the.slow.down

so has anyone ever read this book?

good book. not the easiest read in the world, but good, insightful and refreshing.

the subtitle is becoming men of courage in a world of chaos, and a lot of it is focused on authentic manhood and was really good. one aspect that struck me in particular however was the fresh perspective affirming the non-formulatic [i probably made that word up] nature of faith and chrisitianity. i’m often frustrated by what modern and especially american christianity has amounted to, being essentially a set of doctrines and belief formula in the theological realm and a group of practical steps to fix your life in the “livology” realm.

this book challenges the all too common christian assertion that life is to be figured out, our problems can be figured out, our hurts can be unpacked and thus solved, by stepping through some set of steps or instructions that some author has come up with to fix people, all straight out of the bible of course.

there is something both scary and refreshing in the idea that life isn’t always solveable. we won’t always understand it all. we won’t always be able to get where we want to get and that will be hard. there is mystery tied up in this Christ follower business that is difficult, disconcerting, sad, and hope challenging at times, but that requires faith.

faith, hope, perseverance. how do we do those things? that is what a lot of this book is tied up in. how do we persevere when things don’t make any sense and stuff hurts? how do we have hope when it’s all falling apart? what is the real nature of faith?

if you’ve read this book i’d love your comments or thoughts on it or on any of the above, or even if you haven’t, for that matter. but regardless this is a powerful, though not the most engaging, book that has insights for men that desire to make it as Christ followers over the long haul and to do it with honesty.

This entry was posted Friday, October 13th, 2006 at 10:55 am and is filed under out of my brain. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.