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Northwest Passages: Donald Miller
What does author Donald Miller learn as he edits his real life into a better story? He's the next author in our Northwest Passages series, talking about his new book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.
This tale is intricately connected to his 2003 best-seller, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, which sold a more than a million copies (and got more than 10,000 reviews on the Goodreads website, averaging 4 stars out of 5). Two filmmakers want to turn Blue Like Jazz into a movie. Their intimate inspection of his life feeds Miller's own decision to go beyond just writing good stories and start living them. But he finds that's harder than it sounds.
Here's the truth about telling stories with your life. It's going to sound like a great idea, and you are going to get excited about it, and then when it comes time to do the work, you're not going to want to do it. It's like that with writing books, and it's like that with life. People love to have lived a great story, but few people like the work it takes to make it happen. But joy costs pain.
Miller's life story is told through many books. All sift through his search for meaning and Christian spirituality. Miller was raised by his mother in Texas. He barely saw his father after his parents divorced. He wound up in Portland when he ran out of gas, worked as a writer, and hung out at Reed College (which some in Portland's Christian community consider Hades, according to Miller, but he compares to heaven).
Now, in addition to writing, he started The Mentoring Project, which works with faith communities to mentor boys growing up without fathers. He also serves on the White House Task Force on Fatherhood and Healthy Families, part of President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
If you've read any of his books, what do you think? And what about your own life story? Are you living a good one?
Tagged as: donald miller · faith · northwest passages
Photo credit: Jeremy Cowart Photography
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There are few things more unsettling then 'Nouvelle Christians.' I think I would rather be around fundamentalists and evangelicals, because at least the lines are clear, and you know where they stand. Were Christians tired of being boxed in? Were they tired of being the death of the party? Now, they have reinvented themselves into a repulsive hodgepodge, with all the modern trimmings of a hip life but with the same old mentally repressive plot playing in the background. These new Christians, are open, cuddly, green and downright hip. You could compare it to the olden days when you could tell a gay from a mile away, but now everyone looks gay. And, now you can't tell a Christian from a hipster.
At a glance you might think Mr. Donald Miller is our Kerouac (although he was Catholic), some free-spirit reclaiming his Christian faith. The problem is the Christian faith was bad the first time around, it doesn't need a rebirth, a repackaging, a shedding of the bigotry, the superficial oppression and repression. It is the same bird, the same dead turkey, whether you brine it, spice-rub it, stuff it, or deep-fry it. The new faithful can be harder to attack, because you can't get them on the traditional things---the racism, the homophobia, the social rigidity, they have a new and improved harder shell. They have simply created better defenses, a better strategic plan. At the end of the day, they are still the saved ones, the folks going to heaven, living forever and god knows what else---and people like me are done for. We are still the same miserable louts who can't make the cut. Showers are on the left! I don't need to outsource my strength and morality to a higher power, even if it dangles some spangled carrots. I don't need or want a god in seven new flavors. Religion and faith will always be the same toxic swill, no matter how many flavor enhancers you add.
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scottmill - sorry about us new non-racist, green Christians. I would think that you would be glad that a huge part of American culture (Evangelical Christians) are coming around on a lot of these issues. As the young evangelicals displace the old guard there will be a big change politically - and you could benefit from this potentially.
Ghandi said something like "Christ I like, but his followers I can't stand". We Christians have definitely been awful at following Christ and his teachings, we do need to get better at being his followers.
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skeptictank - I know, you might think so, might think I would be glad, but I don't see it that way. Hopefully I am wrong....
This is how I see it. On superficial grounds, Christians (and other religions) have become easier for some of the public to tolerate do to the new marketing. They've done the research. It makes them harder to target, harder to call them out on the easy things. Like Walmart trying to Target-ize their stores, trying to woo in the savvy and more demanding shoppers by restyling the layout and merchandise, but at its core it is the same old Walmart. Now, Christians don't even have to work as hard, they don't even have to put in the effort, or live up to their own alleged standards and morals, they have rewritten them---they can have their cake and eat it too. It makes everything easier. The new Christians will increase the audience, widen the market share---so instead of doing away with religion, they will swell the flock.
Convert the black American slaves, covert the poorest members of third world countries, convert the inmates---now they even have gays joining in---gay churches, gay bishops, gay synagogues. Instead of saying, wow there is something inherently wrong with the club, they have rewritten the rules and are welcoming us as members, but it isn't a club that is worth joining in the first place.
Perhaps, this will all backfire in the end, because it is hard to feel superior (which is some of the power of religion) if anyone can join---if there is no distinction between us and them, if you don't have to do anything but say I believe---then you (perhaps) water it all down and destroy the cachet. If everyone goes to heaven, then what is the point of hell?
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"Christians don't even have to work as hard, they don't even have to put in the effort, or live up to their own alleged standards and morals, they have rewritten them---they can have their cake and eat it too. It makes everything easier."
scottmil - actually, from the "inside" I don't think that we've "rewritten the rules" - certainly there's a lot of diversity on this, though, and other groups may have "rewritten" them. Here, as I see it, are some of the changes in the "Emerging Church" (and I hesitate to use that title as it means a lot of different things even inside the movement at this point):
1) An emerging environmental ethos: Well, to clarify, it's an emerging ethos for Evangelicals - the Orthodox Church and some other parts of the Christian Church have had this ethos for quite some time. Basically the idea is that if the creation is God's "artwork", who are we to destroy it? We need to be curators of that art.
2) Changing views of Heaven (and again, we have to realize that we're going back to a much older view - we had a period of time from perhaps the 1800s till now when the view became aberrant). Look to the writings of N.T. Wright here, especially his writings on Heaven not being our "home". This is a much more earth-centered theology that looks a lot more like the Orthodox Church and the Jewish view that existed at the time of Christ. The quick summary is: we got stuck in a "pie in the sky in the sweet by and by" and "the Rapture will rescue us" mentality in the Western Chruch and now we're trying to see a the greater importance of the here and now.
3) views of Hell. Hell is still there. It hasn't been removed. But the view is much closer to CS Lewis': we choose it ourselves. Tim Keller has a great talk on this - I think it's on YouTube.
cont'd
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4) the way we engage with the culture outside of Christainity: We're really tired of trying to use the political system to tell people outside of the church how they should live their lives. Instead of that we should take care that we're living right ourselves. The Religious Right was a movement based on fear - they feared that they were losing control of the culture. They decided to get politically involved to try to make the outside look nice. It was worse than a failure. Whenever you try to marry church and state the church loses something very important. It loses it's true identity. See Constantine. We're hoping that we're done with that.
5. A return to an emphasis on social justice instead of just on personal piety. Yeah, this could really conflict with #4 if we politicize it - it would lead to the Religious Left. Much care must be taken here as the pendulum swings. But the idea is that Christ cared for the poor and downtrodden. We as Christians should also be very concerned about those who are on the margins.
Much of what's going on is an exampination of how Modernity influenced the Church and there's a huge interest in looking at the prectices and theology of the Pre-modern Church (even the ancient Church and the Jewish influences on Christianity that existed then)
That's just a quick summary from where I sit. Others will have different perspectives on what's changing. Christianity is not nearly as monolithic as you seem to paint it. -
The problem with Jesus is that they made him into a "God", they "God"-ized him and so destroyed the effectiveness of his teachings.
Great teacher, and that's enough.
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skeptictank,
The 'we are all different' game. The 'different interpretations' game. The 'it is not the religion, it is the extremists' game. They are all just a cliche or a trope, cooked up by many groups to say don't judge me, I am not like the extremists, we are all different, I don't stand for anything. Yes, we believe we are correct, but we can still relate to you. Look we are black, white, gay, straight and we bleed like you. Except at the end of the road, if you believe in a religion, regardless of how superficially different everyone allegedly is, the ultimate reality is your belief is predicated on the idea that it is truth. It your belief is truth, then everyone else's belief, or lack of belief, is false. It is delusional to say there are multiple truths. It cannot be!
People who say how similar we all are, just try to gloss over the certainty of what faith requires. You are all monolithic in that you have faith, and that faith allows you a path to salvation. You create your own privilege, your own class system by proxy, whether intentional or not---this is the indisputable result of religious faith. Religion and faith are inherently divisive and exclusive concepts. They cannot be reconciled with tolerance, they are inherently intolerant, even if they have outsourced the actual slaying to god, the faithful are guilty by association, they hired and manufactured the hit man. They better hope he cometh!
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scottmil - yes, there are certan non-negotiables in the Christian faith. There is a set of common core beliefs. Indeed, as you say, eventually you hit a bedrock of intolerance - as in something that won't be tolerated as compatible with the faith. But that's not a unique characteristic of religion. Politics is very similar, for example. Complete tolerance (the kind you seem to want) does not seem attainable. In fact your tolerance sounds intolerant to those who do hold to any faith.
My comments were in regard to various changes in what is considered the "emerging" (maybe we can call it Post-Evangelical) Church. Not everyone in that movement will agree on what's happening. There is a wide spectrum of viewpoints as to what needs to change (or perhaps, what needs to revert to an earilier version), what IS changing and what HAS changed. Yes, there seems to be a historic shift in progress. It's probably not at the level of THE Reformation, but it is a reformation of sorts - a recognition that in recent times large parts of the Church (let's call it the Evangelical Church) in the West were emphasizing things that probably shouldn't have been emphasized or didnt' need to be. At any rate, it will take a hundred years or more to determine what actually happened.
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(I posted this on Friday morning, after the commenting activity died down, but I still want to post even though I didn't get a chance to listen to the show. This reply pertains to Scotts first comment up top)
Scott, your comment is an exact reflection of my life. Blue Like Jazz is probably the last book I read as an evangelical of 46 years standing, about 3 years ago. I was already headed toward the exit door, and when I read his book it delayed my exit by a few months, because I thought, "well, there are some intelligent enlightened christians who are more tolerant. Maybe this can still work for me . . . " But then I realized, I still can't believe in any kind of "hell", hot or otherwise, and without that, you don't have an exclusive, "I Am The Way" kind of religion either.
As a newly-formed agnostic, I am just as happy (probably happier!) and certainly less guilty than I was as a christian. I wonder what my life would have been like had I not taken a detour getting a theology degree from Multnomah and working as a missionary in Europe, but no answers exist for those kinds of questions!
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A friend of my husband who is pretty self-righteous was being compassionate when I said I thought my life was meaningless. He put his hand on my shoulder and said,"No life is meaningless, - if only so that everyone will look and say, Don't be like this person." At last my life has meaning!
Seriously, I wonder about how "story" is related to the truth. Sometimes I feel as if I try to adopt something that I didn't do before, I'm being a poseur.
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My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed your book and am anxiously awaiting the next chapter in our story. We appreciate your honesty and the "realness" in which you write and share your life. My wife has been separated from her father for long periods of time in her life and was very moved by the events you shared.
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Glad you made it home safe...it was a real pleasure to meet you in Olmsted Falls, Ohio. Hope you enjoyed the cookies! I've continued my writing and yes, you are correct, "Joy costs pain!" Here's to writing better stories. -- Cathy Hasek
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I'm only a writer on days I write. The rest of the time I'm just someone who'd rather be writing than doing the other things life requires. This equation is how I keep from feeling like a fraud. How do you feel when you're not actively writing?
Dan
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Hi! Fun idea and show.
I had a conversation with my dad 10 years ago when he was retiring after a 36 year career with the same corporation. I know he loved what that job was able to do for him in terms of financial security and his ability to support a family and have a nice retirement but he described his career this way "its like reading a long boring book and you feel like nothing really happens - but you look back each couple of years and think 'yeah, i did accomplish some things'".
Shortly after he moved to Florida for retirement with my mom and they continue to be very happy - but what my dad said really stuck with me and i had the idea that maybe i should move now to the place i want to retire to and find a career i don't neccessarily want to retire from.
I did that - quitting my office job in connecticut and moving to the pacific northwest to become a carpenter and then alternative health care practitioner. It has been difficult - but its exciting work and its encouraging to hear you say that good stories require some struggle and difficulty along the way.
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I have a question for Don. What role do you think community plays in your life, how was it shaping in this process for you?
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Really enjoying the program today - thank you.
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I add, then, that sacrifice appears to be the saviour, to the author, because it is that which changes the failing story into the succeeding story. Is this right?
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I think that fits pretty well with what he's been saying. But he's also mentioned the idea of sacrifice for something bigger than you are — for some kind of greater (however you define it) good.
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What a fresh and wonderful author. I think destiny put your program and my being late to work into MY story so that I could discover this wonderful young spirit. Not only has there been conflict in my life in ways that would perhaps make my story an interesting movie, my life has been sweeter because of it... though sometimes bittersweet. Perhaps that's why I listen to soundtracks!! ... it puts a score to the movie I'm living.
I wish I had more time to read. I have started and put down many famous authors. I will be picking up Donald Miller's books today and I know reading them through. That passage about the snowflakes at the airport hooked me in. Tell him thank you. He has a new reader.
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I guess I'm a curmugeon. I don't really like this phenomena of filmic self- centeredness that seems to be our cultural touchstone. From the Moth to the memoir we seem to be craving meaning in "authenticity." We become furious at deception, exhault pathos and setimentality, we crave the fusion of fame and self revelation.
This tedious ranking of meaningfullness seems vapid and trivial but for the fact that it is iconic of american pop culture. If Bernie Madoff had an ironic self revalatory personality, if he could reveal some attractive personal demons or insults, if he had a flair for blarney wouldn't that be a great story?
For somer reason there is a hollowness in american life, perhaps it is our affluence, we crave meaning. I wonder if the problem is not an absence of meaning but a craving for love.
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We're out of time, but I'm going to see if we can have Don Miller respond to this after the show.
Thanks for the comment!
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Thank you for your eloquence on this matter. I was mulling over what didn't "feel" right about the whole concept of meaning being attributed by the struggle. Is the quiet mother's life in rural India, whose day consists of nothing more than making the family meal and caring for the children and animals, meaningless? Was my own mother's life meaningless? By Don Millers definition, anyone with a turbulent life, made so by their own offensiveness and then finally overcome by consequences, would be worthy of story.
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Blue Like Jazz changed my life. After being a Christian for 30 years, my eyes were opened, and my walk with God took on a new energy, meaning, and direction. Can't wait to read this new one.
Thank you, Don.
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The element of conflict can add depth and interest to a life story, but what really seems important is our impacts on and relationships with others and the world. I would find a story nearly as compelling if a depressed "trust fund baby" or hated Bernie Madoff decided to use their resources to reach out to others and enrich lives. Even if it were relatively free from struggle and conflict, it would at least have meaning to some.
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I listened today and I have to say that it has been a long time since I have heard anyone that got religion so wrong.
It's cool that he is a seeker, but he has gotten misdirected in his path.
If I was asked I would recommend that he watch and read Joseph Campbells' The Power of Myth book and TV series. And Karen Armstrong books. Elaine Pagels books.
Oh well.
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Hi there,
I wanted to invite you to a webinar hosted by Donald Miller next Thursday morning on the subject of his new “Convergence” DVDs for small groups (mostly). Convergence is Miller at his best: doing honest talk about faith. On the first dvd set he talks to Dan Allender, Phyllis Tickle, Lauren Winner. He just recorded the next set with Randy Alcorn, Henry Cloud, John Townsend. You can listen in Thursday, Dec. 17 at (11 am PT, 12 pm MT, 1 pm CT, 2 pm ET). Go to https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/543081489 to RSVP for the webinar & we'll be sure to send you a reminder.
You can learn more about Convergence at www.allthingsconverge.com. If you have any further questions please feel free to email Monique@Lovell- Fairchild.com.
Thanks,
Monique Sondag -
Comments are now closed.
I've never really thought of life as an active story, but more like looking at it from 100 years after i've left this earth and what will i leave behind. I appreciated the viewpoint of the living story. It challenges you to climb that mountain today instead of tomorrow. To be able to finish each day with a story worth living/reading.