A match made in Heaven...

This is not a typical book review because I honestly don't know how anyone else would react to this book. The point of this blog is to point out that sometimes we are pre-composed towards something and that, therefore, any review of the material should be taken with the extreme bias already destined.

As a combined Christmas/Traveling present, Andy from A Mile From The Beach showed up at my house a couple of weeks ago with a book. He wanted me to read it on the plane. He said, "This book is really you, Will. I know it will speak to you." Now, having been told that a million times before from a thousand different people, I took the recommendation with its implied meaning - I think you'll really like this book.

The book is Donald Miller's latest book, "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years." At its primal level, the book is a "sequel" to Donald Miller's best-selling "Blue Like Jazz". It begins with Donald Miller being contacted by a couple of film makers who want to turn Blue Like Jazz into a film, but as part of the process, they begin discussing ways to re-write the largely autobiographical story in such a way as to make it into a good film. Donald Miller sees the process as akin to editing and rewriting his life's story.

As I didn't want to travel with too many books, I decided that I'd read this book before I flew to Kenya. Its not a very long book - 200+ pages. Even for me, I knew I should finish it before I left. So for the first week or so I waded into it - reading about five chapters in a week. It was good, but it wasn't really connecting.

As anyone who regularly reads this blog could tell you, I've been struggling lately with finding answers to questions about my own life. Where I was going to go from here and what all the various things in my life were leading to. Added to this were questions I posed about my faith journey and about my trip to Kenya. Then there were dozens of other questions in my head about things that I've never had the time to blog about. Lots and lots of questions with very few answers. If there's one thing my faith journey has taught me though, its patience. God answers in his own time and in his own way.

This Saturday the weather created a situation where all my plans were canceled. I had about two hours to kill waiting to head off to a Basketball game and there was absolutely nothing on television. So, I curled up on my bed, got nice and comfortable under my blankets, and grabbed Donald Miller's book. I figured I could get a few chapters out of the way, maybe take a nap, or whatever...

I finished reading it. Couldn't put it down to be precise. One by one, in answer to my many prayers, Donald Miller answered every single one of the questions in my head. When Andy said that this book would speak to me, he had been right on the money. It was like Donald Miller had crawled inside my head, found my deepest level of questions, and then been given the answers to those questions. This wasn't just a book, it was an answer to prayer. Whether Donald Miller knew it, he was writing this book to me.

Of course, God knew what He was doing. He seemed to offer these words of wisdom to Donald Miller and had him write them down and get them published. It would be arrogant to assume that the book was meant intentionally for me, but boy did it speak to me in ways that nothing else ever has.

Now, I want to clarify something here. I've found other things inspirational before. I've read things that made me want to visit foreign countries, or be a better person, or what have you, but I've never read anything like this. I didn't immediately jump up from my bed with a plan of action. I didn't immediately vow to travel or to save the world or anything. I can't really say that reading this book worked like that for me. Its well written and certainly inspirational, but to me it was more like an oracle. Ask your question and get an answer meant only for your ears - an answer that makes you think, not one that makes you leap into danger.

As a result, I've begun to more clearly see my path. All has not yet been revealed to me about what my future has in store for me, but the context of that future has been illuminated. I may not know what will happen in Kenya, but at least I understand why I'm going and to what purpose God has sent me.

So Andy... sorry, I'd like to give you credit for knowing me so well, but the fact of the matter is even you could not have suspected how deeply profoundly this book would have affected me. You were inspired to give me this book just as Donald Miller was inspired to write it. God used you as a messenger. And to that extent, you should be very humble and thank God, as I shall for your part in this tale.

(As an addendum, I totally 100% recommend this book to all people, but especially to writers and film makers - even I learned some new tricks about story from it. But I also recommend it to anyone who is currently searching through life for some way to become better connected or to be better utilized by the world. This book won't make the hard work go away, but it will make you want to tackle that hard work with gusto.)

(As an additional addendum - Donald Miller - You Rock!)