Finished. Book # 30-something

I bought this book because the back cover said, "Think of Donald Miller as ... Anne Lamott with testosterone ..."

But half way through I ready to throw it out. It just wasn't doing anything for me.

But then Clint read it, cover to cover in 2 days and told me it was good, that I should carry on to the end.

So today I did.

My bookmark was stuck inbetween the end of Chapter 7 and the start of Chapter 8, so I started in on the eighth chapter this afternoon, the one called "gods". A few pages in, I started underlying nuggets of good thoughts with a blue ink pen.

"Moses comes back from talking with God and finds the children of Isreal worshipping a false God so he goes postal. I imagined myself as the children of Isreal when Moses comes down off of the mountain.

"What are you doing, Don?" Moses asks.

"Worshipping a golden cow."

"Why? Why would you reject the one true God?"

"Because I don't get to see Him or talk to Him. I am not even certain that He exists."

"Are you on crack, Don? Weren't you there when God parted the Red Sea? Weren't you there when He fed us from the ground, made water from a rock, led us with a cloud?" Moses screams.

"Calm down, Mosey. Listen man, you always go up and talk to God and come back down with a sunburn, and you have God turn your staff into a snake and we get nothing. Nothing! It's not like we have this personal communication going with God, you know Moses. We are just sheep out here in the desert, and honestly, we were better off as slaves to the Egyptians. That is where your God brought us. We need a god too. We need a god to worship. We need a god to touch and feel and interact with in a very personal way. So I made a cow. You can also wear it as a necklace."

"Don," Moses responds "... I want you to understand that God has never been nor ever will be invented. He is not a product of any sort of imagination. He does not obey trends. And God led us out of Egypt because you people cried out to Him. He was answering your prayers because He is a God of compassion. Don't complain about the way God answers your prayers. God has promised us a new land, and we will get there. Your problem is not that God is not fulfilling, your problem is that you are spoiled."

Every chapter after the 7th one is worthy to be read.

And if you don't feel like reading the whole book, you can borrow my copy - I've underlined all the good parts.