traditional fairy tale (where a boy tries to win the hand of a princess) and a fable (where animals teach a moral) with a little Biblical spice added (Koi’s situation at the beginning of the story reminds me of Jacob and Esau receiving a blessing from their father Isaac). Add in Aardema’s characteristic onomatopoeia and you’ve got a winner of a story.

Now, between Aardema and a couple of other authors, I’m done with Aa-Ab. Next up? I don’t know. I guess I’ll just have to see!

Categories What's on Your Nightstand?

What’s on MY Nightstand?

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It’s time for taking inventory of our stash of soon-to-be-read’s with 5 Minutes for Books’ monthly meme “What’s on Your Nightstand?”

What's on Your Nightstand?

Not surprisingly, my nightstand is full, packed with a wide variety of library (and a few privately owned!) books.

Adult Fiction

  • Barren Corn by Georgette Heyer
  • The Carousel Painter by Judith Miller
  • The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • When Calls the Heart by Janette Oke

Young Adult/Children’s Fiction

  • Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
  • Mystery in the Sand by Gertrude Chandler Warner
  • Mystery of the Flying Express by Franklin W. Dixon

Nonfiction

  • Catastrophe by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
  • Life is Tough but God is Faithful by Sheila Walsh
  • Guinness World Records 2010
  • One Thing by Sam Storms
  • Dave Barry Slept Here by Dave Barry
  • I Married Adventure by Luci Swindoll

I also have a whole stack of children’s picture books by Verna Aardema. I’ve been in the process of reading every book in my local library for a little over 3 years now–but I’ve been doing it rather haphazardly. Carrie’s system of reading through the picture book section of her library struck my fancy, so I’ve started at the beginning–and the beginning is Aardema. I’ve only read two of her books thus far, but it appears that she generally retells African folk-tales. The pronunciation can be a bit tricky, but both stories I’ve read seem okay. Not great enough that I’d recommend them, but not bad enough that I’d recommend avoiding them. Just neutral.

Check out what other women are reading at 5 Minutes 4 Books

Categories B3RD, Books, Rants

B3,RD: THE Nutrition Professionals

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Three years ago, when I started my venture to read every book in Eiseley library, I used Pearl Buck’s rules to give myself an out. If, after reading 50 pages of a book, I was not interested in continuing on, I had permission to stop.

After three years and over 1400 books, I am using that rule for the very first time. Because I absolutely cannot stand Oz Garcia’s The Healthy High-Tech Body.

The Healthy High-Tech Body

Garcia’s biography in the back of the book states that he is “one of the best-known nutritionists and health authorities in America.” Problem is, he’s an absolute quack. Sure, he can throw around chemical names like no other and give incomprehensible explanations for why we should follow his recommendations–but the real science behind his recommendations is tenuous at best.

I know this because I’ve devoted the last six years of my life to learning the science of food, nutrition, and health behavior change. But what’s the average consumer to think? If you can’t trust “one of the best-known nutritionists and health authorities in America”, who can you trust?

That’s where the Registered Dietitian comes in. You see, anyone can call themselves a nutritionist–even someone with marginal education and no credentials (for instance, Oz Garcia.)

The designation Registered Dietitian (RD), on the other hand, carries distinct educational and professional requirements. RDs are required to complete a core curriculum in nutrition, food science, and health behavior change from an accredited university. RDs are required to undergo at least 900 hours of supervised practice. RDs are required to pass a Registration Exam and complete at least 75 hours of continuing professional education every five years in order to attain and maintain their credentials. Additionally, RDs are bound by a Professional Code, which, among other things, insists that they provide evidence-based nutrition services.

You wouldn’t go to your next door neighbor–or even Oprah–to get your broken arm set. Your next door neighbor is nice enough–and Oprah is popular enough–but neither have the credentials to set your broken arm. You’ll go to someone who does have the credentials: an MD (Medical Doctor), a PA (Physician Assistant), or a NP (Nurse Practitioner).

Likewise, no matter how nice or how popular a “nutritionist” might be–they don’t have the credentials unless they’ve got an RD behind their name.

So next time you’re looking at an article or a book, or evaluating something someone is saying on the television or online, look for the RD behind the name. Because RDs are THE food and nutrition professionals.

Today’s B3,RD challenge is to think critically about the nutrition information you see and hear today. Ask yourself whether the speaker has the credentials–an RD behind their name.

A search for Garcia’s education and credentials produced only the most tenuous results.

Mr. Garcia is occasionally ascribed a Ph.D, but I have been unable to find any explanation for this designation. He has certainly never listed where he attained his doctorate or what his doctorate is in.

Categories Books, Reflections

Then and Now

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Several years ago, I picked up an etiquette book from the 1920s at a garage sale. I’ve rifled through it every now and then, but haven’t really read it–at least, not until just recently.

What I’ve found has been most entertaining.

Some things stay the same, other things change.

In a chapter on dinner parties, the author suggests the following as an acceptable way of taking leave:

“Good-night, Mrs. Carr. I must thank you for a perfectly delightful evening.”

To which the hostess may reply:

“We were glad to have you, I’m sure, Mrs. Roberts.”

Perfectly polite in the ’20s. Ridiculously snarky in the next millennium.

Just read the sarcasm: “I must thank your for a perfectly delightful evening.” “We were glad to have you, I’m sure.”

Ah, the differences between then and now.

Categories What's on Your Nightstand?

What’s on Your Nightstand?

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What's on your nightstand? Logo

5 Minutes for Books hosts a monthly “What’s on your nightstand?” carnival on the fourth Tuesday of each month. The idea is that you let everybody know what you’ve been reading or are planning on reading this month.

It suits me to a T since the books I’m reading are literally on my nightstand. Here’s today’s photo.

Books on my nightstand (August)

Fiction

  • The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (I’ve been re-reading this one. Check out my notes on Chapter 1, 2, 3a, and 3b.)
  • Dangerous Sanctuary by Lois Richer (A recommendation from my little sister that I haven’t started yet.)

Nonfiction

  • How Do Astronauts Scratch an Itch by David Feldman. (Halfway through–just finished reading about why ceiling fans get dusty.)
  • Your Two-Year-Old by Loise Ames. (Still trying to finish up that 649.122 Section at the library.)
  • Secret’s of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers by Tracy Hogg. (Ditto above. Only about a dozen books to go in the section–can’t let them multiply too fast on me.)
  • Bicycling Magazine’s Complete book of Road Cycling Skills (Now that I’m commuting by bike and training for my big ride next year, I’d like to develop some skills.)
  • How to Expand and Upgrade PCs. (Got my new hard drive installed, now I just need to clone my current hard drive over and get everything arranged right.)
  • Do it Yourself PC Upgrade Projects. (Do you mean to tell me that you do not routinely check out at least two books on any given subject before attempting to accomplish a task?)
  • The Perfect Apron by Rob Merrett. (Felt the need for some cute new aprons for while I’m teaching my cooking-I mean-Scientific Principles of Food Preparation-lab. And these aprons are HARD-CORE cute. I made the bias cut one and wore it to lab today.)
  • Get out of that pit by Beth Moore. (My church’s ladies retreat this fall is based on this book. A friend and I decided to read it and discuss it together prior to the retreat. So far, so good.)
  • Opposing Viewpoints: Medicine. (With the current Health Care debate raging, it helps to be informed!)

Childrens/Young Adult

  • Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems. (Carrie at Reading to Know recommended Mo Willems–and I’ve fallen in love with his cute illustrations and story lines–in that order. I haven’t read this one yet though.)
  • Breathing Underwater by Alex Flynn. (I read Alex Flynn’s Beastly and loved the modern-day retelling of Beauty and the Beast from the Beast’s perspective. This one looks to be pretty different, but I’m eager to read it regardless.)

School

It’s too depressing to enumerate these. Suffice to say that I’ve got a biochemistry text and a couple of library biochem primers, a book of lab tests (to study for the RD Exam), a text for my program planning class, and a half dozen texts for my counseling class.

Just finished

  • Farmer Boy Days (A very abridged version of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Farmer Boy for new readers. Unless your child is seriously intimidated by the bulk of the Little House books, I’d encourage them to read the “real thing”. I was reading the Little House books by 2nd grade–and I don’t see why others shouldn’t be able to as well.)
  • Nurse Matilda: Collected Tales by Christiana Brand. (I loved Nanny McPhee, so when I saw this book at the library, I snatched it right up. I enjoyed the first novel, but found the second two to be a bit too repetitive.)
  • The Contented Soul by Lisa Graham McMinn. (This wasn’t a bad book, but it wasn’t great either. It had nice thoughts of contentment, but seemed a lot more “worldly wisdom” than “wisdom from above”. I can get enough worldly wisdom from worldly books. I don’t want to have to read it in “Christian” books too.)
  • Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley. (I LOVED Beauty, McKinley’s first retelling of Beauty and the Beast. In Rose Daughter, McKinley tells the story again–with a completely different twist. I love both. These are books you definitely don’t want to miss.)
Categories Books, Reflections

Exclamation Mark

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I’m reading Ravi Zacharias’s Cries of the Heart (Good book, by the way). Ravi quotes Lewis Thomas from Medusa and the Snail:

The mere existence of that cell should be one of the greatest astonishments of the earth. People ought to be walking around all day, all through their waking hours, calling to each other in endless wonderment, talking of nothing except that cell….If anyone does succeed in explaining it within my lifetime I will charter a skywriting airplane, maybe a fleet of them, and send them aloft to write one great exclamation point after another around the whole sky, until all my money runs out.

The quote impressed me with the author’s sense of wonderment–and my own lack of such wonderment. The cell is but the least of the wonderful things that I could spend my whole life astonished at. What of the new life being wrought in my friends Jolene and Jennifer as they reach the last trimesters of their pregnancies? What of the orderliness of the universe and the fine-tuning of every law to permit human life? What of the intricacies of weather systems that bring life and death, beauty and destruction? What of the miracle of regeneration?

Yet I rarely stop to wonder, much less spend my every day wondering. And I believe I have lost much in my blase grown-upness that thinks it knows the answers and therefore fails to ask the questions.

Oh, to embrace wonder once again. To return to the child-like astonishment, that on hearing why the sky is blue, asks yet again, “But why?” For indeed, the first explanation is rarely the end, it is only a springboard for a deeper sense of wonder.

May I look at life today through different eyes, through the eyes of wonder. May I take the time to wonder, to be astonished, to gasp in awe at the greatness of my Father displayed through all His creation. May my life be a grand exclamation mark, repeated with every breath–an exclamation mark punctuating the grandness of my God.