Fiction February

At the beginning of the year, I started reading more fiction. I got bored with trade mags, leadership books, “how-to” ministry books, and books promoting the next new thing. I’m all for self-improvement and stretching and learning from people smarter than me but the pressure to produce and read everybody’s new idea is a constant prodding in ministry circles that can be overwhelming and sometimes counter-productive. It’s not that it isn’t helpful but, at least, we have to acknowledge that being immersed in too much of anything is cause for caution and question asking and pause.

Plus, really, if all you do is drink from the same pool are you really stretching?

Without waxing too philosophical, I am on a fast. A fast from self-proclaimed gurus and self-promoting authority figures. I am withstanding the temptations of the masters of pithy grabbers and clever theology. I am abstaining from authors in khaki pants and golf shirts who wield laser pointers in auditoriums full of slobbering rabid fans waiting for the next breakthrough language for leadership and management.

I am reading nothing but fiction. Short stories. Graphic novels. Fantasy. Horror. You name it. Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, J.K. Rowling, Alan Moore, you name it.

I am embracing the world of metaphor and poetic device. I am inviting the world of imagination to take over. I am going down the rabbit hole.

At the end of the month, I want to have conversations with any of you who want to join me in this fast.

You in?