Faith, Interrupted: A Spiritual Journey

I found Faith Interrupted to be a refreshingly honest examination of one's life - past, present and what may lay ahead. I myself am just a bit too young to have had friends or immediate family drafted into the Vietnam War - the backdrop to a good part of the book. Lax's decision to seek CO status and all that entailed was fascinating to me as was the contrast it painted to his early years as a church acolyte. As life proceeds, his faithful convictions, for a number of reasons explained, begin to quiver and then evaporate. His story includes a parallel figure - a good friend in college turned warrior extraordinaire turned Bishop - and their separate but intertwined journeys provide a richness of the human experience that Lax conveys in a down to earth, approachable way. Lax, witty and unapologetic, gives us where he is today and how he got here. I could feel his sadness(disappointment?) that he didn't end up at another point - one with faith. Yet another reader may take away something different. Which is why I found this book to be particularly satisfying; nothing is neatly tied up in a bow at the end. No exclamations of 'I was lost and now I am found!' Or, 'I was once naive and malleable and now I know better'. Rather, it is messy and nuanced, filled with compassion and honest intention to figure it all out - eventually. He repeatedly goes back to the one Christian tenant which he still firmly holds on to; 'God is Love' and it is apparent and wonderful to read about a life so clearly guided by that light. In closing, my favorite chapter is the last one; that's the one I believe I will go back to time and time again - when my own stagnation and sense of loss need a muse - not a professor with the answer, but someone else who is still willing to look under the rocks - just in case.

Mr. Lax has an excellent writing style. His prose flows and keeps the reader interested even through some of the more detailed descriptions. This book I would recommend for anyone who has asked questions about faith, spirituality and the meaning of life.