everything that's on my mind

As has been the case for the last several years, I’ve read far less than I wanted to read. In fact, this year got off to the worst start ever when I didn’t even finish my first book until late March. I went through several periods of not reading – lacking either time, desire or both. In the end, I averaged only about one book per month, while I would have liked to have read a minimum of two. I did begin several books and abandon them at different times, but as for finished books, the list is short.

Here are my favorites of the year.

The Unlikely Disciple : A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University – Kevin Roose

After meeting some students from ultra-conservative Liberty University, Roose – an agnostic student at notoriously liberal Brown University – decides to “study abroad” for a semester at the Virginia school founded by preacher/activist Jerry Falwell. He chronicles his semester in this book and it’s a great story, and probably not what you might expect. I posted about it last month, so you can read my full thoughts on it here. This was my favorite book of the year.

When March Went Mad: The Game That Transformed Basketball – Seth Davis

This was a fun read about the 1979 NCAA championship game, the events leading up to it, the people involved (most notably Larry Bird and Magic Johnson) and how it impacted the game of basketball both at the college and NBA levels. The game itself was one of the catalysts in creating the “March Madness” we all know and love today, and certainly the professional success of Bird & Magic and their role in reviving the faltering NBA is well-documented. It all started here, in a pre-ESPN time when most of the nation was first introduced to Bird & Magic either in the tournament or this very game. Great read, especially if you love college basketball (and if you don’t, you should.)

Saving Darwin: How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution – Karl Giberson

Giberson, a Christian scientist who subscribes to evolution as the story of our origins, attempts to explain why, and how he reconciles that with his faith. The historical nature of the book is what I found most interesting – Giberson’s own story, Darwin’s story, the advances of science since Darwin’s time, and the history of the debate between creationists and evolutionists (as well as the more recent “intelligent design” crowd.) He didn’t seem to spend much time directly addressing what you would expect from the subtitle (“How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution”), but he did, in my opinion, lay out a foundation one can use to consider that question on their own. A fascinating read.

The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World – A. J. Jacobs

This was as enjoyable as Jacobs’ more recent book The Year of Living Biblically, which I read last year. Jacobs sets out to read the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica from A to Z, and this is the story of his adventure. Like Biblically, it probably was a little longer than it had to be, but still a lot of fun. Jacobs makes me laugh out loud regularly, and there are a lot of interesting EB facts in there as well. His attempts to interject his new-found knowledge into everyday conversations and his frustration with a know-it-all relative were always hilarious.

And here’s the rest of what I read.

• A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life – Donald Miller
  When a couple of directors contacted Miller about making a movie featuring his life, he was concerned he didn’t have much of a life that would interest anyone else. In this book he recounts his search for the story of his life. Didn’t grab me the way his previous books have, but still quite good.
• The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team – Mike Krzyzewski
  This book about the 2008 Olympic basketball team was not quite what I’d hoped. A lot more about team-building than I expected. Would have preferred if it had been entirely focused on the basketball part of the story, but still a good read.
• The Myth of a Christian Religion: Losing Your Religion for the Beauty of a Revolution – Gregory A. Boyd
  Good stuff, but nothing really new. Mostly stuff I’ve read/heard from Boyd or others already.
• Meeting Jesus Again For The First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith – Marcus Borg
  I honestly have little recollection of this book. I must not have been paying attention. I’ll have to try it again.
• The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life As an Experiment – A. J. Jacobs
  Jacobs’ newest, which I did not find to be as good as Biblically or Know-it-all, but it still has plenty of good (and humorous) moments.
• Genesis – Bernard Beckett
  A nice little sci-fi novel (or novelette) set in a post-apocalyptic world with a not-too-surprising twist at the end.
• Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why – Bart D. Ehrman
  Very interesting book about how the Bible came to be and questioning if we actually have what the original authors wrote or copies manipulated by scribes and church officials over time.
• Crazy Love : Overwhelmed by a Relentless God – Francis Chan
  Just labored to finish this one. Maybe I missed something or I’ve just heard it all before, but really didn’t care for it at all.

That’s it. That’s the list.

I picked up six books from the library this week, and I’m halfway through my first. Hopefully, 2010 will get off to a good start and I’ll find time to read more this year. We’ll see…

Sunday I bought Don Miller’s new book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life, and began reading it immediately. I’ve enjoyed most of his previous work and was anxious to check out his newest.

I’m only about a third of the way through the book so far, but Miller was approached by a pair of filmmakers interested in making a movie based on his previous work, Blue Like Jazz. In other words, it will be a movie based on his life, at least to a degree. This book chronicles some of that process, along with the concept of “story” and the role it plays in our lives. Miller wonders if the story his life is telling – the story the film will tell – is too boring, and part of their work on the film involves making his story more interesting. One of the topics he discusses early on is characters: “a character is what he does.”

On rare occasions I am able to sit still long enough, avoiding distractions, and ponder my life. And I wonder if my story is worth telling. Is there a good story there, or, were it a movie, would it drive people to the exits or put them to sleep? I wonder if I’m succeeding as a husband, father, disciple, etc. The truth is, I don’t often feel that I am. I don’t know if there’s a good story there or not. I know that some of it is just lack of confidence, and I’m too pessimistic from the start. But I also know there should be more there. I sometimes read about people who have died, about their life, and I think to myself, “I wish that were my story.”

Last night, before bed, I sat with my daughter and we talked for a good 30 or 40 minutes. She began asking me all sorts of questions, many about my childhood and other family members.

I told her about where I grew up, a place not too far away from here but a place she’s never visited. I guess I’ve never really told her much about where I was raised for most of my early life. We moved to McCrory when I was two years old, and my parents stayed there for nearly 30 years, until they moved to nearby Searcy the month before my daughter was born. I’ve not been back in the 10+ years since they moved. Someday I’ll take her and my son there, and show them where I grew up, the places that were part of my life.

She asked about my grandparents, all of which had died before she was born. In fact, when I was her age, only one of my grandparents was still alive. My grandmother on my mom’s side died when I was in my late 20′s, a few months before I was married and a few years before my daughter was born. I told her some of what I remembered about my grandparents. She told me she felt sad that I didn’t have my grandparents around anymore.

We discussed a few other things before it was time for her to get to bed. Nothing too deep, just random topics that came to her mind. She asked questions and I answered them. Before she went to bed, however, she told me she wanted to do it again tonight. She wanted to ask me more questions.

In the “busyness” of our lives, we haven’t done that enough for quite a while. I realize more every year that time is getting away, and opportunities for moments like these are diminishing. I’m not completely certain what last night’s conversation, or similar conversations to come, have to do with my story or hers. But I have a feeling they’re pretty important. The fact that she’s suddenly interested in the part of my story that occurred before she became a part of it made me feel pretty good. She wants to know my story, even if I lack the confidence that it will be interesting. She’s pretty interested in it, and even wants to hear more. So, maybe it’s not that bad after all.

I’m the primary character in my story. A character is what he does. I hope my story is better, in the end, than I usually feel like it is in the present, and that my character will be one that I will be proud of some day when I look back on it, and one that my children will be better for having heard about and witnessed. My daughter is anxious to hear more. I intend to keep working on it, and determine to make the rest of it better than it has been thus far.