My reading has trailed off a bit lately, in part due to health issues and in part due to reading choices not panning out. I laid two books aside at the 1/3rd point when the subject and writing turned out to not hold my interest. I suppose general busyness helped to rob reading time, with some of the busyness due to medical appointments.

Looking for a short read, I grabbed a book my wife had recently read and recommended: Paul Orjala: The Man, The Mission. It’s one of series of annual missions books our church published (or used to), this one from 2009-10. I think I read it back then but did not in the least remember it, so it was a fresh read. The book was of special interest to me because I briefly knew Paul when I attended the same church as he and his family in 1974-75. At that time, Paul was back from the mission field in Haiti and teaching at our seminary in Kansas City. I didn’t get to know him very well. He was already an experienced missionary and professor; I was new to the congregation and denomination. We didn’t hang out in the same circles.

But I got to know him a little. He was a nice man, well thought of by all, and pleasant spoken. The book told about his boyhood in San Diego, call to missions, assignment in Haiti, years teaching, and a later in life assignment in France. In all things, Paul was a faithful and effective servant of Christ. Much of our missions education curriculum. Paul is almost a legend in our church for the effectiveness of everything he touched. That includes considerable musical talent, which I saw him demonstrate in church services.

I’m glad Lynda found this book in the house and brought it to my attention. It was a good, short read about an amazing man and his service for God. I won’t read it again, nor do I think we should keep it, but I’m very glad I read it.

In the further interest of decumulation leading toward downsizing, I’ve been looking for books in the house that look like they would be good reads but which I wouldn’t likely read a second time, or want to keep. I found several right in The Dungeon that meet the criteria. One I finished a few days ago is The Potter’s Wheel, a 1897 book by John Watson, D.D.

This book falls into the category of not knowing where I got it. The book I have was printed in 1897 and may be a first edition. It’s also severely water damaged. How did that happen, and where did I get this book? Did I buy it used with this water damage? Was it on one of the four bookshelves that took some water damage when our hot water heater sprung a leak while we were on vacation? Don’t know. I thought I got this book about ten to fifteen years ago from Lynda’s cousin whose father-in-law had been a pastor. But the book doesn’t have his name in it, nor any markings you would expect to see in a pastor’s study book. So where I got it will remain a mystery.

Another mystery is what this book is about. I mean, it’s a book about the Christian religion, but toward what end? As I read it, it was somewhat good as a devotional book but not as a discipleship book. What was Watson’s intent? What did he hope readers would take away from reading this? I found this discussion at a place where a used copy was for sale.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work…Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Well, after reading that, I feel rather stupid at not recognizing the apparent brilliance of this book. At another site where the book is for sale, I found this.

One of Canada’s foremost early philosophers instrumental in the Hegelian movement that dominated Canada until WW1 and one of the most influential academic figures in Queen’s University history, introducing the disciplines of Psychology, Economics and Political Studies to the curriculum.

Now I’m confused. But to add to the confusion I found this description at yet another site.

The Potter’s Wheel is a novel written by John Watson and published in 1897. The story revolves around the life of a potter named David Grant, who lives in a small village in Scotland….

Except that last one is actually a modern novel by a man named Jeremy Benson, and the selling site did a poor job listing the book.

So yes, I’m confused. The book talks about the Christian life, with little hints of how God, as the skillful potter, will mold us from lumps of clay. Except that purpose for writing didn’t come through clearly in my read. And I read this on my noon reading time, in an undistracted way.

So how do I rate this book? Very readable. But loses points for failure to achieve a clear purpose. Overall, only 3-stars. I wish I could rate it higher, because I feel like I’m missing something that I should have gotten. But this is not a keeper. It goes up for sale tonight.