Untitled Classic: A Book Review

The encouragement of a friend, the recommendation from a pastor, and the involvement of my wife in Classical education have all conspired to peak my interest in the literary classics.  Whether lack of opportunity or lack of initiative I must confess my ignorance in them.  So to get up to speed I have been relying on Wikipedia and Youtube to learn of Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, Tale of Two Cities and Middlemarch.  

Just this week I finished a book that was written several years ago by a mid-eastern physician and a world traveler.  From his own life experience he writes a story of inclusion for those excluded.  “As he tells the story, all of us who have found ourselves on the outside looking in on life with no hope of gaining entrance now find the doors wide open.”

The protagonist (main character, hero) is presented as a common person who is also unusually inspiring.  While kindhearted and winsome there is an unpredictability that is polarizing.  Even as we come to understand him, he retains a certain amount of mystery. 

The unusual circumstances surrounding the protagonist’s birth give a prologue to his life and leaves the reader guessing at what might be coming.  Then entering into his life, we are introduced to a cast of characters who span a wide spectrum of society.  His interaction with them leads to many unexpected turns that develop an intriguing plot.       

As the narrative progresses we come to realize there is more to his life than we might have initially thought.  We get a hint of an arising conflict and eventually come to understand that the protagonist’s life mission is wrapped up in this conflict. 

The obstacle he faces and the end resolution takes not only the characters of the story by surprise but the reader as well.  You will find yourself indentifying with this story on many levels, and it will open the door for your own inclusion into an even bigger story. 

There is one forewarning to consider.  This story is filled with the supernatural.  Demons are encountered, the miraculous of nature occurs, and the dead are raised to life.  Even the protagonist makes a strident supernatural claim about himself that plays deeply into the story.

Discovering "The Normal Christian Life"

Breakthroughs are often accompanied by sources of encouragement.  This encouragement comes in a variety of forms….conversations with a trusted friend, quiet retreats, a music CD, a series of messages, or even a group of inspiring paintings.  My encouragers have most often been books.

Leaving behind lifestyle choices created a void.  One way I filled that void was by spending a lot of time with my grandfather.  We would do ministry things together like going to his Saturday morning radio broadcast, but we would also do everyday things together like working in the garden or bringing in fire wood.  I was at his home often and would usually stay late into the night.  One evening I was wrestling with the question, “How do we know when we are walking in the Spirit?”  My aunt answered by suggesting I read The Normal Christian Life by Chinese writer Watchman Nee. 

It became a foundational book in the formation of my spiritual understanding.  Here are some of the thoughts that impacted me:

“God makes it quite clear in His Word that He has only one answer to every human need–His Son, Jesus Christ.  In all His dealings with us He works by taking us out of the way and substituting Christ in our place.”

“God will not give me humility or patience or holiness or love as separate gifts of His grace.  He is not a retailer dispensing grace to us in doses, measuring out some patience to the impatient, some love to the unloving, some meekness to the proud, in qualities that we take and work on as a kind of capital.  He has given only one gift to meet all our need–His Son Christ Jesus, and as I look to Him to live out His life in me, He will be humble and patient and loving and everything else I need–in my stead. 

“Living in the Spirit means that I trust the Holy Spirit to do in me what I cannot do myself.

“If I have a hasty temper, impure thoughts, a quick tongue or a critical spirit, I [will] not set out with a determined effort to change myself, but, reckoning myself dead in Christ to these things, I [will] look to the Spirit of God to produce in me the needed purity or humility or meekness.

“It is not passivity; it is a most active life, trusting the Lord like that; drawing life from Him, taking Him to be my very life, letting Him live out His life in me.”

The First Clearing: Surrender

In the spirit of last week’s post I’m writing about the first clearing in my life.  It is best summarized as a time of surrender: 

Recollections of my childhood are filled with many happy memories even while being peppered with a good amount of anxiety.  I had a large family of cousins who played together, parents who said, “I love you”, an aunt who read books to me, and a childhood friend who was like a brother.  Gatlinburg was practically in my backyard and Big Orange sporting events were just down the road in Knoxville. 

I believed in the name of Christ as a child, but for some reason the aliveness of this relationship was lost on me as a young man.

Anger, insecurity and emptiness marked my life in those days.  I grasped for relief in a number of ways but always landed back in the same spot.  Neither sports nor music, dating relationships nor cars, partying nor “freedom” brought any long term satisfaction.  The abuse of drugs and alcohol only added to my dysfunction.  I discovered that self does not satisfy for very long. 

Outwardly I was surrounded by lots of friends, many who remain so to this day.  Inwardly though I felt lost and empty.  Often in the stillness of the night, away from the noise of the day, away from the distraction of a party, I was extremely lonely.  All seemed hopeless.

Relationships of course were tenuous.  Self centeredness has an effective way of strangling relationships and eventually destroying them.  I did more than my share of hurting others and increasing my pain as well as theirs.    

Late one fall I found myself as a college drop-out and a fired employee.  Winter was setting in, there were no jobs in sight, and I was directionless.  At this time, at just the right time, a ray of light shone into the darkness. 

It started with reading the Bible, just routinely at first, a chapter or so a day, and though I had read it many times before this was different.  The words started speaking to me, answering questions, filling in the void of my life.   

After a few months there came a time, a defining point, when I realized that authentically following Christ was an all or nothing proposition.  While counting the cost, I prayerfully surrendered myself to Christ.  There were no fireworks, no out of body experiences, no signs and miracles but something much more.  The best way to describe it is that a settled peace ensued and the emptiness evaporated. 

I would never want to go back to those times.  It’s not because all problems went away or I reached some sort of perfection.   No, I’m still plenty human.  It’s because God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him.

More Than a Backpacking Trip

After pulling the red and black laces of my hiking boots tight, I stood, slipped on my backpack and continued up the rocky path.  The day had started so differently.  Our group had broken camp and started out together, but in a relatively short time we had drifted apart as each person set their own pace.  Alone on the mountain trail I had enjoyed the sun’s rays exploding through openings in the trees and the birds creating a nature symphony in surround sound.  The day was alive and peaceful.  At one point a woodpecker hammered away on a distant tree.   Intrigued I listened intently until the last strains of hammering faded away.  There was so much to appreciate out here in the wilderness. 

Now the path had turned rocky and difficult.  With each step my foot slipped to find a firm landing, ankles stiffened to keep from turning and my feet throbbed in protest.  By mid-afternoon with the sun at its strongest the hike had turned into nothing more than plodding drudgery with no end sight.  Weariness set in.

Then without notice the trail turned away from the rocks, and the forest opened up into an unexpected clearing with a panoramic view.  Off in the distance another mountain range rose up majestically into the clouds.  The valleys carved it up in ways that caused the shadows to give it an ever-changing personality.  I stood quiet and thoughtful for long time as I soaked it in.  After seeing nothing but trees for days, this panoramic perspective was both overwhelming and refreshing.  I determined in that moment that every step of the journey had been worth it all.   

I have come to liken my own personal spiritual journey to this backpacking trip into the mountains.  On occasion I too break into an unexpected clearing and get a breathtaking view of reality from an eternal perspective.  From this viewpoint I can see clearly God’s true majestic nature, and/or I see more clearly the inner workings of my own heart.  Either way my understanding of the robust life in the gospel is enhanced, and I continue down the path of life changed from the inside out. 

Of course, the majority of any backpacking trip is not spent at the summit or even at a panoramic clearing but on the upward winding trail surrounded by forest.  While a clear view may be obstructed there remains so much to enjoy and appreciate – a massive oak, squirrels scampering, a refreshing waterfall, a peek at distant mountains, cool shade, wind in the trees, blackberries, wildflowers and wildlife.  The enjoyable is experienced right along with the difficult and challenging – a rocky path, a thunder storm that rolls in, sweltering days, a slippery crossing, poison ivy and a downpour. 

 

So too it is with life.  There are the aha moments at the clearing, but most of life is spent on the path of the ordinary and every day.  In the daily we live out our discovered insights while learning to appreciate God’s small simple gifts.  We face difficulties and learn to trust Him in the uncertainty.  We push toward the summit in anticipation of what is to come.