Book Review: In Search of Deep Faith...A Pilgrimage into the Beauty, Goodness and Heart of Christianity by Jim Belcher

I can't really say that I have ever read a book quite like this one.  In Search of Deep Faith is a spiritual biography, a well-told glimpse into the great heritage of Christian faith, travelogue and narrative account all at the same time.  Jim Belcher tells the story of a faith pilgrimage that began for him and his family at a time when he was, by his own admission, tired.  After 10 years of planting, growing and leading Redeemer Church in Newport Beach, California he said, "I was exhausted.  I wasn't burned out or washed out of struggling with my faith.  I wasn't bitter or angry or trying to run away.  I wasn't at a crisis point or lost or in need of direction...I was simply worn out, depleted...I needed time away, to rest and to contemplate."  He realized that a two-month sabbatical probably would not be enough.  He needed a furlough, a year to recharge.  Since that would not be a practical proposition for the church, so Belcher stepped aside from his church leadership and he and his family started a year-long adventure of discovery and renewal.

As I was reading, I was struck by the realization that the life-changing aspect of this pilgrimage actually began when Belcher severed ties with the security of his current ministry.  He was launching out without a familiar destination to which he would return.  The journey became its own destination.  That was a powerful image for me.

Throughout the family pilgrimage that began in England and then moved through France and into Holland, Poland, Germany and Austria, the Belcher family followed a path that was established by people who had been influential in Jim's life.  In this book Belcher offers a historical glimpse of the likes of Thomas Cranmer, Sheldon Vanauken, Robert Louis Stevenson, C.S. Lewis, William Wilberforce, Vincent van Gogh, Andre` Trocme`, Corrie Ten Boom, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Maria von Trapp.  He takes us to Oxford, London, Paris, Provence, Auvers, Le Chambon, Haarlem, Ravensbruck, Berlin, Buchenwald, Flossenburg, Berchtesgarden, Salzburg, Heidelburg and Normandy.  This is a collection of interesting people and interesting places, but it is the way the story unfolds that makes this book what it is.

In the telling of his story and the story of his family, Belcher alternates between historical vignettes and present-day experiences.  He tells the stories about what happened historically in the different places they visited and he reminds us of the life and legacy of those whom he has considered mentors in his Christian pilgrimage.  He also talks about how the family's encounter with the faith, the struggles, the triumphs and the tragedies of all the people listed above began to shape their own faith and their own personalities.  What emerges is a true pilgrimage of faith that invites the reader to join along.

I must confess that my linear chronological thinking was initially challenged when the book moves from Thomas Cranmer forward to Sheldon Vanauken, then back to Robert Louis Stevenson (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) and once again forward to C.S. Lewis before going back to William Wilberforce...and so on.  I wanted the stories to unfold in chronological order but as the spiritual pilgrimage began to unfold I was immersed in a path that is marked spiritually, not chronologically.  It begins with a look at our spiritual roots, moves on to a consideration of beauty and then goodness.  The culmination of the journey overlooking the cliffs of Normandy is a fitting climax, for there we see how goodness and even beauty can emerge from unspeakable suffering.

In Search of Deep Faith challenged me to examine the roots, the nature and the steadfastness of my own faith.  I heartily recommend this book.  The writing is engaging and the message is powerful.  As the story concludes, Belcher borrows an image from the closing scene of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, as the brave mouse Reepicheep is leaving Narnia to go live in Aslan's territory... "We had gone, like so many pilgrims before us, to "Narnia" to get to know God better.  We had gone on this pilgrimage to encounter him in new ways, and we had.  We had hoped this adventure would help us desire him and his kingdom more, and it did.  We had sought, on this quest, to be shaped by our roots, our journey and our destination, and we had been.  But now it was over.  And as sad as we were to leave, it was time to go home to our own country.  And there we would get to know him even better."  This sentiment is similar to my feelings as I read the last page.

Reflections After the "Big Game"

So, with a lot of other people who have ties to Baltimore, I stayed up way too late last night (about 35 minutes longer than intended) to watch the Super Bowl game in New Orleans.  Watching the celebration on the field and in the streets of Baltimore took me back to the excitement following the 2000 Super Bowl victory.  This one was a lot more tense and I have to confess that I was entertaining thoughts of a successful San Francisco comeback and a less-than-satisfying end to a challenging season.  After the exciting conclusion, however, it was almost impossible to settle down enough to sleep well.  As I was awake in the wee hours of the morning, I had the opportunity to reflect on some lessons learned from this year's Super Bowl.

In 1996, when the City of Baltimore had a brand new football franchise, their first NFL draft took place.  Ozzie Newsome, who was a great player with the Cleveland Browns and a member of the NFL Hall of Fame, was instrumental in putting together the draft that year.  With the first pick of the 1996 draft, the Ravens picked Jonathan Ogden from UCLA.  The Ravens used their next pick to select Ray Lewis from the University of Miami.  As of February 3, 2013 here is how those two picks have turned out...Jonathan Ogden was named to the NFL Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility on Saturday, February 2, 2013.  The next day Ray Lewis played what was to be the last game of his NFL career.  He led a defense that made a last minute goal line stand to preserve the second Super Bowl trophy for what is still a relatively young franchise. Over the years Ozzie Newsome, now the General Manager of the Ravens, has proven time and time again that he has a keen ability to identify potential in young players.

Moving forward a little bit...In 2008 John Harbaugh became the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.  In the draft that year the Ravens selected a quarterback named Joe Flacco from the University of Delaware.  The Ravens' starting quarterback at the time was Kyle Boller and their backup was former Heisman Trophy winner, Troy Smith.  Through a series of unlikely events (a season-ending injury to Boller and a debilitating illness to Smith) a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback started the season that had the potential to be a disaster.  Instead, they won their first game (the only time a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback have done that) and went on to make the playoffs, eventually to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game.

Even though Flacco's numbers were not that impressive his first year (equal number of touchdowns and turnovers and less than 3,000 yards of total offense) he was named Rookie of the Year.  Even with that, no one would have been surprised if the Ravens had opted to go after a "big name" quarterback in the off season.  In the years since, even though the Ravens have made the playoffs every year and gone to the AFC Championship Game three out of the five years, there have been continual echoes of dissatisfaction with Flacco's leadership.  In spite of the critics, Harbaugh stuck with his quarterback, who is now not only a Super Bowl champion, but also the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl 47.

On the other side of the field on Sunday night was Jim Harbaugh, the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.  Just three months earlier, Jim Harbaugh made one of the more controversial decisions in recent football memory.  When starting quarterback Alex Smith went down in a game with a concussion, Harbaugh brought in the young man he was grooming to be the quarterback of the future for San Francisco.Collin Kepernick had been selected in the second round of the NFL draft a year earlier.  He came out of the University of Nevada, Reno...hardly a major national powerhouse.  When Smith recovered from his concussion, everyone assume that he would resume his leadership of the team.  After all, he had led them to the NFC Playoffs the year before, making it all the way to the Championship Game before losing to the eventual Super Bowl winners, the New York Giants.  It has generally been tradition in football circles that a starting player does not lose his position due to injury, but because of play on the field.  Harbaugh bucked the tradition and name Kaepernick as his starting quarterback.  Alex Smith was not happy and more than one sports commentator questioned Jim Harbaugh's decision.  In spite of that, Harbaugh stood by his decision.  Even when the 49ers had a dismal beginning to the Super Bowl game on Sunday night, Harbaugh never showed a lack of confidence in the man he had chosen.  As a result, Kaepernick led the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history and brought his team within one play of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

That's a lot of sports trivia, but here is what I took away from the game on Sunday night.  The gift that Ozzie Newsome, John Harbaugh and Jim Harbaugh share is the ability to see the potential in others.  Newsome saw the potential in Ogden and Lewis at the outset of their careers.  He saw the potential in an untried and relatively inexperienced coach in John Harbaugh.  For his part, John Harbaugh saw the potential in a less-than-flashy, inexperienced quarterback named Joe Flacco.  Even when there were plenty of people who would have cheered a decision to change quarterbacks, he stood by his player because he knew that Flacco could be something special.  Such insight must be inherited, because Jim Harbaugh also saw the potential in a young man name Collin Kaepernick, and even though people questioned his decision, he never wavered.  He knew that Kaepernick had the potential to be the amazing player he has become.

When God created you and me, He intended us for a purpose.  He placed within us the potential for greatness in whatever calling He placed on our lives.  Even when we fumble and fall along the way, He still sees that spark of something special He has created within each one of us.  The way may not always be easy, and there may be times when it seems as if there is no way God should continue entrusting us with His great purposes, but He stands by us...and the Holy Spirit is always ready to help us be all we can be for the Kingdom.  He sees us, not as the bumblers who stumble along the way, but as the amazing people He created us to be.

This truth raises a challenge to each one of us.  The people around us may sometimes frustrate us or disappoint us but we should never give up on them.  We are called to stretch and see the same potential in others that God sees in them.  Likewise, in those inevitable times when we stumble and fall, we should not give up on ourselves.  God never does.  He sees the potential He has built into each one of His amazing creatures!