Slow to Judge...a fast-paced and convicting read

David Capes has written a book that will absolutely hurt you to read.  Slow to Judge:  Sometimes its Okay to Listen starts with a focus on a phrase that Solomon used in requesting wisdom from God -- he wanted a "listening heart."  That phrase serves as the foundation for the rest of his book; and if that is not convicting enough, he hits your hard when he discusses pride.  That chapter hammers (and I mean hammers) you as it exposes the reason we are so quick to judge others -- our pride as manifested in the desire to be right or superior to others.  If we are going to have any type of conversation with others, it cannot be a debate (which is prideful).  Instead, we need deep, abiding relationships that come through humility, love, and grace.

 Capes shares his own growth in this area by a radio talk show involving him, a rabbi, and a father.  He makes a wonderful statement that he uses later on -- we can agree to disagree but we cannot ever become disagreeable.  That phrase becomes critical when he discusses "toleration" as used in the modern world, and it is not true toleration.  He offers a critical point that toleration really has a hidden agenda -- protecting my beliefs and my power at the expense of yours.  This section was hugely important as it exposes the agenda of the left and right -- neither side is really interested in listening to the other because they just want their way (uh, isn't that pride?).  It is much easier to throw around words like "bigot" or "prejudiced" rather than stopping to really understand the position held by the other person.

The last two chapters were somewhat strange in my opinion.  I've already let someone borrow this book and will need to go back through them because I, honestly, did not understand what he was trying to there.  As I did not comprehend them on the first read, they seemed to weaken the overall strength of the book.  He did not have a great deal of Biblical exegesis but he had sufficient Biblical explanation to give you an "aha" moment on certain passages.

Considering all the name-calling and stereo-typing of Christians that is occurring in our modern world, this book offers a refreshing read on how to counter-act those trends. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLookBloggers.com review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Scholarly Work that Requires Some Knowledge Base

Before ever reading the information on the back about the author's background, the book itself reveals that Andrew Gant is a musician and scholarly expert on this subject.  His work - The Carols of Christmas: A Celebration of the Surprising Stories Behind Your Favorite Holiday Songs -- is scholarly and requires a musical background to understand much of what he digs into.  Since I do not have that background (while in college, I struggled to make it out of Introduction to Music which was required for my major), I found much of the book to be meaningless to me; and that led to a lower rating of the book.

For those of you that absolutely love this book, please understand that these are my opinions based upon my knowledge base.  I am not a musician but am a lover of history, so I assumed this would be a treatise that I would greatly enjoy.  My hopes were that this examination of Christmas carols would be similar to Stephen Nissenbaum's Battle for Christmas; however, excluding the more narrow scope by Gant, the accessibility factor and seamless construct are the major differences.  As another example of accessibility for a reader, the author includes multiple Latin phrases to make a point about the origin of some language in a song; yet, the English translation is missing.  That omission leaves a reader wondering exactly the point the author is attempting to make.

The book does have neat stories and some interesting tales about the differences in these Christmas carols across nations and cultures.  He raised and answered some interesting questions about what are "carols" for the Christmas season.  For instance, consider "Jingle Bells" and "O Christmas Tree."  Neither one mention Christmas nor are they about the Christ child - now, you may want to argue the last one, but I simply say read that chapter and you will understand.  I did learn several things from this book, so it does have some value in it.

If you have a strong based of musical knowledge and love to know stories behind songs, then this is THE book for you.  I simply do not have that foundational knowledge, so reading this was a struggle for me. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLookBloggers.com review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”