We want you to know we’re out there:

Christians who love Jesus but don’t use him as a crutch. Christians who prefer peace and social justice over political capital. Christians who don’t measure self-worth by whether we’re able to convince you to see things our way.

We’re out there.

And here’s what we want you to know:

We’re distraught by our current representation in the media. Heidi Montag. Ted Haggard. That silly little girl who was Miss California. I could go on for days.

You see, these people not only trivialize our faith, but they simplify it, too.

Because for us— for those of us out there feeling voiceless and unrepresented— Jesus is more than words. Jesus is more than a set of bullet points on Sunday. Jesus is more than a systematic theology. Jesus is more than a name we drop so others might think us pious and good.

For us, Jesus is a way: a way to practice love and peace and respect for others.

We want you to know that, just like you, we are three-dimensional. We can’t be lumped into one stereotypical category.

We didn’t all vote McCain simply because he was Republican. And those of us who did vote McCain can give an intelligent, reasoned argument why— one that doesn’t include, “Because I’m a Christian.”

Meanwhile, those of us who voted Obama can give an equally persuasive argument why— one that, among other things, is based on our Christian faith.

Whether we are for or against the Iraq war, or for or against sending troops into Afghanistan, none of us believe our mission to be a mandate from Jesus. For us, Jesus is never an excuse to drop bombs.

Nor is he ever an excuse to subjugate.

To profile.

To discriminate.

We believe whole-heartedly in the literal death and resurrection of Jesus, yet we don’t rush to anger if you think us simple-minded for it.

We believe in personal responsibility but also believe a person’s situation greatly affects his opportunities. And we want to help those who come from less fortunate situations overcome their circumstances.

We screw things up more than we get them right.

We give, we pray, we help, we hurt, we doubt, we want, we try, we fail. We try again.

In other words, we’re just like you.

And we want you to know we’re out there. We’re out there and we want to work with you. Laugh with you. Grow with you. Try with you.

We want to, together with you, better the collective whole.

So won’t you step forward with us?

With love and respect,
Austin

There is something magical about books.

Some people remember their formative years through school and teachers. Others, through friends and experiences (first kiss, first cigarette, first beer, first Widepread Panic show, etc.).

I, however, trace my own lifeline through books.

As I’ve said before, my love for reading began at age seven with C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. When curious little Lucy wandered into that wardrobe, only to be transported into a new world— a world of magic and beauty and meaning— so did I. And to this very day, with each new book I open, I am again hoping to stumble into a world as affecting as was that first trip to Narnia.

Soon after devouring all of the Chronicles of Narnia, it was off to the bookstore for books like The Trumpet of the Swan and Where the Red Fern Grows.

A couple years later, I was motoring through the entire Nancy Drew series (embarrassing: yes. Referenced in my book: yes).

At this point, I was shifting into middle school, where, suddenly, it became very cool to own and (at least pretend to) read Michael Crichton books. This was pre-Jurassic Park, so the titles we were fawning over included The Andromeda Strain and Congo and Sphere and Rising Sun (I also owned both The Terminal Man and The Great Train Robbery, simply to prove my superior love for books).

It wasn’t long before 9th grade and To Kill A Mockingbird, when I vowed to be like Atticus Finch when I grew up.

And it wasn’t long after that when one’s reading of his own volition became “uncool,” and I, certainly as insecure as the next guy, craved acceptance more than learning, and I abandoned my love of books in order to fit in.

Years then passed without my shadow darkening the doorway of a bookstore. And, ridiculous as it sounds— and though I’m sure I didnt realize it at the time— I think my soul missed it.

It’s as if my spirit knew, from a very young age, that when entering a house of books, it was entering a world that transcends time and prejudice and mortality. All of those books, all of those words— some written by men as far back as thousands of years— still as alive today as when they were first written.

To me, that’s the beauty of bookstores and libraries: with each new trip, there is the chance of stumbling into a world that can change the way you think, can let you know you’re not alone, can inspire you to take on the world.

It’s what happened when I first picked up Dave Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. It’s what happened when I stumbled upon Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead. Klosterman’s Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. Kidd’s Secret Life of Bees. Lamott’s Traveling Mercies. Miller’s Blue Like Jazz.

And just this weekend, as I stumbled upon a book I’d never heard of, Collum McCann’s Let The Great World Spin, I felt it in my gut: another book had chosen me.

See, that’s my contention: we don’t choose books. They choose us.

So, with my book being released tomorrow, and consequently, available in bookstores everywhere, it is such a humbling, exciting, gratifying thought to consider that maybe, just maybe, somewhere out there, in this big world, some person who’s never met me, never heard of me, might stumble upon my book. And he/she might flip it open, read a few words, begin to put it back down… and then it may happen:

The book might choose them.

It is a magical thing, the way books choose us.

And, for someone who’s life has been measured by books, it is dizzying to consider that someday, my book might be a small part of the timeline that helps measure someone else’s.

After two years of working on this project, High Points and Lows: Life, Faith, and Figuring It All Out, will be released into the world on January 26th. My updated tour calendar is located under the “appearances” link on my site (you can just click the tab at the top of this page). I really would love to see you at a local event!

Meanwhile, I am hoping to arrange a “book bomb” between January 26 and January 31. That meaning, I would really love it for everyone to join me in a concerted effort to buy a copy (or two!:) of my book between those days. This is a great way for the book to spring out of the gates, and alot of authors have been successful using this strategy. It really would mean a great deal to me if you and your friends would join me in this collective effort!

12 more days, kids. I can’t wait to hear from you all with your thoughts on the book!

Austin