Eddie's Book (fb)

I didn't really know him but I knew who he was.  I was coming back from a business trip- flying Southwest from Dallas to OKC.  I introduced myself.  He was immersed in a book he said was by a guy named Willard.  Five years later I had the privilege of working with Eddie.  He was still carrying that book only now it was duck-taped on the spine, jacket-less, and stained on the outside.  The inside cover and every other chunk of white-space was blanketed with tiny writing- outlines, notes, thoughts.  Eddie figured the information in this book was life-changing and he used it with young men to change lives.  Eddie's book was The Divine Conspiracy and it is as good of an explanation of what Jesus called "the Kingdom" as anything I know of.  If a guy or gal really understood and applied the biblical principles that Willard unpacks he or she would have a pretty good handle on what life is really about.

I tend to conquer books like notches on a gun.  I take some sick pride in knocking em down.  I'm reminded of Eddie and the value of deciding that a book is worth really knowing and applying.  You will only have time and energy to do that with a few books in a lifetime.  What books have so impacted you that it would be worth going back this year and committing to really "live with it"- mark it up, memorize parts, draw diagrams, make notes?  What a treasure that would be for your kids someday.

My copy of Edmund Chan's Mentoring Paradigms: Lessons on Mentoring, Leadership, and Discipleship is starting to get pretty messy.