I finished this yesterday. After loving Surprised by Oxford last year, I was expecting to love this book as much, if not more, since the subject matter was more appropriate for my current time of life. I did like it but I didn’t love it. Here’s why:
I really did like what she was saying. There were nuggets of truth throughout the book and one would hit me between the eyes so that I had to put down the book and think about it for a while. Here are some examples:
God chose to love us through death, into life. Love, the only thing worth living, and dying, for. Love, the only thing for which there is no regret, and for which nothing is wasted. p. 33
A vow, especially before God, means having given your word speaks for you even when you can no longer speak. p. 35
Giving God your all rarely has to do with actual money. Looking at the parable of the poor widow who gave her last coins to the offering, I considered what it is to give God everything, to truly give him significant pieces of yourself until you have given him your all. To give so much that all that is left is to be with him. I think of how the world measures the depth of our giving by what we hand over, but Jesus measures it by what we hold on to. p. 44
Paradox lies at the center of God’s mystery. For in the emptying of ourselves, even in the rendering up of the realization that we may not have a self, we find ourselves filled in and fulfilled by the presence of God. p. 45
Weber, Carolyn A. (2013-08-15). Holy Is the Day: Living in the Gift of the Present
These and many more truths were heart-moving. I thought about them and considered how they might apply to me and to my life on a daily basis. For that reason, I really, really wanted to love this book.
In the end, however, the disorganization of the book defeated me. The author jumped around in her life and in her thoughts just a little bit too much for me to make sense of it at times. It made me sad, really, because I would have liked to recommend this book unreservedly due to her beautiful language and excellent thoughts about God.
Should you read it? Yes, if you don’t mind wading through her somewhat meandering thought processes. The truths about God and His Word are good and her reflections on how to live day by day in obedience to Him are very helpful.
Myriads of Thoughts 