Minutes to Memories

I normally have two books going at the same time - one for personal entertainment (The Great Deluge by Douglas Brinkley right now), and one for "work."

And I'm normally not the bandwagon sort of guy. When I hear "you have to read this book" (with notable exceptions from a few close friends), I usually have a sudden desire to read something else. Or when I simply notice that everyone is raving about a particular book, I suspect that I probably wouldn't be as excited as the rest of the boys and girls.

But I'm not a completely antisocial reader. When I hear enough about a book over a long period of time, I eventually get around to reading it myself. Hopefully, with a bit of objectivity.

Such is the case with The Divine Conspiracy.

This has been "the book" for many, and as expected, I've taken my time getting around to it. But I've committed the first several weeks of 2007 to seeing what Dallas Willard has to teach us, and after just two of the ten chapters, my personal jury is still out (as it should be only 20% through a book).

On one hand, I've found myself underlining a lot of really good stuff (for instance, "To be the light of life, and to deliver God's life to women and men where they are and as they are, is the secret of the enduring relevance of Jesus."). On the other hand, I'm not terribly fond of his tone so far - the little bit of "don't you idiots see this?" that I hear in his writing. He seems to assume a lot here at the outset, and maybe it's because I'm an idiot that I don't buy everything he assumes.

Chapter One, "Entering the Eternal Kind of Life Now," addresses the important concept that Jesus had something to say to life in the "here and now," and not simply a recipe for the afterlife (to which I offer a hearty Amen!).

Chapter Two, "Gospels of Sin Management," continues this realm of thought by criticizing both the Right and Left approaches to gospel. It may be because I'm one of the misguided morons to which he refers, but I didn't tag along for his ride ridiculing the position of the Left.

But I'll keep reading.

After all, I've been told that I "have to read this book!"