A book review of Sacred Romance by John Eldredge and Brent Curtis. 2nd edition 2024
This book is the beginning of the trajectory that John has been working on of which Wild at Heart is a part. As I see it John writes from his heart, using real life stories from his life to encourage readers to embrace a deeper, fuller and intimate relationship with the Godhead.
Joining him for this first book is Brent Curtis. Together they dance with the Godhead and each other. The romance they begin to unpack is the boundless love of God. It is wild and irascible. When I say irascible it is not in a ornery or cantankerous way but in a seemingly random way. I mean if anyone in my childhood could see what God had planned for me – Do you have a story like that?
Chapter five is my favourite – The Wildness of God. Because I live at the intersection of religion & culture I love how we can see God in the everyday. How he can come in to the most ordinary of situations and something supernatural occurs. In the book they pose the question (in the last chapter they spoke of those arrows that pierce our soul) “Should we live in hopeless abandon, trusting in the larger story whose ending is good, or should we live in our small stories and glean what we can from the Romance while trying to avoid the Arrows?”
They pose this question because they then contrast Jacob (serial manipulator and totally blessed) to that of Jesus – (perfect in every way and crucified for us). Is it possible to be blessed and live outside of an intimate relationship with God?
Brent Curtis (1947-1998), Counsellor, was a counsellor in private practice and the author of the book Guilt (Institute of Biblical Counselling Discussion Guides Series) published in 1992 by NavPress. Brent loved people. He was a friend and mentor to many. He was John’s bestie – they wrote the book together. When John authored Wild at Heart they held an event and that was where Brent lost his life, plunging 80 ft while climbing.
Revisiting this book is therefore poignant – you read about Brent’s childhood and wonder what did that have to happen to this vital young man… and then you return to the question posed in chapter 5….
“Should we live in hopeless abandon, trusting in the larger story whose ending is good, or should we live in our small stories and glean what we can from the Romance while trying to avoid the Arrows?”
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