Blue Like Jazz

A few years ago I was doing some research on religion and I was trying see how it fit in my life. I was raised as a Catholic, but considered myself a cafeteria Christian in that I was taking and leaving practices as I found fit. I’m still proudly doing that today.

A friend of mine pointed me toward a book by Donald Miller called Blue Like Jazz: Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality. It took me too long to actually check the book out from my public library, but I eventually read it. The book was a easy-reading memoir showing a man’s journey into understanding God. It was fun to read, but it didn’t make my top 10 of favorites. One of the better quotes from the book read,

“My most recent faith struggle is not one of intellect. I don’t really do that anymore. Sooner or later you just figure out there are some guys who don’t believe in God and they can prove He doesn’t exist, and some other guys who do believe in God and they can prove He does exist, and the argument stopped being about God a long time ago and now it’s about who is smarter, and honestly I don’t care.”

I instantly related to Don Miller when he wrote about how his friends that deemed themselves more religious were acting the least like Jesus. I’ve been feeling this way for almost 10 years now, with a few clear exceptions of course. These religious friends of mine seem very hateful toward people who aren’t like them. They dislike most people who are gay, non-Christian, of a different race, or even a different political preference. Their hatred is most definitely not like the Jesus I know or they “follow”.

This is not a post about religion, so let me please beg your pardon for the previous paragraph, although I’m leaving it as part of the post.

After I finished Blue Like Jazz, I sent my friend a note thanking him for the suggestion. He promptly replied, saying that I need to read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, also by Donald Miller. He followed by saying that the book changed his life. Before I continue I must say that my friend Matt is not an overly dramatic person. Since he said that it changed his life, the book had to be great.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

I first read the first 3 chapters of the book online. I had to admit that it was pretty good, a story about looking at your life differently. I looked in my library, but the books were all checked out. It was a book that seemed to call me, so I asked my wife to stop by the bookstore on her way home and buy it. It was a great decision. This book has many great quotable lines. I didn’t highlight them, but wrote them down in my journal as I feel that I will be sharing this book and want others to experience it without my opinion of what the best lines were. However, I’m about to share some with you. Skip to the end if you don’t want to be tainted. =)

Some of the lines I liked:

“In a way, I’d started a new story about trying to find a story, and so I didn’t need to escape my boring life anymore.”

“People love to have lived a great story, but few people like the work it takes to make it happen.”

“Where there is an absence of story, or perhaps a bad story, a good storyteller walks in and changes reality. He doesn’t critique the existing story, or lament about his boredom, like a critic. He just tells something different and invites other people into thew new story he is telling.”

His words are not completely profound, but definitely thought provoking. I’ve since started following @donmilleris and his friend @bobgoff. They’re great guys who are living great stories and sharing them with us. Since reading Don’s books, I have a different perception of life. Whether I choose to do the work and allow it to change my life is to be determined, but it has the potential to be a life changer, just as my friend suggested.

5 of 5 Stars