Skip to main content

Book Report: Wild Goose Chase

Sometimes I'm really surprised that the kind folks over at Waterbrook Press/Multnomah still let me participate in their new release blog tours. I'm notoriously late getting my reviews posted.
In my defense, I could very easily post the summary they provide me. But if you know me (and you should know me by now if you read this) you know that I generally don't care for that level of ingenuineness.

When I agreed to be part of the blog tour for "Wild Goose Chase" I couldn't wait to read this book. The book's title comes from the Celtic word for the Holy Spirit. Loosely translated it is "wild goose". I think you get the idea.

With such a hectic schedule these days, I didn't have much spare time for reading. I forced myself to read it this week. The week the review was due. But I knew that this book deserved at least my own impressions.

I'm glad I read it. The book is about following the leading of the Holy Spirit. You know...the raw, passionate, completely wild Holy Spirit. The one that lead Paul to Malta via shipwreck. The one that gave Peter the ability to overcome his guilt and be part of the early church.
Mark Batterson's writing sytle loosely reminds me of Max Lucado. He mixes plenty of personal anecdotes, biblical references, and scriptural insights. However, it's not the writing style that stands out most to me.

The book is filled with all sorts of quotes. Good quotes. Inspiring quotes. One of my favorites is "It's never too late to be what you should have been." Batterson is kind of like a life cheerleader, urging you to release yourself from life's cages, forge on, and to embrace the untamed paths before you.

And the quotes aren't even my favorite part. I'm still haunted by Batterson's comparison of the rooster crowing after Peter denied Christ and Pavlov's dog. He asks if Peter cringed every time he heard a rooster crow (for the rest of his life). I had never before considered what that must have been like.

I certainly have my own crowing rooster moments in my life. Those seasons and streets and songs that fill the pit of my stomach with that twinge of "What was I thinking?"

Now that I've completed my whirlwind reading session, I have lots to process. I've spent a lot of time lately trapped in what Batterson calls the Cages of Guilt and the Cages of Failure. That Cage of Guilt is one of my personal favorites.

I also have one copy of the book to give away to the first person who requests it.

Comments

Dawn Ward said…
I found your blog for the first time today. I was stunned by the rooster crowing comment. I had never thought of that before. Wow. I would love to read the book.
Christy said…
It sounds like a good read. We were looking at opening a coffee shop with friends some years back. We were going to call it Wild Goose Coffee for the same reason.
Requesting it. I could use some Wild Goose!
frabjouspoet said…
Dawn - that crowing rooster comment completely floored me. I love finding pieces of humanity in the Bible.

I'll get the books out as soon as I can. (Maybe we can all share a copy, Christy and Becky!)

Popular posts from this blog

Pardon the Interruption

It's 10:00. My race clothes are laying across the top of the dog crate. I've already consumed my all-natural sleep aid. The alarm is set for 4:45 in the morning. I should be sleeping, but my mind is spinning at an unnatural rate. Remember this poem ? The subject of that poem married just a few weeks ago, and I just finished looking through his wedding photos. It's a strange feeling. Not one of loss. Or Regret. Or even wistfulness. I'm thoroughly happy for both of them in a way that will seriously not make sense to most of the people I know. I suppose there will always be an odd sense of knowing in a situation like this. I know the feel of those lips. I've seen that look in his eyes. What I felt for him was real and pure and drives the feeling of satisfaction that is currently overwhelming me. I love knowing that he's in love--even if it's not with me. I even saved my favorite photo to my computer because the image stirred something in me that needs to be sti...

On Muchness

A dear friend confessed to me last night that he had lost his muchness and found it again. I confessed the same and even admitted the ridiculous series of events that recently sapped my own muchness. That little confession seemed to do wonders. It's so easy to fall out of step with myself. In fact, I do it quite naturally. Growing up in a Christian home, I took to heart the instructions to love my neighbor more than I love myself. Oh, wait! I just checked the scripture. "Love your neighbor as yourself." I may have been doing this the wrong way. I ended 2010 with the resolution that I would no longer make decisions out of fear. I am starting 2011 with the resolution to make decisions based on what I want. I've struggled with this because I've always believed that I should consider the needs and wants of others before my own. I'd like to think this is a valiant approach, but the truth is that it only leads to martyrdom...and I don't think I was given the opp...

TMI and Tidal Waves

As usual, it's been a busy week around these parts, and none of my activities this week involved running. If my grandmother could hear at the moment and complete a sentence without hacking up a lung, she'd ask me what's wrong. I'd have to confess that my eczema has flared up in this oh-so-cold-there's-ice-on-my-car south Florida weather, and my skin is so itchy that I have bruises up and down my limbs from all the scratching I've been doing. There are some days I'm relieved to know men with calloused hands. (Before you take that last comment too seriously, remind yourself that I am writing this at 9:30 on a Friday night.) Anyway... I met up for coffee with someone last night who proved to stoke my creative juices. I'll spare you the details of the conversation, but I did have to stop him mid sentence to point out that that particular conversation will most definitely become part of "La Isla Encontrada." Fortunately, he agreed to it, and I fully...