Uncharted

When school starts in the fall every year, my "reading for pleasure" days come to an abrupt halt. I read textbooks, essays, and research papers primarily, with a few monthly magazines thrown in the mix--rarely do I make the time to pick up any of the stacks of books I want--but never seem to have time--to read.

I'm fairly picky about what I read. I'm particularly picky about Christian fiction. Having said that, I want to recommend a book I read this summer by Angela Hunt, titled Uncharted. It follows the lives of 6 characters, who by fate are reunited at the death of a friend and ultimately end up, following a plane crash, on a deserted island. It sounds cheesy; instead, it was reflective, intriguing, unnerving, sobering, and I thought about this book for many weeks to follow.

A few of those thoughts:

1. Life will end. And when it does, your eternity will not be based on what you did but how you honored God's gift of love & His invitation to the Great Banquet.

2. There is a very real danger that we can live two lives: the life that people see, and the life of our inner thoughts. In this book, the "two lives" in the principal characters don't line up. The beautiful, talented girl is vicious, spiteful, angry, and dishonest and the successful man is deceitful, lustful, and selfish.

3. Loving yourself is deadly. Self-focus will keep one from seeing the Truth, even when God sends sign after sign.

4. The description of this character made me catch my breath: "She spent her life yearning for the approval of others, not God. She had longed to be acknowledged as a good person; she had needed to be known as virtuous . . . all the while she neglected the truths that would have made a difference to her soul . . .surely this was a kind of hell" (300).

As a result of reading this book, this was my prayer:
Lord,
Give me another day to praise and honor you.
I love you, but not enough.
Increase my willingness to love and trust.
Help me to crucify this self, who demands so much attention.
Teach me the humility that moves me from thinking poorly of myself to not thinking of myself at all.
Forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive me.
In the name of Jesus.

Jana