A few of you know that I'm writing a book with my dad.  Well, he's done with his part and now the pressure is on for me to get finished.  Neither one of us has published a book before, so we're stepping out of the boat on this one.  Kelly Fryer encouraged us to use the "power of blogging", so that's what I'm going to do.

First things first, the working title for the book is Un-American Activities:  Countercultural Themes in Christianity with the subtitle, A modern father and postmodern daughter reflect on their pilgrimages of life and faith.  My, but that's a mouthful.  Here's an excerpt from the preface that explains the title:

The first part of the title of this collection of reflections, Un-American Activities, comes, of course, from a U.S. House of Representatives Committee (1938-1975) with the same name. That Committee's charter required it to investigate and reign in activities that it viewed as being counter to the interests of America. I mean something quite different: I hold that there are essential countercultural dimensions in Christianity, dimensions that imply resistance to certain ideas, values, and activities widely approved in our culture. As I reviewed my work, it became evident that this was one of the most recurrent themes over the years. Kim concurred that this notion was central to her own emerging understanding of Christian life and faith. It is not, it should be noted, the only motif; but it is pervasive enough to add Countercultural Themes in Christianity to the title of the book.

The book's sub-title, A modern father and postmodern daughter reflect on their pilgrimages of life and faith, assumes two truths about parents and adult children of today. First, often there is a profound difference in point of view between them that must be taken into account if significant communication is to take place. This entails more than the perennial generation gap. It results rather from a sea change in perspective from post-Enlightenment modernism to postmodernism. Another Weltanshauung, or worldview, is sweeping western cultures. I grieve a loss; my daughter celebrates a gain (see her essay in chapter 1). Second, that chasm can be bridged. It does take time, honesty, and the desire to build the bridge. Both Kim and I discover that we have the desire. I have her at an advantage with respect to time spent, though surely not time left. She has a long lead with respect to honesty: her essays speak of her personal odyssey in life and faith with a tone, depth, and intimacy that induce a troubled silence in me, the silence of a father’s pain at a daughter's anguish.

sound interesting? read more @ unamericanactivities.blogspot.com