TheRomanticWay

It was a night of soul struggle after a miserable trek into the Grand Canyon. “They hang there like , the stars, like notes on a page of music, free-form verse, silent mysteries swirling in the blue like jazz,” writes Don Miller in Blue Like Jazz. One always wonders where an author gets his quirky titles. Especially the good ones. The book isn’t as poetic as the title source, but just as jazzy. As free-form as jazz, so is Don Miller’s wrestle with Christian spirituality. He’s honest, raw and a total jolt to conservative religious sensibilities. A true joy to read.

I’ve read it twice. Blue Like Jazz is one of those books where you find yourself grinning, “Yeah! Yeah! Hey Honey, listen to this.” And then you mutter, “Hmm. Can a Christian actually say that?” Miller makes no bones about his carnal side. His pipe-smoking, crap-saying guy talk, coupled with genuine human sensitivity makes the read pretty appealing to a romantic looking for religious liberation.

And stomp on religion, Miller does. As well as Christianity. Blue Like Jazz is an Evangelicals Anonymous member’s declaration of independence from western religious systems. Miller’s pursuit of God is naked, stripped of most western religous trappings and bedecked with brutal honesty that says, “…I know that a lot of people will not listen to the words of Christ because people like me, who know Him, carry our own agendas into the conversation rather than just relaying the message Christ wanted to get across.”

Miller dispenses with the term Christianity, preferring Christian spirituality. Christianity carries too much religious baggage for him. Christian spirituality on the other hand was more about deep belief. There’s responsibility associated with belief, real belief that is. It’s unfashionable and cumbersome because you actually have to do something about it. If Americans really knew the truth about the world, they’d be faced with the harsh reality that deep belief actually costs something.

By it’s very nature, Miller’s Blue Like Jazz is impossible to resolve. He writes, “The first generation out of slavery invented jazz music… While it is music, it is very hard to put on paper; it is so much more a language of the soul… I think Christian spirituality is like jazz music. I think loving Jesus is something you feel.”

Those are words to bring Christian theologians deep anguish. Like jazz is hard to write, Miller’s feeling love for Jesus is hard to systematize. It’s just not theological.

Miller finds himself comfortable, thriving and energized among the unbeautiful with regard to conservative Christianity — those who live out their spirituality on a liberal campus. It’s more than acceptance or even affection for “those kind of people”. He’s one of them, identifies his spirituality among them and comes out of the closet in his faith. His stories of questioning faith, struggle and enlightenment are more than engaging. They’re inspiring.

Blue Like Jazz is grammatically ragged, yet a great late-night read. But it rings true for me, a romantic awash in Christian spirituality with my head in the clouds and my heart chasing Jesus. I’ll read more of what Don Miller has to write.

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