Making Real What
I Already Believe
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For as
the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people.
Isaiah
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My personal favorite. Every
artist has, it seems, their own least-selling, most
critically acclaimed piece. This would be mine. Those who
have connected with this book, love it. Some have told me
it's their favorite book... ever. Written in a rambling,
autobiographical style about living through a New England
winter, I try to make peace with the complexity of
adulthood following a decade of riding the wave of the
Jesus movement. This book is all about learning to draw
on one's inner relationship with God when the external
signs of his presence and activity seem to have
disappeared. If I were to submit one of my books for
consideration as fine literature, I would choose this
one, based on its consistent tone and its raw "New
England" feel. Very confessional. Hardly a
"how-to" book (and for that reason, the title
may be slightly misleading) it is more like reading a
journal.
from
Chapter 1
A COLD NOVEMBER
WIND slams against my New England house as I
finish a phone conversation and hang up the
receiver. Nine dead leaves still cling to the
bare tree, visible through the window opposite
me. Nine brown skeletons tenaciously holding on
to what once gave them life--and now has gone
cold and dry.
Six years ago I
left California for this. Six years ago I left
the warm climate, the warm fellowship, and what
was the womb of my Christian life, and dragged my
family kicking and screaming to this northern
land of stark contrasts and these nine ghostly
leaves.
For some time now,
my reasons for doing this have escaped me. The
impulse, the call, the motivation preceded any
reasonable explanation. I still go into a
stutter-start when someone asks me why I moved.
There are no simple answers--at least none of the
usual ones: no job back east, no relatives, no
new ministry opportunities. It was more an inner
push to leave there than a drawing to come here.
My spiritual activities had dried up, and yet
they continued to hang there, like leaves on a
tree, no longer connected to the life I'd once
felt coursing within me. Best to let the wind
have them. |
for whom
For those who like to curl up and read by the fire, or a
warm window. For those who have struggled with their
faith experience in any way. The back cover is bold
enough to say its for those who "may have lost faith
in the whole Christian system." Especially for baby
boomers who experienced great significance through the
Jesus movement but have been having trouble trying to
figure out what to do with their life ever since.
quotes
from reviews
"Although John Fischer does teach truth as he shares
[this] spiritual journey, the journey is so warm and
insightful that he makes the teaching more of a
by-product of the adventure."
Librarian's World, First Quarter 1992-1993.
"Revolutionary
reading for those who are interested in moving on."
Servant, (a publication of Prairie Bible
Institute) November/December 1992.
"John
Fischer's writing is uncomfortable. It does not sit
lifeless on the page or merrily entertain. It slowly,
surely bores into your soul, uncovering things you have
tried to forget, feelings you have hidden, needs you have
ignored, fears you have denied. But Fischer is a patient
guide, and [this] book is a work of love, poured out for
other believers who need to walk the same road he did and
may not know it yet."
Alliance Life, June 1992.
"This
isn't some whining, "poor me" primer on
self-pity. Fischer doesn't write as though he's faced
problems that no one else can understand. He writes of
problems we all face, and often deny. And in a world of
easy answers, Fischer refuses to settle for less than
genuine faith."
Twin Cities Christian, September 1992.
"A
beautiful, enlightening and personal look at God and
spirituality."
West Coast Review of Books, Art & Entertainment,
October 1992.
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