Reading Donald Miller’s book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, wasn’t something I really wanted to do. But like a good honors student, I did what I was told and read the book. (My professors are going to have to be careful. This honors student is beginning to like the idea of doing as I am told less and less. I am beginning to cultivate a rebellious streak. But that’s a different story… J)
If you have read the book, you’ll know that it starts out kind of slowly. To me it seemed like it didn’t really have a point; the story wasn’t going anywhere. About the time I reached chapter 18, it finally dawned on me what the book was about: looking for a story, seeking purpose and adventure, and learning to live life to the fullest. The reason the beginning was so slow was because at that point Miller’s life didn’t have a point. His story wasn’t going anywhere. The fact that I wasn’t engrossed in the first part of the book proves his point, because the pointlessness of his life was the point.
But slowly things began to change. As his life changed, he became a more likeable and interesting character. By the end of the book I was cheering for Miller. I wanted him to succeed because his life was worth living.
Miller says, “It’s interesting that in the Bible, in the book of Ecclesiastes, the only practical advice given about living a meaningful life is to find a job you like, enjoy your marriage, and obey God. It’s as though God is saying, Write a good story, take somebody with you, and let me help” (p. 246, emphasis his). I really like this quote because it summarizes what it means to live a good story, at least according to Miller. I want to live a good story. More than anything, I do want my life to be a meaningful one.
Once I let myself get into Miller’s book, I was really glad I did. It was an encouraging and spiritually-challenging read. Now I am able to think back to it and say, Because of Miller’s book, I have been reminded to use my college experience to ‘create a better story’ than I would have otherwise; to get off my bottom and live a life worth living. It reminded me that conflict and pain are OK, that they help us become stronger characters to which people better relate. And these are good things. Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to stop sitting here writing. I’m going to go and live my story. Would you care to join me?
(My prompt told me I was also allowed to talk about what I disagreed with the most. I took exception to Miller’s overly cynical views of marketing. Now, in some ways he is right, but at one point he actually said, “As near as I could tell from reading those [marketing how-to] books, marketing is a three-step process. The first step is to convince people they are miserable. The second step is to convince people they will be happy if they buy your product, and the third step is to include a half-naked woman in your pitch….” This really bugged me. So here’s what I’m going to do about it: I am going to keep studying marketing. I am going to keep learning how to market in a Godly way. I am going to make a difference. But I just had to say: THIS BUGGED ME SO MUCH!)
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