I think choosing this book really boiled down to something I am always telling my kids. With four kids I spend an awful lot of time refereeing, and trying to help small humans negotiate their way through growing up surrounded by other small humans trying to grow up. I find myself constantly urging my kids to think about what their words or actions sound like to other people, specifically their parents and their siblings. There are a lot of days that it doesn’t feel like my urging is having a lot of effect, but I am hopeful that hearing their dad repeatedly pleading with them to be empathetic will one day kick in.

You would think a guy who grew up in church and went to seminary would have already formed opinions of church polity, but you’d be wrong. I grew up in an Independent Fundamental Baptist church where the pastor essentially functioned as the Pope, but without a cool hat.