Timothy Keller: The Reason for God
I finished reading Timothy Keller’s book The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism over a month ago but have put off posting my thoughts on it because I did not think I could articulate them in a coherent post. (this disjointed post confirms my worry).
A day after I finished the book on a flight home from Chicago I coincidentally listened to an NPR Fresh Air podcast which analyzed the arguably dichotomous relationship between science and religion. Within this framework evolutionary biologist and author of The God Delusion Richard Dawkins presented an argument for atheism while geneticist-physicist Francis Collins, leader of the Human Genome Project (HGP) and evangelical Christian, presented a scientist’s case for God. Listening to the brilliant scientists talk about God and Christianity in particular gave me the opportunity to reconsider, or reexamine what I had just read. It was serendipitous timing for sure.
While reading Keller’s book I often thought about a powerful scene from ER that I strongly identify with that beautifully illustrates a reason for the Christian God. The pervasive relativistic, post-modern ideals of modern western culture can be so convenient. As the video clip illustrates, the ideals are impractical in real-life situations: we need more. In fact it was only after a friend posted the video on facebook that I was moved to write this post.
I read 
I have been wanting to read The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century since I read The Lexus and the Olive Tree for one of my first MBA courses. Friedman is a big picture guy and he tells stories and communicates ideas with a real sense of energy and enthusiasm. I finally made the time to read the book over my holiday break and I am very glad I did. Though the book is somewhat repetitive, Friedman does an excellent job describing the current political, economic, social and technical landscape. By flat, Friedman means interconnected: a world without borders. In The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Friedman put forth a Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention. Over the course of his research, he discovered that no two countries had gone to war since both had opened McDonald’s franchises. He updated the theory in The World is Flat to The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention which says that no two countries that are a part of the same global supply chain, like Dell’s, have gone to war with each other nor are they likely to. What makes this book a pleasure to read is Friedman’s overarching acumen which enables him to make these kind of high-level, Freakonomic-like observations and then condense and synthesize the complex ideas into an easy to consume theory.
Last year I thoroughly enjoyed reading 
With the help of Gandalf and Peter, Harry Potter and the Little Warriors find the sea city in the desert. They go through a keyhole into a mysterious land, where they get gold armor and kill the head of the monsters. On their triumphant return, Hermione disappears. Dumbledore tells Harry that Hermione has been kidnapped by a monster. With help from his friends, Harry obtains the waterproof pearl. To rescue Hermione, Harry barges into the Dragon Palace alone to have a showdown with the Dragon King.
I thoroughly enjoyed all seven of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books. I was pretty sure that I would somehow learn how the series ended before I read the 7th book because I was in my last week of summer school when the book was released and didn’t plan on starting it until a week after it was released. Before I started reading, my wife and brother had finished the book but I had managed to avoid any spoilers. The day after the book was released I was having lunch with some friends and despite my protestations, one continued to try to talk to my wife about the first 100 pages which he had read. Of course my wife started the book at 5pm Saturday and finished it around 4:30am Sunday morning. So I began reading in earnest the following weekend and….