by Karen Dabaghian Expected publication: April 15th 2015 by David C. Cook
* I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley to review.
A Travelogue of the Interior was all that I had hoped for and then some. Not an amazing start to my review but straight forward if I say so myself. From what I gathered from the synopsis this book was something I knew I would glean rich and insightful spiritual gems, I was not disappointed. The author outlines the book in such a way that you are taken along for the ride in her journey but she welcomes the reader to join her in her adventure in the book of Psalms. Right from the start she invites the reader "to read a psalm a day, unpack it and the write a poem in response". An invitation to join her adventure down the river of Psalms and hopefully discover yourself along the way.
There are several chapters that explores subjects such as lament, sin, prayer and thirsting after God, among others. I mention these because they spoke to me the most. Oh, and one more which explores gender and how especially women struggle with how we(and the world)view women. I constantly highlighted many sections and even added a few of my own notes.
This quote really resounded within me, a section referring to being a parent:
"I let them go because it is good for them, and it is good for me. I let them go because that is, after all, part of what parenting is, a daily, sometimes gut wrenching decision to entrust our children to God and teach them that they belong not to us but to God. To instruct them and then give them opportunities to discover on their own that God uniquely made them to reflect God's image in the world, that they are capable of following God wherever He leads."
There were parts of the book that I related to only because I have journaled and spent the time doing the spiritual digging. I love reading books that reaffirm the journey that I often wonder if others have walked or experienced. When I do come up to similarities like my own I am both encouraged and spurred onto higher heights. I know that many people will grasp the spiritual truths and prompts while reading this book, I most certainly did.
There was a moment, well, perhaps more than a moment that I almost abandoned the book. I had my spiritual feet shook a bit and I had to reassess to continue or not. I like being honest in my reviews and life and I cannot pass this up. The author has a scientific approach to creation and mentions with much obscurity and refers to "evolution" in one of her chapters. I about did an internal flip and my heart and mind starting reacting and I was having a battle with her using "that" word. After all, we all know that you don't say bomb on a plane and I couldn't help thinking of that analogy when I saw the word evolution in a Christian book no less! I promptly looked her up on the internet and was in a righteous huff while looking up her name and what the Christian community is saying about her. Truthfully I couldn't find anything other than her blog. Suffice to say, she is unclear in the book exactly what she is really trying to say about creation. I don't think she is saying that we weren't created by God and etc but I had to let it go and figure that it isn't up to me to challenge her or to get into a huff and abandon the book. It is well worth the ruffling of the feathers and truthfully I got over it. The love and genuinely of her life and walk with the Lord clearly comes through her writing and right now in my life, that is enough.
My last thoughts is if we are to avoid any ideas or personal theories out there that are different from ours; we as Christians might as well stay home, never turn on our tv or turn on our computers. There are all kinds of people and certainly Christian brothers or sisters that might have an opinion or belief that differs from our own. I realized after my initial reaction and letting it go and carrying on with the book, I learned many spiritual truths in my doing so. I love when a book challenges you and then you see the Word or the Lord in a fresh and new way. That is how I felt by the time I finished the book. I plan to buy a Psalms journal and do exactly what the author did and invite the Lord along for the ride.
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