The Year of Living Biblically, Finale

I finished A.J. Jacobs' The Year of Living Biblically. I recommend it. It made me laugh a lot, but it also made me think. Jacobs heritage is Jewish, so you learn more about that denomination than any other, but he also dives into other forms of religion a bit, too. He travels to Israel, he travels to the Creationist Museum, he travels South - uncovering for himself many different ways to worship. Jacobs is very honest about his struggle as a secular Jew to dive into a project like this. I felt the ending was just as it should be, too.

Whether or not you believe in a higher power, the book is definitely interesting. And I think it's more interesting because Jacobs was an agnostic going in. No preaching, few judgments. Because of the wide divide that there is between people who strongly believe in something and those who don't, or the divide between those who believe in one thing and those who believe in another - well, I feel pretty good about the country we live in. We're allowed to practice whatever religion we want (or don't want). While we could disagree with our neighbor over religion, and even argue loudly with him about it, we don't have the right to persecute him - and him us. For the most part, we honor each other. And that's a great thing. Obviously, as current events relay, not everyone is so fortunate. I forget that sometimes.

The Year of Living Biblically: Lying

Several times through out the book, Jacobs talks about the ever-important (yet pretty impossible) commandment, Thou Shall Not Lie. Besides the part about the tantrum his son throws when Jacobs doesn't lie about the English muffin (see two posts ago), I have another favorite moment: When he and his wife run into her old college friend and his response to setting up a play date for their kids is: "You guys seem nice, but I don't really want new friends right now." You see, he's not trying to be mean - just honest. They hardly have time to see the friends they already have - why throw more into the mix?

This made me think of a feature Jacobs wrote in Esquire last summer, "I Think You're Fat," an article about a movement called Radical Honesty. Jacobs tries to immerse himself in a completely truthful life, discovering how hard it really is and how many people he can easily piss off (we don't all handle the truth very well). It's hilarious and worth a read. It also made me wonder if he came across this Radical Honesty movement while living biblically and thou-shall-not-lying? I'm sure the two go hand-in-hand somehow.

Side note: Another passage in the book that really made me think was about prayer. Jacobs tried to pray several times each day. Once he got the hang of it, it made him feel good. One of the advisers on his call list suggested that he should really be praying for God, not for himself. It should take time out of your day - you should sacrifice to pray. However, as Jacobs points out, if he sacrifices and becomes more selfless, then he'll actually become a better person, and good for him. It's silly, but it reminds me of an episode of Friends when Joey and Phoebe talk about how there aren't any selfless good deeds - they all make you feel good about yourself. Maybe that's OK, though? I say, even if people do good things for others because it makes them feel good, it's still better than no one helping anyone else at all.

The Year of Living Biblically: Gossiping

In a couple chapters of his book, Jacobs works on gossiping. According to the book, the Bible has at least 20 passages condemning gossiping. And, I don't think that means eliminating talking badly about other people, but talking about people behind their backs at all, really. But, what happens when your significant other comes home after a hard day and vents to you about his or her coworker (as did Jacobs' wife)? Instead of offering moral support with a "you're right, what a freakin' jerk," you sit there and listen silently and then say, "ah, that's too bad." As with the author's wife, that may not go over too well.

In the same vein, Jacobs writes that really, it's better to not talk negatively at all. Jacobs admits he fails on a daily (hourly) basis. I mean, think about it: how many conversations do you come across every day that are negative in some respect? How many are you a part of yourself? Me? A LOT. People bitch and complain - that's what we do. But, after reading about how hard he's trying not to speak that way, maybe the world would be a brighter place if we all cut back on it a little.

When he comes back to the topic of gossip several chapters later (Do not go around as a gossiper among your people... Leviticus 19:16), Jacobs mentions that the more he keeps his negative thoughts to himself, the fewer negative thoughts he thinks up in the first place. "I refuse to let that toxic cloud gather in my brain. It's a purifying feeling..."

Couldn't hurt, right?

The Year of Living Biblically : One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

I'm about 75 pages into The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs. After he decided this was what he wanted his next book to be about, Jacobs spent four weeks reading the Bible cover to cover, writing down all the "rules" he came across. At the end: 72 pages and more than 700 rules. So, for the next year, he planned to live by the Bible. At first he takes it for its literal meaning, but as with anything, there are plenty of meanings for different passages. He forms an advisory board of pastors, rabbis (Jacobs was born Jewish, though non-practicing), and other people who can help him with this translation. Instead of trying to live by all 700 rules each day (which he found very tiring the first few days - like he couldn't even leave the house), Jacobs decided to focus on certain ones each day. The book follows his day-to-day journey. A few things that made me laugh:

1. Thou Shall not Lie: Easier said than done when your child wants a bagel but all you have is an English muffin. Instead of "lying" and saying the muffin IS a bagel, you tell the truth. Thirty-minute tantrum follows.

2. Within certain sects of the Jewish faith, a man and woman aren't allowed to touch for 12 days after she starts menstruating. Nor is a man allowed to sit where she sits. Or lie on the same sheets as she does. Before Jacobs comes home from work one day, his wife (who feels like a leper because of this) sits on every surface in their home.

3. Thou Shall not Covet: He starts with just the wanting of "things" (planning to tackle the coveting of other pretty women for later). Different followers believe different things here, as Jacobs found out by interviewing his advisory board. If your coveting means you'd cause harm to your neighbor, then you should refrain; but just liking that Porsche down at the dealership - not a big deal. But, some believe any and all wanting is forbidden. The author talks about how he covets for his two-year-old son every day. My favorite example: A girl his son's age can say words like 'helicopter,' while his son still just gurgles and grunts. Jacobs covets that girl's vocabulary for his son.

It's a very entertaining read. Plus, I'm learning a lot about other religions (and my own). Just this morning I read about his encounter with a Jehovah's Witness. (The author actually invited the man into his home and talked so much, the man kind of had to beg to leave...)