Customer Reviews

2 reviews

• David F. White

  Ancient Christians once understood that the way to God is not found in an escape of this material world—outward and upward--but instead as a way that first moves into the world before it is an upward ascent to God because the world sacramentally speaks of the Holy—the particular speaks of the universal. Billy Still is shaped by a particular Southern (South Jackson, MS) sensibility, the inescapable narrative of Jesus Christ and his pastoral vocation, the abiding challenge of heart disease, and his inexplicable yearning to be in places of wild natural beauty. Rev. Still unapologetically and courageously embraces these gifts, especially as they give shape to a life well lived, in love of God and neighbor.
  
  Because Still’s stories are set amidst great geographic and cultural diversity—Mississippi, Kenai Alaska, the Arizona desert, various mountains, rivers, and trails, among an equally diverse cast of characters-- one might also assume Still to be a casual tourist, flitting on the consumerist surface of life. But that would be a willful misreading of the path he describes, a path which prayerfully, pastorally, adventurously, and Southernly(?) grounds him in silence, love, repentance, grace, generosity, and peace. This book can easily be read as adventure non-fiction, or it can be read devotionally as Christian testimony, or it can be read to good effect as prescribing the contours of a life well-lived on the way to God. For those who think they know Christianity, say through its recent political expressions, Rev. Still’s stories reveal a much-needed corrective more in line with the Church’s ancient self-understanding, as a way of silence, love, repentance, generosity, and peace.

• Doug Wingert

  I recently met Billy Still, got to know him a little, and have ridden with him on some long bike rides around Tucson, Arizona. When I heard about his book, "The Jawbone of a Carnivore, "I purchased it and devoured it, reading it so quickly, "it was like blowing past rocks and trees as if they were standing still." (Page 109). No kidding, the book is both meaningful and inspirational. I plan to read it again, this time slowly and with a highlighter in my hand.

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