I entered into my relationship with “Love Does” with more than a little trepidation. I am not one to jump on the “next great thing” bandwagon, regardless of platform. I am especially wary of diving into a book that “everyone is reading” and will “change your life” and has everyone gushing about the author in the particularly grating social media sound bite of “love him.” But I bucked my trend and stepped into the literary pool, gingerly.
And, after a rough start, the book hit its stride and I enjoyed it.
My initial annoyance with the book was the moral/spiritual tie-ins with the stories in each chapter felt forced. Instead of strengthening the enjoyable tales of the author’s life, they weakened them with clumsy transitions and contrived spiritual lessons. But then chapter 13 arrived and everything changed. From “Bigger and Better” to the epilogue, the book found its voice (and its soul). And what a tale Bob Goff has to tell. His complete dedication to living a life unrestrained by tradition and limited expectations is inspiring. And I love that he always brings it back to people. To loving and listening and focusing on others. Whether it is his family, co-workers or strangers, he is devoting himself to letting Jesus shine through his actions. It is a lesson we can all learn and is summed up in this quote from the book:
“...it seems that what God does most of the time He has something to say is this... He doesn’t pass us messages, instead He passes us each other.”
I ended up appreciating the book a lot and recommending it to several people (and even buying an analog version for my brother), but something kept gnawing at me as I read. It is obvious that Bob Goff has the resources to do the things he does and I am excited that he has been successful and has heeded that call on his life, using those resources for good. But most of his readers (okay, me) are not in that situation and trying to fit his ability to do whatever, whenever without hesitation into the reality of my limited resources was a struggle. And then he writes this in the epilogue:
“For most of us, the next step is as easy as picking up the phone, sending an e-mail, writing a letter, buying a plane ticket, or just showing up. And after that, things start happening. Things that perhaps have God’s fingerprints on them. You’ll know which ones do and which ones don’t. Pick the ones that do.”
Fair enough. It’s time to love.
BookSneeze® has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review.
