Greg Coles is a tremendous writer, and I loved reading these musings about his life and his faith. “I saw the power of the stories we tell,” he writes, “how one person’s machete-hewn journey through the briars can become someone else’s highway to hope. I found myself believing that, as long as it continues to be told, no story is ever wasted” (88). His own story is fascinating, especially when he tells it with such bold honesty and wry humor.

Reading these thoughts about life and faith from Coles’s perspective, I benefited from the wisdom that he has gained through pursuing questions that I would never even have thought to ask. And what particularly struck me throughout the book is the need for community. On his own, Coles wouldn’t be the same person he is now. Loneliness, he writes, is “a ninja ailment, slipping in unnoticed, strangling you without the courtesy of an explanation” (75). Looking back on his earlier years of loneliness, he reflects:

I don’t regret that season of loneliness. It was, I think, a necessary part of my spiritual growth. Those ten years gave me space to reflect on my experience of sexuality, to see God’s hand in the midst of my sorrow, without being tempted to let someone else dictate my story to me. I learned to run to God with my unanswered questions, to look to my faith as my primary source of comfort instead of merely as a last resort. I learned that it is possible to have a rich, joyful life even through challenge and heartache—that joy is even more passionate, even more robust, when you realize how much it costs. (76)

But he also adds, “What I lacked, in the midst of all those incredible blessings, was a healthy experience of intimacy.” He needed the loving conversations with his pastor, all the questions from his sister-in-law, and interactions with many other people—everything that came after the loneliness. And community is not a one-sided thing: all of those people also needed Coles to pursue Christ and find the insights that only he could gain; they needed his honesty and candor and love.

I found Coles’s insights thought-provoking and helpful in contemplating what God calls each of us to, what love is, and what role we have to play through suffering and joy. Coles has an excellent perspective, and I’m so glad that he wrote and published his story.