Huldra Forsvant (Theodor Kittelsen)

Huldra Forsvant (Theodor Kittelsen)
Huldra Forsvant (Theodor Kittelsen)

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Risky Business

I've been reading this book called Wild at Heart, by John Eldredge. I got it yonks ago, but got turned off by all the silly quotes from Gladiator and Braveheart and all this  stuff about heroes and damsels in distress. 

But, as often happens, I happened to pick it up again the other week, and it was just what I needed to be reading. I love how God slips things in my path.  I've been getting a lot out of it, and if you can sift out the bits that feel a bit dopey, there's some great stuff in there.  Here's one bit got me-

Most men spend the energy of their lives trying to eliminate risk, or squeezing it down to a more manageable size.  Their children hear "no" far more than they hear "yes"; their employees feel chained up and their wives are equally bound. If it works, if a man succeeds in securing his life against all risk, he'll wind up in a cocoon of self-protection and wonder all while why he's suffocating If it doesn't work, he curses God, redoubles his efforts and his blood pressure. When you look at the structure of the false self men tend to create, it always revolves around two themes: seizing upon some sort of competence and rejecting anything that cannot be controlled. As David Whyte says, "The price of our vitality is the sum of all our fears".

3 comments:

Karen said...

I read "Captivating" (the female version of Wild at Heart written by John's wife Stasi) a few months ago. I did find it very hard to get past all the quotes from movies in it. If she'd replaced every movie reference with a Bible reference, it could have been much better.

That quote you put up isn't bad. I guess my issue with books like this though is that they claim to be Christian when really they are just a book of random thoughts (with the word God thrown in every so often) that the author has put together. Some of which you can relate to, but other parts just leave you scratching your head in confusion.

Ben McLaughlin said...

I totally get your issue with these sorts of books, Karen, and I feel the same way. I would say I've been pleasantly surprised with some of the really good stuff I've read in this book.

Laetitia :-) said...

I remember reading this years ago after Ian had read it and asking him, "are men really like this / do this?" a lot.