Fine Wine.

So I just began reading Searching for God Knows What, written by Don Miller (Author of Blue Like Jazz). Anyways, I have only finished the first chapter, and it is incredible. So if you aren't reading something right now, pick it up!
So the first chapter is entitled "Fine Wine" which explains the title of this blog. The line that corresponds with this states "Reality is like a fine wine. It will not appeal to children." This whole chapter talks about his possible attempt to write a self - help book. After thinking alot about what the solid steps would be to have a good blessed life and the fact that self help books of any genre had never really changed anything in the past, he realizes that there can no be a self help book for Christians, except the Bible. Now obviously there are books that shed light and make you think differently about things (like this one), but he is talking about the books with titles like "3 easy steps to improving your walk with God" or "5 steps to making through a trial." Here are some excerpts from the first chapter for you:

"I remember watching that television show I Dream of Jeanie when I was young, and wondering at how great it would be to have a Jeannie of my own, complete with the sexy outfit, who could blink a grilled-cheese sandwich out of thin air, all the while cleaning my room and doing my homework. I realize, of course, that is very silly and there is no such thing as a genie that lives in a lamp, but it still makes me wonder if secretly we dont wish God were a genie who could deliver a few wishes here and there. And that makes me wonder if what we really want from the formula are the wishes, not God. It makes me wonder if what we really want is the control, not a relationship."

"Some would say formulas are how we interact with God, that going through motions and jumping through hoops are how a person acts out his spirituality. This method of interaction, however, seems odd to me, because if I want to hang out with my friend Tuck, I dont stomp my foot three times, turn around, and say his name over and over like a mantra, lighting candles and getting myself in a certain mood. I just call him. In this way, formulas presuppose God is more a computer or a circus monkey than an intelligent Being. I realize that sounds harsh, but it is true."

"I know there are people who have actually gone from misery to happiness, but they didnt do it by walking through three steps, they did it because they had a certain set of parents and heard a certain song and knew sombody who had a certain experience and saw a movie, read some books, had something happen to them like a car wreck or a trip to Seattle. Then they called on God, and when all this had happened they had an epiphany, and somebody may have helped them fulfill what this epiphany made them feel, and several years later they rationalized this mystic experience with three steps, then they told the three steps to us in a book. I'm not saying they weren't trying to be helpful; I bring this up only because life is complex, and the idea that you can break it down or fix it in a few steps is rather silly."