"A Graphic Guide to Music Therapy" (Bill Matney, Mandy Griffin, Becca Kurtz, and Amy Huxtable)

TITLE: A Graphic Guide to Music Therapy
AUTHOR: Bill Matney, Mandy Griffin, Becca Kurtz, and Amy Huxtable
PUBLISHER: Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2024, (224 pages).

What has music got to do with our health? Why is music included in therapeutic treatments? What is music therapy? In this graphic guide aimed at children, readers learn about the history, various music therapy methods, qualities of music, the treatment process, the therapeutic experience, theories, approaches, and how it can be adapted for general and medical use. Written by a team of four that consists of a Professor of Music Therapy, two Music Therapist practitioners, and an Art Therapist, we get a graphic guide that tells us the basics of music therapy approaches, theories, applications, and how they can be useful tools to improve our quality of life. We learn that music therapy can be used for general health and specialized situations. The authors define music therapy (MT) as the "intentional use" of music to build "shared experiences" that aid our health in  our "physiological, cognitive, communicative, social, emotional, and spiritual domains." They cover various professional definitions and the qualification needs from different countries such as Australia, the UK, and the US, etc. They also clear up some misunderstandings of music therapy. For example, some might think all music therapists are musicians. While therapists know music, musicians tend to focus on performance while therapists use music to facilitate healing. The historical background is quite interesting as it shows us the universal appeal of music through the ages.

"Faithful Politics" (Miranda Zapor Cruz)

TITLE: Faithful Politics: Ten Approaches to Christian Citizenship and Why It Matters
AUTHOR: Miranda Zapor Cruz
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2024, (216 pages).

Do we choose Republicans because the Presidential candidate carries a Bible? Do we choose Democrats because my Christian friends are there? Do we choose parties simply because their policies are more Christian? How do we practice our Christian Faith in our often heated political environment? What is the difference between heavenly and earthly citizenship? How do we know if our actions are serving God or Caesar? How do we live as heavenly citizens while on earth? In our polarized climate, how can Christians behave as peacemakers? Is there such a thing as a Christian political party? Should we vote for candidates who claim to be Christians? These are some of the questions that trouble many Christians. Before attempting to answer any of these questions, we might need to ask a more fundamental one: "What does it mean to practice faithful politics?" This one question is the basis of this book to show us what it means to be salty, prophetic, separationist, and social. Underlying these principles are biblical applications of dual citizens, first of the Kingdom and then of earthly citizens. Living as Kingdom citizens means recognizing the different approaches to politics as compared to what we see in everyday worldly affairs. For instance, instead of limiting ourselves to relationships based on our nationality statuses on earth, we learn a universal perspective of seeing people as fellow humans living under grace from heaven. Instead of fighting one another to gain access to limited resources on earth, we learn to share in the hope that the economies of God will always be more abundant. 

"The Way of Belonging" (Sarah E. Westfall)

TITLE: The Way of Belonging: Reimagining Who We Are and How We Relate
AUTHOR: Sarah E. Westfall
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2024, (192 pages).

One of the paradoxes of relationships is that we can be together but still feel alone. Yearning for meaningful connections, many of us still struggle with maintaining relationships, let alone building them. Even families have problems with this. The Genesis story of how Adam and Eve hid from God after they sinned was a precursor to how we hide from one another today. Author Sarah Westfall admits that while we all desire deep relationships, we prefer to retreat to our shells of comfort. She describes this as "I belonged everywhere and nowhere all at once." Such conflicting push-pull experiences resemble a ubiquitous enigma in society. With this as impetus, Westfall embarks upon a journey to discover more about oneself before progressing toward how we relate to others. The author qualifies her work by maintaining that "belonging is not linear and cannot be prescribed." She gives us ten chapters on how we can relate to others. Hopefully, readers will find a relevant application in at least one or more. If we are honest, we will reject self-dependence in isolation and admit we need relationships with other people. Some ways to reimagine who we are and how we relate are:

"Discipleship for Every Stage of Life" (Chris A. Kiesling)

TITLE: Discipleship for Every Stage of Life: Understanding Christian Formation in Light of Human Development
AUTHOR: Chris A. Kiesling
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2024, (216 pages).

What have life stages got to do with discipleship? How do human sciences affect spirituality? Is it legitimate to connect Christian formation with human development? These questions should pique the interest of Christians who want to see discipleship expand and be applied beyond the regular youth and adulthood age groups. By bringing together curiosity about human sciences and the theology of Christian Spirituality, author and professor Chris Kiesling has given us a compelling work that engages the development of Christian discipleship for every stage of life. Using his thirty years of learning about human sciences, he maintains that discipleship strategies should adapt to the person's human development stage. It is hoped that not only will that help cultivate the path toward human flourishing, but it also opens up gospel-sharing moments at all stages of life. From birth to the end of life, readers learn about the stage of human development and the needed discipleship strategy. The purpose of this book is to allow the "wholistic, redemptive vision of salvation" to shine through each of the described human stages.