I’m always excited to start a new book, but the excitement wanes usually about 3/4 of the way through. I usually get enough of what the author is saying that I don’t want to read anymore.
This book was no exception.
I was given this book by HL for Christmas. It was really good in the beginning. The description of our current culture of distractions was something I identify with and Noble dissected it accurately. I like it when authors diagnose clearly what I feel but cannot articulate. However, his solutions were thin and not very insightful. I was hoping for more. I do like his ideas of personal habits that disrupts this distracted age, particularly the section on “Living Allusively”. By that he means to live aesthetically with beauty and art that points our focus to God.
The part I don’t like is Disruptive Church Practices. Nobles says to bring back tradition liturgy, which I don’t agree. They do not mean the same to people now as they did in the past. Churches should practice what currently draws people to God as a disruptive witness. Churches should critically look at their church practices and remove the ones that feed into the culture of quick fixes and consumerism, and replace them with practices that encourage contemplation and away from self. It doesn’t have to look like traditional liturgy.
I recommend this book even though I struggle with reading it to the end. With all the Perspectives reading, it took me 3 months to read this book!