Best this month
By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
mentary about the life and work of Buck Brannaman (photo at left), the real-life horse whisperer who served as an adviser to Redford’s movie. He is a very busy man who spends nine months on the road teaching four-day seminars on “colt starting” (an alter- native method from traditional horse- breaking) and other gentle techniques for training horses. He recommends large doses of love and empathy to initiate them into a new stage in their lives. Once the animal trusts that you aren’t try- ing to be dominant, it calms down and the glorious dance begins. Buck says most of his time is spent helping
Buck
In The Horse Whisperer, one of our favorite films, Robert Redford plays a patient, centered and calm healer who can work wonders with horses. Buck is a memorable docu-
The Grateful Heart: Living the Christian Message
This paperback by Wilkie Au and Noreen Cannon Au offers some fresh takes on gratitude, a widely written about spiritual practice. The authors see Jesus as a seri- ous practitioner of grateful- ness who charted for all who
encountered him a path focusing on gifts and blessings. They are convinced that gratitude
The Brussats pub- lish the website www. SpiritualityandPractice. com where you can find more information about the items reviewed in this column.
is “a life-giving practice that benefits both individuals and society.” It is an emotion, a virtue and an attitude. The Aus do a remarkable job discussing ways to expand the gratitude factor and to be alert to attitudes that mitigate against a thankful way of living. They iden- tify Scripture passages about grace and gratitude before dealing with obstacles to the practice, including envy, entitlement and consumerism. They conclude with lines from the hymn “Now Thank We All Our God” (Paulist Press,
www.paulistpress.com).
horses with people problems. Buck is a gifted spiritual teacher who serves as a bridge between those who attend his clinics and the horses they love. His gentleness, healing touch and respect for these beautiful creatures shines through each scene in this amazing documentary. He models for us a compassionate ethic for relating to all animals (IFC,
www.ifcfilms.com).
What If Your Best
Friend Were Blue? This simple but elegant children’s book by Vera Kochan and illustrated by Viviana Garofoli celebrates the diversity of humankind. We live in a world of infinite variety: people of all colors, creeds, political affiliations, ethnic backgrounds and educational experiences. In this book for children 4 years and up, a little boy imagines that all the people around him are a different color. Would that change things in any significant way?
Even if his best friend were blue, he would still play soccer with him. Even if his doctor were yel- low, he would still try to help him if he were sick. Even if she were orange, the babysitter would still try to think up games for them to play. Externals like appearance don’t matter as much as what lies inside each person. Or as the little boy puts it: People “like you just because you’re you” (Marshall Cavendish,
www.marshallcavendish.us/kids).
42 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
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