Biography on Eugene Peterson: Off-the-charts Inspiring (Part 3 of 3)
Friends! For those of you who have bibliophile friends who adore mind-stretching and faith-growing books, have I ever got a Christmas gift idea for you!
The book? A Burning in My Bones—The Authorized Biography of Eugene H. Peterson (Translator of THE MESSAGE) by Winn Collier
Author Mark Batterson says, “Winn Collier captures Eugene Peterson’s sense of wonder over the presence of God and the radiance of Scripture. Through A Burning in My Bones, you’ll learn to experience life through Eugene’s eyes: dig deep, look for what is real, find the sacred in the rough and ordinary, and live like God is real.”
I agree with Mark—reading a Burning in My Bones well acquaints us with Eugene, Jan, and their family. Their unique lives and love of nature teach us what worshipping God’s creation looks like. We readers feel as if we’re in their kitchen, grinding coffee beans with Eugene, heading down either to his study or outside for morning prayer.
I love the verb Philip Yancey uses regarding Winn Collier’s writing style. He tells us, “Winn ferreted out the little known facts about Eugene that, taken together, complete the picture of a humble, gentle giant who brought the Bible to new life for millions and became an inspirational model for beleaguered pastors everywhere.” (Batterson’s and Yancey’s endorsements are just two of twenty, each worth your time to discover.)
Some of the surprising fun facts about Eugene will make you laugh out loud and realize he’s just as normal and ordinary as we are—and yet, to literally witness the wheels turning in his brain, and in his thought processes, well, it’s completely mind-blowing. He inspires us to dig deeper into the Word and pray like our lives depend on it.
Always curious regarding a book’s title, A Burning in My Bones fittingly comes from Jeremiah 20:9 from The Message:
Winn tells us, “Montana was Eugene’s birthplace. And it became his catechism.” At one point on one of Eugene’s many walks, he lists seventeen animals he saw! His home, overlooking a lake and many mountains, surely inspired his writing.
Winn adds, “The breathtaking beauty, immense solitude, and sheer physicality of the valley forged in Eugene a visceral sense of place. And earthiness, to use a word that would become one of his favorites.”
With that in mind, we readers get to dive into Eugene’s life, thanks to seventeen chapters, divided into three parts. We watch his faith come alive not only from books (He purposely chose challenging authors I’m not sure I’d have the courage or brain power to tackle, i.e. Barth and Dostoevsky for starters…), but also from fascinating mentors, along with a most supportive wife who has a huge sense of humor. As I said in my last post on Jan’s book, she and Eugene mention Wendell Berry and his books often, which we Kentuckians adore.
We learn, “Scripture had always been Eugene’s spiritual center. For as long as he remembered, he had read Scripture with rigor and discipline, even memorizing vast sections outright…but no one had ever guided him into the wonder, beauty, and artistry of the ancient pages…”. He credits Robert Traina, who published Methodical Bible Study, for showing him how to “see Scripture as a world to be entered.”
Precious photos of Eugene and his family are in the center of the book, one of which was painted by Willie Ossa. Their encounter and the style of the painting is a haunting story that will stick with you forever. Don’t miss it!
We journey along with Eugene, becoming acquainted with various people who influence his life in different ways, each becoming a relationship that would somehow change his life. How Eugene and Jan met and marry is a wonderful story you’ll love, appreciating them both for all they endured with, dare I say, amazing grace.
Plus, you’ll flat be floored when later in their marriage, they get to meet and spend time with Bono. What? Equally amusing, Eugene had no idea who Bono was at first… Their multiple meetings are a combination of hilarity, sweetness, and moving soulfulness. It’s an “only God could pull this off” kind of story. (Below you’ll find one of their meetings landed on YouTube.)
Hundreds of highlights and dog-eared pages cover my copy of A Burning in My Bones, too many to share, however I must share my favorite quote which comes from one of Eugene’s journaled prayers:
Dear God, I want to be a writer to your glory—I want to shape sentences and words out of my soul, not just my mind..Fresh, alive, prayerful sentences. So The Message is true, I offer myself as a servant to this text—and accept the ascetic appropriate to it. Please, dear Lord, help me to be moderate and submissive to your yoke. And serve you and marriage/Jan in this way.
While reading A Burning in My Bones, I began to detect similarities in a friend of ours’ life alongside Eugene’s. Eugene and Jan savored the Sabbath and one of his hobbies was carpentry. Our friends, Matthew and Nancy Sleeth, from Lexington, Kentucky also savor the Sabbath and Matthew started out as a carpenter. Matthew even wrote a book about Sabbath: 24/6–a prescription for a healthier, happier life.
Off I went to fetch Matthew’s book, recalling Eugene wrote the Foreword!!! Eugene’s also in the “Bonus Section” of the teaching DVD on 24/6 in a message to pastors. If you get the chance, watch the interview as it’s delightful. It pertains to each and every one of us, not just for pastors. Eugene defines what Sabbath looked like in his and Jan’s lives quite candidly. He gives us two simple words: “Pray and play.”
I asked Nancy to remind me how she and Matthew knew Eugene. She said, “Our relationship began when Matthew was the Executive Director of A Rocha USA for a short time, which is an international creation care ministry. Eugene was our biggest financial supporter.”
When I told her I kept thinking of Matthew re: Eugene’s similar interests, she said, “You’re right, they have a ton in common, including creation care, Sabbath, carpentry, and a creative-but-rock-solid approach to Scripture. They had a long friendship and respect for one another. And yes, Eugene met us in Indiana to record the session for pastors on the 24/6 video.”
Because the recording took longer than anticipated, Nancy was disappointed they didn’t get to share a meal with Eugene and Jan, but she reported they were most gracious. The Petersons invited the Sleeths to their Montana home on more than one occasion, but they weren’t able to coordinate calendars. Wouldn’t you have flipped to receive such an invitation?! (One year Jan calculated they’d had guests in their home 152 nights…think about that for a minute!)
Finally, those of you who know me, know I loathe controversy… I’m sad to report the end of this book is full of controversial issues. I’ll blame the majority of it on a reporter/journalist who pushed Eugene to answer pressing questions. This was near the end of Eugene’s life when he was suffering from dementia and other challenges. Personally, I believe in my heart, he was incapable of actually doing the interview. Author Winn Collier does finally say, “…the truth is, Eugene should never have been doing interviews at all.”
I’d go so far as to recommend you SKIP Chapter 17, A Weathered but Holy Shape, but do read the last chapter, Coda, and revel in the man Eugene Peterson was: We are all so blessed by his contributions to our homes and public libraries (“roughly 22 million copies of 38 books, translated into languages around the globe), the huge impact on countless lives his writing produced, his ministry of presence, his generosity with his time and money, and his distinctive legacy.
Thank you, Lord, for the lives of Eugene and Jan Peterson.
To God be the glory…
‘Til next time!
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are “affiliate links.”