Story

Well, I did it. Yesterday, I said I'd go take a second look at a book I read recently. The book is A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. Donald Miller is the author of the well-known book "Blue Like Jazz" (which I have NOT read yet, by the way).

The book came across my desk at work - lots of books come across my desk at work. One weekend when the kids were away and my folks were away, I took it home with me to see if I wanted to read it. I did. And I did.

It was an easy read inasmuch as I didn't have to go look up words in the dictionary to know what it was talking about. I didn't have to have a master's degree in theology or psychology or any other -ology to follow along. I've never heard Donald Miller's voice, but as I was reading I felt like I was sitting in a coffee shop with or across the living room from a guy who was telling me about some stuff he was really interested in. In addition, it was easy to read because it was entertaining. There is funny stuff. And great adventures. Interesting characters. Unusual settings. (There was also a draw in that I already knew a tiny bit of the information from a direct source - I'll have to check with my attorney before I'll know if I can write about that or not.)

However, in my opinion that's where easy stopped. At one point I even told someone that I was almost "afraid" to read any further because I didn't want to have to get to the challenge I was sure was coming. I didn't want to have to read it, agree with it, and then fail miserably by not meeting it. Donald Miller was gentle though. (Thanks, Don - surely your friends call you "Don") While he proposed the challenges, they were posed directly to himself, not as a call to action for anyone and everyone who should happen to read his book. I'm thinking that he'd like others to move in the directions he chose to move, but it wasn't presented that way to the reader.

I'm getting ahead of myself though. I was so glad that I read the book. I tried to find some others who had read it so that I could talk about it with them. At that point, I didn't know anyone personally who had read it. Since I wanted to share my thoughts with people who already knew me, the online option didn't meet my needs. So, I sort of put it down. On the second shelf of my bedside table. Not completely out of sight. Then for Christmas I gave it to some of those folks I'd wanted to talk about it with a few months earlier. And I've heard they are reading it. I look forward to the discussions we might have regarding its content.

And...I feel a little "afraid" again. I told them it was a great book. I've mentioned that it presents challenges I'm drawn to. But what if they think it's a call to action that I'm not ready to act on? Crap. Well, now I've done it. Set myself up to fail miserably and in front of others to boot. Or perhaps I was subconsciously looking for some accountability? Or "authentic community" in the story of my life?

We'll see. I've dusted off the cover and remembered why I wanted to share it with others. If we don't come to the same conclusions, that's ok. And hey, if nothing else, I have two blog posts in a row. Something I haven't done since I was writing about the story of a different chapter of my life. A chapter that tonight, at least, feels a bit like a million miles and a thousand years ago.