Whispering Winds Blog

     Do you remember learning the alphabet song? I remember figuring out that it’s the same tune as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” It was a good song to learn, because it helped me memorize the letters of the alphabet and the order they came in. I can remember taking a test in second grade where we had to write out the whole alphabet with all the letters in the right order. For some reason, the only way I could remember the order for “L M N O P” was to sing them. So I sang that part of the song in my mind. Then, when I had written all the letters down, I sang the whole song in my mind to be sure I was right. Music helped me learn the alphabet.

Some people learned the alphabet from alphabet story books, with each page of the book having a picture of something that began with that letter – A with an Apple, B with a Baseball Bat, C with a Cat, and so on.

I recently came upon a new kind of alphabet book. A very good friend of mine, Marilyn Huebel, wrote the book, Bringing Hope to Life:  26 Ways to Change the World You Live in. Author Gregory F. Augustine Pierce writes in the book’s foreword, Marilyn Huebel’s beautiful little book is about … how to begin building the kingdom of God in our own lives and in the lives of those we touch. It is about reconciliation and hope and love, from A to Z. She doesn’t use many words. An image here. A metaphor there. A quote from someone famous. A verse from Scripture. Her vignettes are meant to encourage us to think again about how we should and could be building the kingdom of God in our daily lives… As you read through these twenty-six reflections (enough for a month if you rest on Sundays!), I hope you are inspired by the author’s simple message of personal challenge and her ability to inspire specific actions within the course of your daily routines.

The A entry is Ad Libbing. B is for Boxes. C is for Cubicle Life… X is X Marks the Spot. Y is You Wash, I’ll Dry. Z is Zebras, Dolphins, and Ferns, Oh My! Each entry is a two or three page reflection, ending with a question that asks how you can change something in your world that will begin to bring about the “Kingdom of God” by your own actions today.

Bringing Hope to Life:  26 Ways to Change the World You Live in (Copyright © 2011 by Vesper Society, published by ACTA Publications, Chicago) is a little book (173 pages, about 5 inches square) that’s fun to read and think about. You may never think about ad libbing, boxes, and cubicle life in the same way again. Or about each letter of the alphabet. Maybe the book will inspire you to create your own alphabet book.

The book is available directly from the publisher (http://www.actapublications.com/bringinghopetolife/) as well as on Amazon.com. (http://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Hope-Life-Marilyn-Huebel/dp/087946478X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323724051&sr=8-1) A nice Christmas present for anyone who enjoys easy-to-read but thoughtful books.