Reviewing the Adventist Review

April 10, 2008
Vol. 185, No. 10

GENERAL COMMENTS
This is an outstanding issue! Share this one with your friends who are nonsubscribers, and recommend it to church members to receive the Review that don't read it.

COVER STORY
An Empty Glass Made Full
Wilona Karimabadi does an excellent job of answering questions regarding infertility. In vitro fertilization is discussed specifically. Infertility terms and information resources are provided.

ARTICLES
From Mourning to Morning
Ginny Allen has done far more for readers than provide eleven ways to help those who are grieving. She has shared the great grief of her life in this essay, and in so doing has provided all of us who grieve a compassionate, brave, generous, and a very human companion.

The Gentle Art of Civility
Brian D. Jones shares my belief in civil discourse. He and I both believe that “without resorting to acrimony or insult truth can outface error".

How I Came to Like God
Jeanina Bartling reminds us that common misconceptions about God can make it impossible for us to like, much less love Him.

DEPARTMENTS
Letters
I continue the impressed by the thoughtful comments of Review subscribers. The deaths of two of these thoughtful contributors are noted. The words of Ruth Van Zant and Miriam Wood, wife of Kenneth H. Wood, will no longer grace the pages of this magazine.

Journeys
In her thoughtful, beautifully crafted, and generous essay, I Believe in Eating My Vegetables, Sari Fordham argues for "an honest examination of life, faith, and spirituality". She also advises all of us who use the written word to explain, criticize, praise, and persuade to "write bravely. . . and to think beyond the clichés of ideas”.

World News & Perspective
Atlantic and Columbia Union Colleges, two schools facing serious economic and academic challenges, are "retooling" their curriculums in an attempt to "put away, once and for all, the idea of moving or closing".

In Florida, Jeffrey Cobb, an ex-drug dealer and felon, is "the guy who convinced a bunch of former felons to trade their guns for weed whackers". Shelter in the Storm is their home; Cobb's Eden Garden Lawn Service is their employer.

Adventists are "making a positive impact in communities around Washington and the Northwest” according to Washington State Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen.

Everyday Faith
The only thing that Seth Pierce and I are likely to disagree on is his trademark logo. The big hands holding the open Bible connected somehow to a small, dark, odd shaped, two-dimensional body are somehow disturbing. That said, he and I are both made uneasy by the practice of having Bibles autographed by important people. "Celebrity culture" is not celebrated in the Bible.

Bookmark
If Stephen Chavez recommends a book, I automatically add it to my reading list. Conversations With My Church by James Coffin is such a book. (Signs Publishing Co., 2007)

Reflections
Lourdes Morales-Gudmundsson plays profound word music in her essay, Flats, Sharps, and Other Inconveniences. "Seen metaphorically, the flats and sharps that Providence writes into the composition of our lives may make us uncomfortable, even desperate with grief, but we can be certain that in the end, the music we make will be healing, inspiring, and awesome!"

EDITORIALS
Those Conspiracy Theories
Bill Knott squashes the rumor "that a gathering of powerful Protestant and Catholic leaders propelled the US House to secretly enact a national Sunday law".

A Wake-up Call
Sandra Blackmer reminds those of us who eat an occasional hamburger to "be careful shoppers and check foods for the 'Certified Humane Raised & Handled' label” when we buy meat.