Kayan : 1/26 : Blue Like Jazz - Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

"I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve. But I was outside the Bagdad Theater in Portland one night when I saw a man playing the saxophone. I stood there for fifteen minutes, and he never opened his eyes.

After that I liked jazz music.

Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way. I used to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was before any of this happened."

I have been a "Christian" for 5 years. As with any faith belief system, if you take it seriously, you're going to have to figure out how your faith goes from being the religion slice of your life pie to the key ingredient that permeates the whole pie. The cinnamon in the pumpkin. Or the caramel in the apple.

With the Christian church, aside from the obvious hate-mongering right wing, I've been feeling more and more frustrated lately - often angry - that the Christian church does a lot of things for itself: to keep itself running, to love within itself, and if you don't fit a certain mold, well we don't really have time for you. Also, the idea of "outreach" is often tied with the idea of getting people to join the church. I was seeing very little pouring of unconditional love towards others - which is really what Jesus was all about. What is UP??!

I needed to reconcile my membership with this church with what I was doing with my faith. But I wasn't sure how, because I couldn't really put my finger on the problem.

This book - subtitled "Nonreligious Throughts About Christian Spirituality" - helped clear up some things for me. Donald Miller used episodes from his journey as a writer, a friend, a student at Reed College, a single guy who's trying to figure out love and a career and relationships of all sorts, to illustrate some of the misconceptions that Christians might have about God. In short, he takes "churchiness" out of the Christian faith; the picture quickly becomes surprisingly clear.

The biggest takeaway, perhaps even a paradigm shift, for me was this: it's not about me. I store up so much knowledge about God and revel in it; but what am I doing for others? If I believe in Jesus, I must see that he came to serve, to heal, to give, to hang out with the lonely. Everybody - especially women and the outcasts - mattered to him. Christians always say "follow Jesus." It is clear to me, more than ever, that it doesn't mean that I think about him in my head; it means I do as he did! (Duh.)

If anyone picks up this book, Christian or not, you're going to have to put down your current understanding of God. Miller brings up so many aspects of faith that made me question how I was living my life to genuinely care for others. At the same time, this book is very easy to read. Miller is hilarious, really. But while I LOL'ed, I was also having my life changed. In the end, God is really quite simple. And beautiful.

I ordered a box of this book. I have a copy for anyone who wants one.