Review of Run with the Horses: The Quest for Life at Its Best – Commemorative Edition, by Eugene Peterson
Run with the Horses is Eugene Peterson’s commentary on selected passages from Jeremiah.
Peterson, best known for his paraphrase of the Bible into modern language – The Message, uses that text as his
platform. I say platform instead of starting point, because in many instances
in Run with the Horses Peterson
returns to scripture’s original language to tease out not just the definition
of a word, but the intent of the meaning as it is used in a passage.
The book’s title comes from
the twelfth chapter of Jeremiah. Jeremiah starts by complaining that the wicked
have it better than the righteous. In verse 5 God begins his answer to
Jeremiah:
So, Jeremiah, if you’re worn out in this footrace with
men, what makes you think you can race against horses?
It reminds me of when my
daughter was in middle school, whining about the difficulty of her homework. I nonchalantly said, “Oh. I thought you could
do it,” as if to imply she couldn’t.
This made her angry and she
started telling me she could do anything she wanted; she could become a doctor
if she wanted to. I told her that doctors don’t get there by whining and
saying, “This is too hard.” That stopped the whining, mostly.
Things were about to get a
lot worse for Jeremiah, and I think God was challenging him, asking if he would
be up for the task ahead.
This is the Commemorative Edition released not long
after Peterson’s death. This newer version uses The Message for scripture quotations, and it contains the text of Peterson’s
funeral homily delivered by his son Eric Peterson.
Peterson was a great
communicator. Even so, one pass through this book left me just skimming the
surface. I believe that’s owing to the complexity of the Book of Jeremiah. I
wouldn’t recommend Run with the Horses
as this summer’s beach read, but if you are a serious Bible scholar, it should be
on your list!
By the way, my daughter is
now entering her third year at a top college in their honors program. **SPOILER
ALERT** Jeremiah was faithful to God until the end.
#RunWithTheHorses
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