lifeasmission

Assaulted by Joy

November 29, 2008

I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of Assaulted by Joy: The Redemption of a Cynic by Stephen W. Simpson from Zondervan a number of weeks ago.  I didn’t have a chance to read it right away, but managed to finish the entire book in two sittings between yesterday and today.

My first experience with Steve Simpson came by way of an evening discussion he led at Fuller entitled, Sex in the Seminary.  I remember being impressed with him then and since I have been accused of being a cynic myself once or twice, I was really looking forward to seeing what Steve had to say on the subject.  The book is essentially the story of his life.  It turns out that a proclivity toward cynicism is only the beginning of what I have in common with the author.  As he told stories about his conservative evangelical upbringing, the ways in which he wrestled with his faith amidst peer relationships, his first big break-up, the death of a close friend, and his struggles with student ministry, I found myself nodding and smiling on account of how perfectly I could relate.  Then it came even closer to home.  Steve went to Fuller.  We ate at the same restaurants, felt the same pressures, asked the same questions, and shared many of the same experiences.  We found a certain sort of spiritual healing through the same Mennonite community and we even both had roommates named Ryan that became great friends!

But that is where our stories diverge and where Steve’s story gets most interesting.  After briefly telling the story of how he met and married his wife, he moves quickly into the tales of finding out that they were going to have quadruplets, how they wrestled with that reality, and all that followed.  He is incredibly transparent as he describes the toll that the pregnancy and birth of 4 kids took on him, his wife, and their marriage.  I am not married and I don’t have any children, let alone quadruplets, but Steve writes in a way that makes it easy for the reader to say, “Yeah, I can feel that.”

In the introduction of the book, Steve writes,

God gave me plenty of opportunities to pursue joy, but cynicism always felt safer.  So, instead of offering me joy, he assaulted me with it.

Certainly the assault the author speaks of has primarily to do with his children, but it’s more than this.  There is a paradoxical way in which the level of joy we experience in life relates to the pain and suffering we wade through on the way and this is where Steve’s book is most valuable – in describing his journey through pain only to be assaulted by joy.

If you tend toward cynicism like me, or if you are looking for ressurance that you’re not the only who feels overwhelmed by life sometimes, I’d strongly encourage you to pick up this book.

Posted in: books, fuller