I received this book in a large bundle of books from a publisher that recommended them based off of my previous reviews. I was told they seemed like books that would “suit my taste”. Well. That bundle of books largely accounts for every single negative review on my website.

Not even joking. That book bundle sucked. Apparently “my taste” appeared to be a penchant for melodramatic thoughts meandering through redundant chapter arranged in no significant order. Anyway. This is the last book in my bundle of sucky books. I’m convinced after this fiasco to only review books I’ve personally picked from here on out.

About the Book

Book description from Amazon.com:

Timothy Willard and Jason Locy show readers how to discover the brilliance of God in the shadows of everyday life.

Life opens up before each of us, it beckons, it tempts, it thrills, it betrays. And what do we desire? All of it and none of it.

We’re not in this to survive, but to live. We want to experience joy in the everyday grind of work, relationships, and parenting. We want healing in our suffering. Forgiveness in the midst of our pains. Purpose through the journey. We want to break free from the temporal and live with an eternal perspective. We want to be brilliant.

In Home Behind The Sun coauthors Timothy Willard and Jason Locy invite you to step out of the shadows and into the brilliance. They want to introduce you to the God of the mysterious. A God who combats despair with joy, topples bitterness with forgiveness, and eliminates cynicism with belief and whimsy.

You’re invited home. Home, behind the sun.

My Thoughts on the Book

I immediately took issue with this book from the very first paragraph of the very first page. Check it out:

“When we let a mutual friend read the first draft of this book, he made an interesting comment: “I love how you guys are reframing the whole imago Dei discussion. I often feel like ‘the image of God’ gets narrowed into social justice compartments. If I’m not active in some cause, then I’m not fulfilling the gospel. Isn’t it gospel living to raise my four boys and to make a living, supporting my wife and family?””

Yeah. This really is NOT the modern churches problem right now. We don’t need a book on “don’t get socially involved, don’t reach out to the larger world, just be content in doing your 9-5 grind, it’s all cool”. While touchy feely kumbaya books are great for the emotional feelsies every now and then, I take issue with a book that’s main purpose is to lull the church into an even deeper sleep while a hurting, waiting world desperately needs those called to shake off the “good enough” and instead “go out into the world and preach the Good News, telling everyone, everywhere.”

Fewer and fewer Christians are giving or serving with their time, talents, or treasures as compared to ten or twenty years ago, instead there is a prevailing attitude of, “I raise my kids, I support my wife, I make a living.. isn’t that enough?”

So this book kind of got the quirky eyebrow from me right at the get-go.

But then I kept reading. And the quirky eyebrow turned into a double eyebrow, “what the heck am I reading!?” for pretty much, well, the entire book. While some may enjoy the rambling, abstract and poetic nature of the book, I did not. It reads like far too many junior college creative writing essays I’ve had to peer grade over my young adult summers. The desperate desire to come off as “deep” was like nails on chalkboard to my inner monologue. Behold,

“Silence is the whisper language of love, and I am whispering to you all – you the reader, my family, you my friends – at this time. In the quiet stillness of winter, in this room dimming with the sun I am speaking to you in whispers of silence. I am connecting with your spirits through a cosmic portal, whispering like the trees in the wind, like the sway in the upper branches. How I reach for you all, like these trees reach. Our love is taller than trees.”

Ummmm. Okay. I’m all for poetic emotionalism, but even in a murky backroom coffeeshop, I’d have a hard time listening to page after page after page of this overly sentimental nonsense.

When not waxing poetic, there are glimmers of good advice and inspirational quotes, mostly from C.S. Lewis works, but the majority of this book was just dry “you’re okay, I’m okay, we’re all okay” platitudes soaked in poetic, verbal imagery gobbledygook. Getting through the book, for me, was kind of like trying to choke down a dry biscuit soaked in overly sweetened artificial syrup.

For those who like beatnik style reads that go “deep” without really scratching much of a spiritual surface, you might enjoy this read. For the life of me I don’t understand how it has 5 stars on Amazon, except that almost every single reader was offered a free copy of the book. (Psst, guys! Just because the book is a freebie doesn’t mean you have to “like” the book!)

As for me? I’d say MAJOR pass on this book. If you need a good spiritual read, I’d go with the timeless author Willard and Locy relentlessly quote and spend some time in a C.S. Lewis novel instead.

[Disclaimer: There are no affiliate links in this review. I am an independent product reviewer. I only review products I am truly interested in. I don’t accept payment for reviews. The products I take the time to jabber on about are either items I have personally purchased, or the product has been provided for review after me incessantly nagging for a sample. All of my reviews are unbiased regardless of how the item was obtained.]