Donald Miller

I read "Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance: Finding God on the open road" several years ago after my brother got it for me for my birthday, actually it was the year 2000. I loved it, I ate it up. Such a good book. He talked about his struggle with religion after growing up in the church but doing it for all the wrong reasons. He wrote like I imagine him speaking, very easy to read. He said things that I also thought, or would have if I would of had time to think of something good to say. Here's one of my favorite quotes from this book:

"I do not believe that I have a thinking problem as much as a feeling problem. What I mean is, I know the Christian answer to most questions but I do not always live accordingly. I am no pagan. But my 'goodness' is a product of a moral upbringing, not of a coherent biblical worldview. I tend to do and think as I feel like doing and thinking. There is rarely an exception. I am guided by Pavlovian instincts. Church culture has a vocabulary, and I have learned it well. There is a dress code too, and my clothes are well within the acceptable parameters. I wear Dockers and plaid shirts, as is silently required of twenty-something Christians. I only vote Republican, which is also silently required. But I do all this, not because I want to live scripturally, but because church culture has a certain rhythm. And when you have marched to this beat since infancy, it is difficult to break free from." (p. 162)

When I was 23, back in 2000, this spoke to me beyond words.

I've just finished my third Donald Miller book, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious thoughts on Christian spirituality. Another great offering from Donald. I suggest you go find a copy. I just sent a copy to Ryan, not that he knows it yet, but I owed him a few bucks and I thought this would be better than getting a check in the mail, because I'm always in search of something good to read.

If you have something good to read, please let me know. Oh, by the way, Donald is coming out with another version of his first effort in August, now called Through Painted Deserts. Click here for the first chapter, which is only slightly different from his first go-round.