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loudgls89's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
I’ve had this book queued up to read for what feels like ages - the author came to speak to our church at our virtual church weekend away back in 2020 when he was writing it and I went to the virtual launch on zoom when it happened last year.
As it turned out, leaving the book a little while to read was just what I needed, as the book seemed to bring itself to the top of my reading list at the exact moment that it could be of most help.
The book is (obviously) about the spaces between - the transition times in which we have left one season of stability but not arrived at the next. The author describes 5 different types of these spaces - it might be that we’re in exile or in the wilderness, in the storm or in the pit, or simply in a time of waiting.
He explores these spaces in careful detail and with a strong biblical underpinning, giving us the resources we need to navigate through the uncertain times with faith and hope.
I highlighted so many quotes as I was reading - the first of them within the first 1% of the book:
“This inattentiveness to life is how I can live if I’m not careful. Sometimes, I merely follow the path of least resistance, the easy way through”.
I feel like this is how I’ve been living since the pandemic started. Everything is so difficult in day-to-day life, that in the areas where I have control, I’ve been following that path of least resistance to give myself respite from the world outside.
This has led (many times) to me feeling a sort of disconnection, like I’m merely doing what’s expected of me and going through the motions rather than living life with God. And this quote brought this into complete clarity for me:
“The space between can only be sustained by the presence of God and the promises of God.”
As I mentioned before, this book deals with 5 different types of liminal spaces, and this book is certainly the kind of book that I will come back to at different times in my life - each chapter will show new insights I’m sure as those spaces become relevant to my life.
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