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80 l Macon Magazine october/noveMber 2013 h o l i d a Y G u i d e 2 0 1 3 7 Gift Ideas That Will Nourish Your Soul and Help Others by ben Gosden As the holiday season approaches, why not buy someone a gift that means more than just the wrapping it comes in or the price tag it carries? Why not buy a gift that has the power to enrich someone's soul and help others? I hope these gift ideas can do just that. 1. "Common Prayer for Ordinary Radicals" by Jonathan Wilson- Hartgrove and Shane Claiborne Book: $16.99 Smartphone App: $9.99 This book is a beautiful tapestry of prayers, hymns and devotions. You can use it in the privacy of your study, the comfort of a favorite chair or a spot on your back porch. You can also take it to your Bible study or small group and share it. The material is easy to follow, yet uniquely deep and insightful for devotional books. You'll read prayers of saints from Christian history and prayers about difficult matters, such as how to love your enemy. A smartphone app is also available. So if you find yourself overwhelmed by a busy morning where you don't have time to pray at home, you can use you phone and take five minutes for prayer and devotion. 2. "Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers" by Anne Lamott Hardcover: $13.49 Kindle Edition: $9.99 Anne Lamott is one of the most honest and articulate writers on the topics of faith and life these days. I found her a few years ago in her book, "Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith," and I continue to go back to that book for pearls of wisdom in my sermon preparation. She is the kind of writer who risks everything to write honest and gutsy thoughts on how faith and life and God intermingle in our daily lives. Her writing is not for those searching for something more neat and clean and simple when it comes to faith -- she's raw and real. I always tell people Anne Lamott is the kind of writer who says what I'm thinking when I can't find the exact words and she does so with more humor than I could ever hope to exercise. Let her words entice you to buy the book for someone you love: "Prayer is us humans merely being, as e.e. cummings put it -- reaching out to something having to do with the eternal, with vitality, intelligence, kindness, even when we are at our most utterly doomed and skeptical. God can handle honest, and prayer begins as an honest conversation." 4. the bowtie cause www.bowtiecause.com Ties are $57 Former NFL player Dhani Jones established the Bowtie Cause. It's a cause near and dear to my heart for two reasons: It sup- ports many different worthy causes; and if you know me, you know that I LOVE bowties. Jones set this site up as a way to have a central place and product that supports many differ- ent causes. So I encourage you to browse the site and see if there's a cause that a loved one may find important and buy them a bowtie to support that cause. After all, who doesn't love a bowtie... 3. Mumford & Sons album "Babel" $14.99 on iTunes This band is my favorite band, hands down. Their music is an artistic blend of rock and bluegrass with a special twist from across the pond in England. The lyrics have depth. The music features instruments from guitars to banjos to upright basses to horn sections (in certain songs) to the now well-known kick drum used by lead singer Marcus Mumford. This music has the unique power to put you in a contemplative mood when you need it. It can also inspire you through driving beats, acoustic guitar solos, key changes and lyrics that can soar to the heavens even when they sing about the real stuff of life and death and pain.