:: In.a.Mirror.Dimly ::

When I think about writer Shawn Smucker, I think of jam. When not making jams and jellies, Shawn writes books and blog posts. His blog is very good, with a tasteful color scheme and cheerful fonts. After carefully reviewing the cover of his latest book, My Amish Roots, I sent Shawn some questions to answer. Here are his replies:

You have a tree on the cover. That’s fascinating. I mean, why not a bush, shrub, or house plant? What is the significance of this so-called tree?

I love the metaphor of the tree when it comes to family history, and when I saw this painting by a good friend of mine, Freiman Stoltzfus, I knew I wanted it to be the cover. It’s a tree in which all four seasons are present, and the roots are growing down into Lancaster City. This issue of seasons also created an ongoing theme throughout the book.

I presume you wrote this book from the perspective of someone who is part of a family—with the roots possibly representing your “family.” While we wouldn’t say that you “dug up” your roots, as that would imply destroying them, what did your “perusal” of your roots teach you about your family? Did this project change you?

I lived among the rolling hills of Lancaster County from as early as I could remember until I went to college, only to return after 15 years of living elsewhere. Something I unearthed while writing the book was how much my home town meant to me, and how much I’ve always wanted my kids to experience that same feeling of belonging and support.

How do you see this book cornering the growing Amish book market?

This question made me smile. I certainly don’t have any corner on the Amish market. I see this book as primarily a reflection on life and death, the heritage we receive and pass on, and what it means to accept the family that brought you into existence. The Amish nature of the book is secondary. Or maybe even lower on the list than that.

How do you see this book competing against the popular vampire books? And did you know there is an Amish vampire book on the market?

I haven’t read any of the popular vampire books (yet), but I would imagine the pace is quick. My book is a very quiet book, hopefully not in a boring way, but in a way that will deliver a reflective experience for the reader. Besides, most of the Amish have garlic in their gardens. They don’t really have a vampire problem in Lancaster.

We all know the Amish are the people on our oatmeal containers, but what else will readers learn about the Amish if they read your book?

Sorry, the oatmeal guy is a Quaker! No beard. But I do get a little bit into the traditions of my Amish ancestors – their marriage and burial traditions. The way they approach death and support their older community. I grew up here and have Amish relatives, but I was still rather fascinated by the things I learned about Amish customs.

For those who want to “peruse” their family roots, what words of advice do you have?

Start now! Every year that passes represents stories forgotten or lost. If I would have done this ten years ago, I could have interviewed a great-uncle of mine who lived to be 101. 101! He was alive in the 1800s! Don’t wait to start collecting your family stories.

Where can readers find your book?

Thanks, Ed. You can order My Amish Roots at my website (http://shawnsmucker.com/store) or on Amazon (http://amzn.to/uuckly)

Thanks Shawn for putting up with my foolishness and silly questions. If you want to read interviews that actually involve real questions, check out these fine folks:

• Jennifer Luitweiler
• The Daily Retort
• Andrea Cumbo
• Alise…Write!

While chatting with a fellow blogger about writing the other day, he asked me about my favorite writers and wondered in particular if I was a a fan of Donald Miller. Of course I was. You can’t be a Christian writer and NOT like Donald Miller.

Duh.

Now, here’s the dirty little secret about just about every Christian writer since Miller published his landmark, game-changing book Blue Like Jazz: we compare ourselves to Donald Miller in one way or another when pitching books and talking about fellow writers. “My proposed book is a theological memoir thriller pastiche of Donald Miller, Beth Moore, Snoopy, and The Left Behind Series…”

So I wasn’t surprised when he compared Sarah Cunningham to Miller. That’s just what we do.

I replied, “Yeah, you could say that.”

After reading Sarah Cunningham’s latest book In Search of Eden (note the cover image that our rabbit nibbled on, presumably to get to that dandelion), I wouldn’t say it’s an equal to Blue Like Jazz, but she has managed to write powerfully with her own voice and to share her thoughts in a very authentic and humorous way. In other words, she has found how to tell compelling stories as Sarah Cunningham much like Donald Miller tells authentic stories as Donald Miller. You don’t feel like you’re reading a Miller clone, but you do have someone who knows how to tell a good story, to share self-deprecating scenarios, and to reflect on meeting God in the everyday scenes of life.

Basically, whenever you see a book with Sarah Cunningham’s name on it, you should consider buying it. She is one of the top writers in the Christian fold.

Overall

In Search of Eden is a great memoir that hits at the most basic issue for Christians: seeking God in midst of personal failures and faults. It’s particularly good vacation reading if you ask me, even if I take issue with a few points, as I’ll explain below.

Reviewing Two Books

The first two-thirds of In Search of Eden unfolds as a captivating spiritual memoir. I was hooked by Sarah’s stories of growing up in the church and figuring out what it means to follow Jesus. She has a way of relating typical Christian scenes without jargon and without a sense of déjà vu. As the stories unfold she issues gentle challenges, leads by example, and humbly admits her failings.

The last third of the book didn’t click with me. I’ve been through this over and over in my head, asked friends about what I’m missing, and got sick to my stomach over this part of the review. During the last third of In Search of Eden it felt like I was reading a fairly different book about striving to live a holy and obedient life as Sarah shares her list of flaws and her efforts to overcome them. She rounds off the book with a commitment to follow Christ that is moving and right-on, but falls short of resolving the significant amount of time given to weeding out her flaws that take up the last third of the book.

No matter how I look at it, though Sarah’s writing is top-notch throughout the book, the last third of the book left me feeling deflated. While she said nothing wrong, I feel the book fell short of delivering a solution to our flaws and struggles with sin. There was no mention of the Holy Spirit or the process of sanctification where we receive God’s righteousness. For someone whose life changed upon reading in Romans 3:21 that “ now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known,” I finished the book feeling like a huge part of God’s solution was lost in the ending metaphor of weeding our own gardens.

Cunningham’s Response

I didn’t want to end my review on that note, and I didn’t want to only present my reactions to this book without giving Sarah a chance to respond. My sense was that, regardless of my reaction to her book, she knows fully well about sanctification and had her reasons for writing her book the way she did. She really doesn’t need some seminary student shooting off a snooty e-mail with Bible references! In addition, just because the last third of the book didn’t work for me, isn’t to say that it couldn’t connect with other readers.

After mentioning my above concerns via e-mail, Sarah shared that she’s fully aware of the sanctification issue and plans to tackle that in a future book. Over the course of our correspondence I got the sense that she wanted to say more about her conversion and commitment to become a disciple in this book rather than the process of becoming holy. While I can’t change my reaction to the last third of her book, I can appreciate where she’s coming from and what she’s aiming to do. And the writing really is brilliant.

Thankfully, Sarah plans on writing future books, and whether or not my critique is spot on, I look forward to her future work.

My review disclaimer: I received this book as part of a blog review program. And by the way, I’m doing very, very few book reviews in the future after I wrap up the five or six books I have lined up for the next few months since I’m focusing on doing more series based on books of the Bible. I’m just saying.

I was sent a copy of Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert’s book after a publicist at Moody Press noticed my review of Richard Stearn’s The Hole in Our Gospel. I have found that this book, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself, is a great next step after reading Stearn’s rallying cry.

The problem is that many Christians want to help the poor, but the ways we aim to help often end up creating situations where we devalue the poor and create dependence on outside resources. Oftentimes charity work takes the form of relief work without progressing into phases of rehabilitation and community-lead development.

Never lacking for stories and detailed explanations, this is a great book for Christian leaders, charity ministries, volunteers, and anyone who is interested in donating time or money toward poverty alleviation. The chapter on short-term mission trips should be mandatory reading for every youth pastor. In addition, this book gave me both a greater understanding of what it looks like to help eradicate poverty and the encouragement to realize, “Holy cow! This is possible!”

Though this book strays more toward the reference category with its systematic approach and explanations of each facet of helping the poor, to the person involved in charitable work in any form or planning to start such a ministry, this book will be a motivational life-saver, if not a page-turner.

The authors wear their Calvinism on their sleeves throughout the book, even in creating a definition for poverty alleviation that has a heavy dose of the Westminster Confession to it. I’m not quite sure I’d use their definition word for word because I’d want to emphasize more about joining in the Kingdom of God and the extension of the rule of Christ. However, that’s more of a theological quibble that I have since I’m not a Calvinist—though I deeply appreciate much about that theological system.

Though the theology of the authors pops up at some interesting places throughout the book, I can’t imagine most readers would take issue with it. It’s certainly not a deal breaker.

I’m glad there are so many great books out right now about poverty alleviation and serving among the poor. My favorite remains The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborn, though if you’re looking for a practical guide to serving among the poor, this is a tough book to top. I highly recommend it. In light of the situation in Haiti, I suggest that this book is a very good place for Christians who are new to relief work and alleviating poverty.

Read a sample chapter today.

Donald Miller offers a thought-provoking and humorous journey into the elements of story-telling and their intersection with everyday life in his latest work A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Adopting his self-deprecating, everyman style that made Blue Like Jazz a hit, Miller begins by recounting his success, failure, and subsequent depression with his matter-of-fact, ho-hum style.

“I wrote a memoir several years ago that sold a lot of copies. I got a big head about it and thought I was this amazing writer or something, but I’ve written books since that haven’t sold, so I’m insecure again and things are back to normal” (9). Yes, Miller is back, and things are back to normal.

Beginning at this low point, Miller takes the reader on two simultaneous journeys: one into the basics of story-telling for the fictional Don being created for a movie based on Blue Like Jazz and one for the day-to-day choices of the real Don. While planning the narrative for fictional Don, Miller confronts the unremarkable nature of his real life and seeks help in the definition of a story, “A character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it” (48).

From seeking his estranged father, to raising money for well construction in Africa, to launching a mentorship program, Miller begins to face conflict and to determine the ambitions of his life. Along the way he weaves in simple, straight-forward stories of his lessons and a series of beautiful reflections that dramatically alter a black and white narrative into a full color scene.

For fans of Blue Like Jazz, for whom Miller could make tying his shoes sound fun and engaging, A Million Miles will not disappoint with Miller’s trademark one-line zingers and easy style. Writers will find it a useful, though not detailed, introduction to the basics of story-telling. Those seeking a book brimming over with fresh ideas on every page or a more compelling narrative than Miller serves up will most likely be disappointed by the way Miller circles around a few main points and fleshes out ideas slowly. In fact, the first page or two will probably go a long way in telling most readers whether they’ll love it or hate it. I expect to find readers with both reactions.

From where I sit, A Million Miles is not only a worthwhile read, it’s also a book worth owning. Miller tells stories I want to reread, even if it’s the next thing he did after tying his shoe lace. I think people are drawn to Miller because he lays it out there and we can relate to him.

It’s as if his readers can breathe a sigh of relief when they put the book down. Miller struggles to write, frets over his weight, expects too much from love, and even has moments where he’s hyper-aware of being alive (well, at least I share that last one with him). It’s a hard book to put down and it just may help readers make better choices, face up to some conflict, and live better stories.

You can find out a bit more about Miller and his latest book by following these links:

Follow Donald Miller on Twitter

An excerpt of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

Check out where Donald Miller will be on his book tour