Review of A Million Miles In A Thousand Years by Donald Miller

Thomas Nelson sent me this complimentary copy to read and review for them.

This book sat on my shelf for a few weeks before I decided to pick it up. I'm not a big non-fiction fan, and I have heard that this was a good book, but I had to be in the right spot to be ready to be challenged.

To start out, this was an amazing book. A very, very easy read in the sense that you are listening to someone talk. The flow of this book made complete sense and the reader could easily track Donald's train of thought. His sense of humor would pop up unexpectedly and I would literally laugh out loud. This is such a down to earth book, both heart and life compelling.

Donald makes you think about your life as a story being written. He says, "If I have a hope, it's that God sat over the dark nothing and wrote you and me, specifically, into the story, and put us in with the sunset and the rainstorm as though to say, Enjoy your place in my story. The beauty of it means you matter, and you can create within it even as I have created you."

The part that resonated within me the deepest and still sticks to me like thick molasses is this (it's long, but oh so good):

Growing up in church, we were taught that Jesus was the answer to all our problems. We were taught that there was a circle-shaped hole in our heart and that we had tried to fill it with the square pegs of sex, drugs, and rock and roll; but only the circle peg of Jesus could fill our hole. I became a Christian based, in part, on this promise, but the hole never really went away. To be sure, I like Jesus, and I still follow him, but the idea that Jesus will make everything better is a lie. It's basically biblical theology translated into the language of infomercials. The truth is, the apostles never really promise Jesus is going to make everything better here on earth. Can you imagine an infomercial with Paul, testifying to the amazing product of Jesus, saying that he once had power and authority, and since he tried Jesus, he's been moved from prison to prison, beaten, and routinely bitten by snakes? I don't think may people would be buying that product....It's hard to imagine how a religion steeped in so much pain and sacrifice turned into a promise for earthly euphoria. I think Jesus can make things better, but I don't think he is going to make things perfect. Not here, and not now.

He hit the nail right on the head.

I'm ready to read this book again. Such great nuggets of wisdom that totally make sense in life. I would recommend this to anyone to read. Go out and buy it! It's a must have for your personal library.