There’s a great beauty in the small stories, in lives lived in the humility of the background, just as much as there is in the grand adventures. And truly, what drives the great stories is the depth of the characters they contain, not the deeds the characters perform. I hope that no one reads Miller and comes away with the wrong idea. And once again, Miller himself may address this in his book. Like I said, I haven’t finished it.

It is so important to not only talk about the needs of the world - but get involved in what is happening. I think that service and being available is key to living a good life.

You mention Blood:Water Mission in this post and it is a great cause. In fact there is an opportunity to get involved by helping to raise awareness this fall over at their website.

http://thefallcampaign.bloodwatermission.com/

Anyway - thanks for a great post. I need to get this book now.

Marc

Thanks for your review. It’s rare to have a book change the way I view my life. This is a book that will stay with you. Go get it and read it.

Thanks for the post. I first heard about this book on Steve Brown ETC. You all need to listen to this podcast. They tried to interview Don, but couldn’t get him on the phone. So, the show ends up being them reacting to the book. There a couple of stories shared that model this “inciting incident” idea. Here’s the link:

http://stevebrownetc.com/podcasts/steve-brown-etc/a-million-miles-donald-miller-on-sbe/

Miller’s been one of those guys on my reading list but I’m not there yet. This may be the book for me at some point, but they all sound like good reads. Steve Taylor and Don have a website up for the “Blue Like Jazz” movie: http://www.bluelikejazzthemovie.com/ Looks like a Rabbit Room type proejct.

The initial part of this post reminded me of a line from “The Perfect Space” a song by the Avett Brothers: “I wanna have friends that I can trust, that love me for the man I’ve become not the man I was.” The music on “I And Love And You” is outstanding and I’d love to see it reviewed here. But, overall, it fits the spirit of what I take to be Miller’s writing style – what little I know of it.

These two lines from the excerpt jumped out at me. First, this bit about the Gospel as infomercial:

“I think Jesus can make things better, but I don’t think he is going to make things perfect. Not here, and not now.”

To which I’d add “not yet” because He’s coming back and when He’s back then “all the sad things will come untrue.” (Yes, a shameless Jason Gray plug!)

Second:

“Maybe that’s what Paul meant when he said he’d learned the secret of contentment.”

What has always struck me about this verse in Philippians is that Paul says he learned it. Not that he knew it or Jesus gave it to him out in the desert period, but that he learned it. That doesn’t take the frustration out of the daily lessons I get on this subject, but it does give me peace about the process and that my Teacher knows what He’s talking about whether I get it or not.

Good food for thought lad. Thanks for sharing the subject and also the description of how you read the book. That was a fun way to tackle a meaty topic.

Drew: I think this book is tighter, more focused, than Blue Like Jazz. So don’t let that stop you.

Nathan: Agreed. Chesterton wrote some great stuff along the same lines, about why good stories resonate with us.

Janna: I love that picture of the Lord’s supper. Wish more people looked at it that way. And I’ve gotten into the habit of trying to read a book cover to cover at least once a month. It has to be the right kind of book, either memoir or fiction, but I love being able to absorb a story or the main ideas of a memoir in one sitting.

Duane: I love to hear that kind of story. I wish you all the best in your novel writing. And I agree, that is exactly the point of the book, a reminder that “there’s purpose in every scene…”