I Was Just Wondering (by Philip Yancey)

(Amazon UK link)

I have very much appreciated Philip Yancey’s writing over the past decade or so. He’s an American Christian writer who grew up in a fundamentalist church but has moved on from that. He sees the world from the perspective of flexibility and grace, and his books are full of wisdom and insight.

It’s nearly thirteen years since I read ‘I was just Wondering’, so it was clearly time to re-read. And, as usual, I had entirely forgotten the contents. The book is set out as forty-four articles, each of them under a broad heading such as ‘The Human Animal’, or ‘Necessary Voices’, which group the thoughts roughly into order.

Each section starts with a page full of intriguing questions: do gorillas have midlife crises? Why are people amused - or embarrassed - by rude jokes? Why are so few Christians joyful? Where do political tyrants come from…?  And while not every question is answered - perhaps some don’t really have answers - the author attempts to explore connected issues, and in some cases attempt at least a possible response to some of the questions.

The first section looks at the human race, including the ways we treat animals, lessons from goldfish, and some fascinating thoughts about dirty jokes, and why we feel so awkward about natural functions which animals perform without caring who might be watching. Another of the sections looks at life from the perspective of some of Yancey’s favourite Christian writers, some of whom lived in extremely difficult circumstances.

Each article, which is written a bit like a newspaper column, gives issues to think about, observations from the author’s perspective, and pointers towards God. It’s not preachy - he entirely understands why so many people are put off by the church - but offers a gentle kind of inclusive grace. There’s some irony, too, particularly evident in a chapter towards the end, with the title, ‘Imagine there’s no heaven’.

I don’t know that I learned anything new, although I picked up a few insights that I had forgotten or missed from my previous reading, and there was much to think about. I read just a couple of articles each day over the course of a few weeks, and found it an encouraging way to start the day.

Recommended if you like reading non-threatening Christian-based thoughts in bite-sized portions.

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