If you read the tagline, "Save Nothing for the Next Life" you would be as sucked into trying to read this to review as I was. That and this was the only real book to review to pick out of so why not?
Sometimes the book chooses you. And this one did for me.
The fact that he took a hard criticism in his life to heart when his father told his son that he was only average and nothing more and turned it into a book is pretty cool. And something he says kind of hit home for me.
"The great tragedy... is that there is nothing really ordinary about us. We might not be convinced of this, but our souls already knot it's true, which is why we find ourselves tormented when we choose lives beneath our capacities and callings".
The reason this hit so much home for me is that I definitely have felt this before and in some ways feel this now. It is one reason that I was so adamant to graduate from college. It was something no one expected of me. To be smart. So now, I am stuck figuring out the next step- even all these years later.
" Here is the painful reality: we will find ourselves defined by the average if we do not choose to defy the odds."
"Average is always a safe choice, and it is the most dangerous choice we can make."
He really delves into some of the backgrounds between the western thinking and the eastern thinking in terms of lifetimes and why they matter so much. I actually really appreciate this about him given it is a book written with Christian undertones. Of course, I have seen some reviewers and readers not like his book because they didn't think it was Christian enough- but I felt like this book was great.
It's like a good kick in the pants to stop taking the ordinary as the normal or that we should be looking for that.
What I like about this book as well is that it is a personal story that is inspirational while being spiritual insightful. That is a beautiful thing and often not done well or in the best way. This book definitely reads well and easy.
It's an easy ready as well.
For all this, part of me wants to give a 4 out of 5 just because it would have been nice to have him translate some of the inspirational parts into a call to action in the end of each chapter for the reader.
However, I am giving it a 5 out of 5, because I still got a lot out of it and it was a beautiful personal story that many people can learn from.
Book Description:
When a person comes to end of their days they will not measure the value of their life based on wins and losses or successes and failures. All of those will begin to blur together into a singular memory called life.
What will give someone solace or haunt them until their final breath is what they could have done but did not, who they could have been but never became, the life they could have lived that never came to life.
This book is a call and much needed push towards that "most courageous life." By examining the account of Elisha and the King of Israel, McManus demonstrates why it is best to follow God into battle with an empty quiver. He shows the reader why leaving everything on the battle field feels risky but yields the deepest sense of fulfillment.
* I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest opinion *
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