Seeds of the Word: an insightful and interesting look into finding God in the world around us

Seeds of the Word: Finding God in the Culture by Bishop Robert Barron is a look into films, books, politics and society and culture as we see evidence of God and the human longing for God. Christians have searched for “seeds of the Word” in their lives and the surrounding culture. Barron is the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries which includes a YouTube channel and a documentary on the Catholic faith, Catholicism. According to Barron, no matter how charred or distorted, the seeds of the Gospel are all around us, especially in the most unusual places. Seeds of the Word is a collection of essays in which Bishop Barron finds those seeds in today’s most popular arenas like superheroes, sports and social commentary. Barron also confronts the growing anti-Catholic sentiment and where atheists and the secular world get faith and God wrong. 

Seeds of the Word was given to me by cousins of mine and while I am not a practicing Catholic, my Christian faith has its roots in the Catholic Church as I was baptized as a baby and have my first communion. I have read many books which make similar assertions of finding God in the world around us, I was curious about Bishop Barron’s claims. From the opening article, Bishop Barron is clear, concise and uses evidence from each film, book and social commentary to support his claims as well as his counter arguments. I found Bishop Barron to be very insightful and interesting. From philosophy to Scripture and historical records, Bishop Barron presents the information very clearly and makes sound arguments for his theses. I highly recommend Seeds of the Word for Bishop Barron’s insights and honesty. 

Seeds of the Word: Finding God in the Culture is available in paperback and eBook

The Possibility of America: an examination of America and God

The Possibility of America: How the Gospel Can Mend Our God-Blessed, God-forsaken Land by David Dark is an examination of American culture, democracy and its spirituality. America had brought this great experiment in to the world and extended the argument that human beings owe one another the basics of respect and decency. Mr. Dark examines American patriotism as well as being honest about the darkness that is in American history. Any relationship cannot be at its best when its lying to itself about itself. Americans need to acknowledge its dark history as well as its flaws. Using examples from American movies, music, literature, television and its political figures, David Dark shows that America is on the right track with areas of improvement. He also uses these areas to show that God and Christian values, and even its faults, have been a part of the American fabric from the beginning. He advocates for the Beloved Community, an idea postulated by the late Martin Luther King Jr, in which a society is based on justice, equal opportunity, and love of one’s fellow man.

The Possibility of America is a difficult read as Mr. Dark goes into great depth and analysis in order to support his argument. He likes to use heavy vocabulary with sentences that seem to drag on. He often gets too bogged down in summarizing a book, movie or music before making his point. However, his points were eye-openers and I made notes in order to back and examine his examples on my own. It is a book that I will revisit again after I have made my own examination of his examples. It is a fairly short book, only 188 pages, but it is jampacked with information and insights. I recommend The Possibility of America for its honest look at America, it’s history, it’s culture and its spirituality.

The Possibility of America

is available in paperback and eBook