When I am tempted, as I always am, to put my personal advantage ahead of the common good--in my home or in society--I am little moved by abstract ethical injunctions, and actively encouraged to "me-firstism" by psychological-sounding appeals to my needs and rights. But I can sometimes be nudged toward something resembling concern for others by remembering a story from long ago about wizards and hobbits.

--Daniel Taylor in "The Healing Power of Stories" (Doubleday, 181 pp.; $22.50).

Copyright (c) 1996 Christianity Today, Inc./BOOKS & CULTURE

May/June 1996, Vol. 2, No. 3, Page 4

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