We are nearing the end of Erwin McManus' book, Soul Cravings. This is good timing, as I'll kick into lots of blogs about the Africa trip now.
This entry is the last of the Meaning chapter of the book. He tells a couple of stories here. One is an imaginary description of what it must've been like for the disciples after Jesus died. Thomas, in particular, must've had it hard. All of his friends insisted that they saw Jesus, risen from the dead. He said he wouldn't believe until he saw himself and placed his hands over the scars of Jesus. It's funny that his reaction coined a term that we all use today: Doubting Thomas. Jesus was only too willing to have Thomas verify what had happened. He told Thomas (apparently, before Thomas could even ask) to place his hands in His side and on the palms of His hands.
He tells another story about a gift that he had given his daughter, who was exploring her gifts and skills of music at the time. They went on a trip to Nashville together, where McManus was speaking. He didn't tell his daughter what the gift was, for it would be waiting for her when they got back home to California. But he gave her plenty of hints. In fact, there were signs all around them, as the event they were at had a Gibson Guitars booth nearby. And they saw Gibsons all over Nashville. He pointed out that perhaps God was like this -- offering hints of what He has for us all around us. If we just open our eyes, we'll see them.
He then affirms, once again, that as humans,
"We are all searching for truth.
We are all looking for God.
We crave meaning.
We long to trust.
We need to berlieve in something.
We need to believe in someone.
We need to believe in God..."
I've been reading a new book, called All The Clever Words On Pages, by Paul Harrison. He mentions in his journey about reading Don Miller and Erwin McManus. It was fun to come across that. It's a real compelling read. It's got the ocassional typo, which always jumps off the page for an editor type, and parts of it are frustrating. He's refreshingly honest, but I feel sorry for the guy and some of the mishaps, trouble, and freak-of-nature encounters he keeps having. Turns out the book "resolves" in a way that's sad from my perspective. In the short-run, this is very sad; but in the long-run, possibly just another transparent snapshot of a time and place in the middle of a long journey (that hopefully ends up back at the "clinging-to-trusting-in-relying-on" faith in Christ).