Two books on changing the world
Jan. 1st, 2009 01:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Happy New Year! This book post is rather timely - I finished Leaving Microsoft to Change the World
and Reconciling All Things: A Christian Vision for Justice, Peace and Healing
.
I really enjoyed John Wood's tale of personal transformation in Leaving Microsoft to Change the World. After visiting Nepal, he made good on a simple promise to deliver books to Nepalese schools and soon found that he was no longer happy being an expat for Microsoft China. He took huge risks and broke with his past (including his girlfriend at the time) to devote himself wholeheartedly to world literacy. The result is Room to Read, an organization that builds libraries in developing countries. It wasn't enough for Wood to dream big - he fortunately had the drive and connections to make those big dreams come true. It's too easy to take charities for granted, but starting one from the ground up was pretty tough and I appreciated the insider's view.
Reconciling All Things was left in the office free book pile and in a way I can understand why - it's mostly about larger, worldly reconciliation on a spiritual level, instead of being a standard self-help book for the individual. I liked the honesty the authors presented though and that they were sincere in their message of spiritual transformation.
I really enjoyed John Wood's tale of personal transformation in Leaving Microsoft to Change the World. After visiting Nepal, he made good on a simple promise to deliver books to Nepalese schools and soon found that he was no longer happy being an expat for Microsoft China. He took huge risks and broke with his past (including his girlfriend at the time) to devote himself wholeheartedly to world literacy. The result is Room to Read, an organization that builds libraries in developing countries. It wasn't enough for Wood to dream big - he fortunately had the drive and connections to make those big dreams come true. It's too easy to take charities for granted, but starting one from the ground up was pretty tough and I appreciated the insider's view.
Reconciling All Things was left in the office free book pile and in a way I can understand why - it's mostly about larger, worldly reconciliation on a spiritual level, instead of being a standard self-help book for the individual. I liked the honesty the authors presented though and that they were sincere in their message of spiritual transformation.