Where the Light Fell: A Memoir by Philip Yancey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Seeking wisdom from years of so-called Christian sources-- Sunday School, church school, Godly mentors, prayer, Bible study, reading, pondering, Bible College-- does not provide Philip Yancey with an understanding of his family's dysfunction and inability to show and feel love from each other on any kind of ongoing basis. Yancey suggests in a latter chapter of the book that he always knew that someday he would need to write his memoirs, that there would be reconciliation and resolution to the family dilemmas in doing that.
I have read Philip Yancey's books over the years, maybe not all 15 of them, but a majority of them. I introduced his writing to a family member and a very dear friend, who is no longer with us on this plane of discovery-- and how I missed discussing this book with her! Every other book had hints of a rocky childhood and a brave dive into areas of spirituality and religion that were exciting and at first unexpected to a reader connected with stultifying traditional conservative Christianity, if not outright fundamentalism.
His memoir is a metaphorical ride through a maze of backwater swamps and alluring glimpses of how better-equipped people live. He vacillates between profound empathy as a young child to be incapable of buying into the Bible College loop of repetitive wearying years of religious hypocrisy. It seems there is nothing new under the sun for him to learn, and the anxiety of trying to manage the family madness is a great burden.
This book was so very interesting and engaging. Anyone in my age range (early 70s) will have a pretty good memory of the historical events that were current in both of our lives, and that had significance in Yancey's journey. I highly recommend this book to my peers (in or out of the Christian walk).
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Seeking wisdom from years of so-called Christian sources-- Sunday School, church school, Godly mentors, prayer, Bible study, reading, pondering, Bible College-- does not provide Philip Yancey with an understanding of his family's dysfunction and inability to show and feel love from each other on any kind of ongoing basis. Yancey suggests in a latter chapter of the book that he always knew that someday he would need to write his memoirs, that there would be reconciliation and resolution to the family dilemmas in doing that.
I have read Philip Yancey's books over the years, maybe not all 15 of them, but a majority of them. I introduced his writing to a family member and a very dear friend, who is no longer with us on this plane of discovery-- and how I missed discussing this book with her! Every other book had hints of a rocky childhood and a brave dive into areas of spirituality and religion that were exciting and at first unexpected to a reader connected with stultifying traditional conservative Christianity, if not outright fundamentalism.
His memoir is a metaphorical ride through a maze of backwater swamps and alluring glimpses of how better-equipped people live. He vacillates between profound empathy as a young child to be incapable of buying into the Bible College loop of repetitive wearying years of religious hypocrisy. It seems there is nothing new under the sun for him to learn, and the anxiety of trying to manage the family madness is a great burden.
This book was so very interesting and engaging. Anyone in my age range (early 70s) will have a pretty good memory of the historical events that were current in both of our lives, and that had significance in Yancey's journey. I highly recommend this book to my peers (in or out of the Christian walk).
********************************
Below is an interview on Youtube with Philip Yancey talking about his book Where the Light Fell: A Memoir
View all my reviews at GoodReads
