Good Endings: 5 books I Reread as a Biblical Counselor When Hope Feels Hard
I’ve noticed the last few weeks that one of the advantages of bleak midwinter is that keeping the blinds closed to hold in the heat means the stainless steel appliances in my kitchen looked clean. Now that I live in a place with winter, I’ve realized that maybe the reason spring cleaning is “a thing” is because when you throw open the curtains and let the spring sun in, it shows the smudges on your microwave and the spots you missed with the mop on the wood floor.
There is a very loosely connected analogy in there somewhere for hope. I want to be a hopeful person. Although reluctantly, I admire optimism. And I do believe God has promised to do us good. But I also know that in winters of the soul, desire it though I might, hope seems as elusive as the light I need to actually see my kitchen well enough to clean it. I think this is a terrible metaphor, but in the name of building trust with people who might be considering counseling with me, I will say, you now know ChatGPT doesn’t write my posts. :) That, and the lack of em dashes.
One of the ways I throw open the windows, so to speak, for my soul, is through books that point towards good endings. Here is my list of books I reread as a biblical counselor when hope feels hard.
#1 Notes From the Tilt-A-Whirl, N.D. Wilson
I don’t know of any book in the last 10 years that has woken me back up to the miracles in the mundane more than this one. Favorite quote:
“We are dying. We must die. The road is well traveled. We need not fear the dark, for the way is lit with Christmas lights…We are devoured—by each other, by the earth, by time, by cancers and confusion, by the spinning of this sphere as it runs its balanced laps. We are in Winter, where the light dies and the blood runs cold. But we are not forgotten. Wet, ripped from the trees and trampled, we will not be lost, for we are His words, and when his voice calls, we will come.” p. 179
#2 The Bruised Reed, by Richard Sibbes
This was among the first books I read by a Puritan author and, besides Pilgrim’s Progress, the one I have returned to most frequently. Favorite quote:
“Let us not be discouraged at the small beginnings of grace…we must consider ourselves as Christ does, who looks on us as those he intends to fit for himself. Christ values us by what we shall be, and by what we are elected unto. We call a little plant a tree, because it is growing up to be so.” p. 17
#3 Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
I have written elsewhere about how Frodo and Sam and Middle Earth were used by God to reorient me to the reality that there is joy even when your life has fallen apart. Of course there’s not a single favorite quote. But I do love this one:
“At last, weary and feeling finally defeated, he sat on a step below the level of the passage floor and bowed his head into his hands. It was quiet, horribly quiet. The torch, that was already burning low when he arrived, sputtered and went out; and he felt the darkness over him like a tide. And then softly, to his own surprise, there at the vain end of his long journey and his grief, moved by what thought in his heart he could not tell, Sam began to sing…Though here at journey’s end I lie in darkness buried deep, beyond all towers strong and high, beyond all mountains steep, above all shadows rules the Sun and Stars for ever dwell: I will not say the Day is done, nor bid the Stars farewell.” (The Return of the King, p. 195)
#4 The Bible in Modern English by J.B. Phillips
One of the most spiritually invigorating things I know to do when my soul is carrying heavy burdens or my spiritual eyesight is dull is to pick up a translation of Scripture I don’t use as often. Elisabeth Elliot loved this translation, and I was exposed to it through my many trips through all of her books. A favorite verse:
“At that time we were completely overwhelmed, the burden was more than we could bear, in fact we told ourselves that this was the end. Yet we believe now that we had this experience of coming to the end of our tether that we might learn to trust, not in ourselves, but in God who can raise the dead. It was God who preserved us from imminent death, and it is he who still preserves us.” 2 Corinthians 2:8-10
#5 The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
My first biblical counselor was very reluctant to give me “homework,” and I remember being quite disgruntled over it. I wanted…To. Be. Fixed. But he did assign this book and suggest I reconsider which of the narratives I was telling myself about my life was the true one…the doom and gloom version that regularly swept me into despair…or the moments where I had glimmers of hope. Turns out Rilian and I had something in common. From Aslan to Eustace,
“Perhaps you do not see quite as well as you think.” p. 27
If you are looking for spring reading to help you remember all the reasons you have to be filled with hope, maybe one of these will help.
And if you know how to keep the microwave from looking smudgy, let me know.