I just finished reading a non-fiction book that was given to me as a Christmas present by one of the elders at my church: "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge. It had touched him so deeply he had been recommending it for months at our promise Keepers meetings. So, he finally broke down and gave copies of it to several of us.
Then, it took me more than a month to read it. Not because it was hard reading or something I wasn't interested in, but just because it was the type of book where I had to stop every couple pages and really think about what I had read.
That's a good thing, BTW.
Let me begin by saying I enjoyed "Wild at Heart". Again, because it made me think.
I remember in college when we had to do book reports. Most people turned in the same kinds of book reports they had done in high school and junior high, to wit: a capsulated regurgitation of the contents of the book. I turned in a few of those myself. Then, one day I had a revelation: the professors actually cared what I thought about what I had read. I learned that it wasn't a bad thing to disagree with a book--just because it's in a book doesn't mean it's right--so long as you have a reason for disagreeing and can clearly state it.
That being said, I enjoyed reading "Wild at Heart", was moved by it, and I think I'm a better person for having read it. On the other hand, I can't agree with everything Eldredge says.
For starters, I do not share his pull to the outdoors. I love to push myself. I am constantly working to stretch myself in ways I've never done before as far as preaching, writing and even cartooning. What I write and draw this year will be--I am determined--beyond not only what I did last year, but beyond what I could have done last year. I also like the outdoors. I just have limited interest in the back country and no interest in rock climbing. So while I agree that all men are created by God to push ourselves, I don't agree that such pushing is necessarily found outdoors.
Like Eldredge, I am also a big fan of movies, and have been known to use clips from movies and TV to illustrate points in my sermons or lessons. Some of the movies he quotes from I saw and enjoyed; some I saw and walked out on because I found them offensive. While they had some redeeming thoughts or points (at least to appearances from the examples he cites), for myself the evil outweighed the good. (My view, for instance, on how much pornography is acceptable is: none; whereas Eldredge can apparently look past limited amounts of nudity to see value. I can't.) Let me say that nothing Eldredge quotes from these movies is objectionable. I just object to the movies and question what could easily be construed as an endorsement of them.
Now, for the good. "Wild at Heart" has challenged me to pursue with much more vigor the path God has laid out before me. It has also drawn my attention to the things I say to my sons (and the things we do together) and how responsible I am for building them up in Christ (and not exasperating them, as Paul says). It has reminded me of what should have been obvious: men and women are different. Therefore, I should use my God-given strengths FOR my wife, as well as for God.
Like much Christian help, "Wild at Heart" covers little new ground. That's not necessarily a criticism. Any mature person has reached the conclusion that we all have to be reminded of what we know. It's why we keep coming back to God. It's why we keep reading the Bible even though we've read it before. And sometimes (often?) we have to have what we already know explained to us in a new way so that we'll open up to it. That's what "Wild at Heart" has done (and is doing--it's good enough that I'm working my way through the journal now) for me: returned my focus to God and being His man. If a book can do that, and especially if it does it well, then I call it a "recommended read".
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at 1:12 PM CST