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Signs of the Times Australia / NZ edition — lifestyle, health, relationships, culture, spirituality, people — published since 1886 |
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Signs of the Times Australia / NZ edition — lifestyle, health, relationships, culture, spirituality, people — published since 1886 |
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A new book from prominent Christian writer Philip Yancey has become a major event in Christian publishing— and beyond. So it is hardly surprising that a rerelease of one of his lesser-known earlier books manages to find its way into the “new releases” list. It’s a volume worthy of renewed attention.
Many Yancey fans may have overlooked F inding G od in Unexpected Places and, for those less familiar with his work, this book provides a good introduction to Yancey’s way of writing and thinking.
F inding G od in Unexpected Places was first published in 1995, about the same time as T he J esus I Never K new and before his bestknown work, W hat’s S o Amazing About G race? While in recent years Yancey has become most widely known for these larger books, together with his earlier volumes on the problem of pain ( W here is G od W hen it Hurts? and D isappointment With G od ), F inding G od in Unexpected Places reminds us of Yancey’s first and continuing writing vocation as a journalist.
“As a Christian journalist,” Yancey writes in his introduction, “I have learned to look for traces of God.” n Yancey’s observations take us from the wonders of the natural world to the joys and frustrations of his writing life; from episodes of health and dieting to the headlines stories of recent world history; from the extremes of society to various examples of the church at its best and its worst. It is a fascinating journey, told with both empathy and humour.
Now seven years old, F inding G od in Unexpected Places does show its age a little. In discussions touching upon politics, his references are to Bill Clinton and features of his presidency. However, while a number of Yancey’s stories derived from the fall of Communism across Eastern Europe in the early 1990s, including his visit to Moscow in the midst of national spiritual rebirth, are similarly dated, they remain intriguing reading. Within them is found a glimpse of hope that goodness has strength to overcome evil—even in our world today.
Yancey’s writing is at the same time gentle in style and challenging in focus; rather than telling us, he shows us. “I do not ask you to believe all that I believe,” he comments. “All I ask is that you keep an open mind as you look at the world through my eyes.” Many of the chapters are adaptations of articles first published in Christianity Today and other magazines. As such, it is interesting reading for those familiar with Yancey’s recent work, as it is often possible to notice ideas beginning in this brief form that have been expanded somewhere in his later books, providing an insight into the workings of Yancey, the writer.
Slotting 44 pieces into about 240 pages creates a style of book easily read in short bursts. Each brief essay stands by itself and read as such can be a source for pondering for the rest of the day.
However, each piece also contributes to the larger picture Yancey paints of a world in which traces of God are to be found—as the title suggests—all around us and in many unexpected places.
Whether read as a whole on a long afternoon or sporadically in 10 minutes snatched here and there, F inding G od in Unexpected Places is a joy to read, combining keen journalistic observation, meaningful personal experience and a mind open to the possibilities of God. It may change how you look at the world, both on a large scale and in the small details of everyday life.
Finding God in Unexpected Places , Philip Yancey, Hodder and Stoughton, 240 pages.
Extract from Signs of the Times, November 2002 .
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