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

Welcome 2010

This has been an interesting beginning to the new year. The evening began with a beer and air hockey challenge, which I handily lost. This was followed with some extreme go cart racing and more beer, a dinner that consisted of leftovers from one of my favorite South Carolina restaurants and homemade fried zucchini. And more beer. I saw "The Hangover" for the fourth time and laughed like an idiot. After the ball dropped in Times Square, I saw pieces of "Public Enemy" and finally crawled into bed around 2:00 a.m. and stayed there until 11:00 this morning. I spent today playing with a dog, watching college football, and hanging out with one of my current favorite people. I don't do the whole new year resolution thing. However, I do believe in taking a look at the lessons I've learned and the experiences that have unfolded for me in the previous year. Anyone who reads this blog can already figure out that my divorce, running, and dating again have greatly influe...

Trying to Keep It All Together

The title of this post is a bit of a misnomer. Just this morning I said, "I'm having a hard time getting it together right now." I'm in one of those periods when showing up is the best I can offer, and I can't even guarantee that. That said, I just popped on here to share that I'm struggling. I'm dealing with a lot of loss right now. Some of it is easy to spot. Some of it I've tucked away because it's either terribly painful or terribly embarrassing--at least to me. Some of it was inevitable. Some of it was a surprise. All of it rises up into the center of my chest and begs me to stop for a moment to acknowledge it. It's doing that right now even as I type this. I'm having a hard time getting it together right now.

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...