Falling into the Face of God: Forty Days And Nights in the Judean Desert

by William J. Elliott

In early June of 2002, I left the United States and traveled to the locus of my own soul. If one were to look at a map, they would say that my destination was Israel (specifically the Judean Desert) and that I had traveled 6,497 miles. But in actuality, I traveled much farther than that-upon a road whose traversing is not measured in miles, but by the deepening of the human experience, love and acceptance; and not by direction (for there is only one direction-inward). And whose perilous mountains, cliffs, and valleys were not composed of stone or sand, but of one's own psyche (the most dangerous of the world's creations). In Bill Elliott's forty days in the Judean desert he learns many deep and poignant truths about himself, his world, and his relationship with God. He reflects back on significant (and insignificant) moments in his life and learns from them as well-his parents dying at his home when he was 12, a dream he had about TV psychiatrist Frasier, the comical relationship with his best friend Dave who later committed suicide, and other incidents. This book is truly in the vein of the introspective works of Anne Lamott, Don Miller, and others. If you're looking for a deeper spiritual experience, you will devour this book.

Genres: Christian Living, Biography, Spirituality, Christian

303 pages, Hardcover

First published May 23, 2006

Reviews

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nice idea. Poorly executed and rife with bad theology.

[Lois Peachey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn’t like it.

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

My favorite quote from this book:

Why couldn't God have given us a better way? He could have put the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil up on the moon, instead of in the middle of the Garden, and we wouldn't have found it till 1969. Some things are beyond my understanding. P. 263

[Gordon Collier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love stuff like this. Stories about people doing crazy things in order to gain insight into their own lives and the world they live in. Very good.

[Michelle]

memoir. Rec. in CCM magazine