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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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A
Delicate Fade
Author: Ben Devries Publisher: Zondervan Length: 114 pages Imagine a book with the discouragement of Job and his friends and the randomness of Proverbs, and you have A Delicate Fade. This book is a chronicle of one man's personal discouragement and dark period. The honesty of this book is amazing. Reading this book feels like reading someone's journal through the darkest, most depressing time of his or her life. There is no comfort from family, friends--or anywhere. Ben Devries uses his own songs as well as quotes and snippets of poems to help illustrate his depression. The book does not have any over-arching structure, as most of it employs a very stream-of-conscience feel, jumping from one subject to another and another. This style adds to the journal-feel of the book, as does the lack of capitalization of the first word of each sentence. The journal-feel of the book also means that there are no ten steps or charts or "how-to"s--just one man's thoughts and experiences. Unlike many books or stories where the dark period does not reach into one's faith, in A Delicate Fade, the author writes of even God seeming far away. There are no easy answers or clichéd responses about God or faith. Devries writes honestly of even faith not making sense and God seeming far away and distant. While the book does lighten up a bit as the author delves into an apologetic for God, it only does so in small degrees, still chronicling the dark period Devries was enduring at the time. More and more people in our society are being diagnosed with depression, including many in our churches. Oftentimes either the problem is ignored or a clichéd response is given, such as "keep praying" or "just rely on God to get you through" without any actual comfort being given. This book is invaluable in showing how one person (and possibly many others) with depression truly thinks and feels. It shows that depression cannot be ignored and a clichéd response will not help. This book is a must-read to help Christians understand depression and what those who suffer from it experience. Burton Wray September 12, 2004
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