When after putting a book down you feel light and encouraged, that has to be a good thing. I wasn't sure at first about Ragan Sutterfield's book This is My Body. I was intrigued when I ordered it to review, thinking about his struggles with weight and then competing in and finishing the race to become an Ironman. Amazing. Anything is possible. But I got a tiny bit overwhelmed at the details about his college years, and the frank way he shared. He's so real. Maybe more honest about his past than I was comfortable with, but that's the trend these days. Anything is open game. He's humble, though, and not arrogant in talking about his personal monsters. His upbringing was traditional and fundamental. Went to Wheaton, which he's quick to lay out as 'not the Christian university we all like to think it is.' But he got off course in his personal life, had a bad first marriage, went up and down with his weight, but wanted very deeply to experience joy. He just went about it the wrong way. What else is new, right? We all have been there in one way or another.
I guess overall, Ragan tells his readers that Christians sometimes are as confused as everyone else, but with Christ in us, really in us, we have an advantage. His preparations to compete in the Ironman weren't just about finishing, but about a physical experience of living for Christ and not just a spiritual one. He make the argument that our bodies are important as our spirits. Christ indwells us. Think about it.
His discussions about the Anglican faith were a draw as well, as he spoke about the disciplines necessary to maintain a daily faith walk. The Book of Common Prayer was a blessing to him, as it is to me. Good comparison, He kept at the prayers as he trained. Both require devotion and consistency, the key to succeeding at anything.
So as I said, after I put it down I felt light and encouraged. He makes change feel do-able, and I did enjoy that feeling.
(i received this book free to review from bloggingforbooks)
