Book Review: Adorning the Dark

I’m becoming a big fan of Andrew Peterson. It started with my introduction to that stirring song I wrote about back in March. I cannot guess how many times I’ve viewed the You Tube video of his performance at the Sing conference. Enough so I no longer weep every time I hear the song (my initial response). 

In June, while writing my book review for Leif Enger’s Virgil Wander, I chanced upon the Rabbit Room blog (a marvelous discovery and a community I would love to join at some point). I had no idea it was another creative venture that sprang from the heart and soul of Andrew Peterson. While working on a fresh writing project, I encountered a blurb from Adorning the Dark. A nearby mega-church (with an outstanding Christian library) requested information about new resources patrons might like to access. I gave some ideas and threw in the title of this book. They blessed my socks off! One day, I received a call saying my requested book was in and ready for curbside pickup. Not only did they order the book for my benefit, but they delivered it in a gorgeous bag proclaiming “I—heart—books!” 

Of course, now I’ve discovered I want to purchase the book for my own library. It was that good! Andrew Peterson provides a quasi-memoir, quasi-creativity spark plug. His first premise: creativity is part of our God-given, image-bearing identity. We are all creative. His second premise: our creativity flourishes when plugged into community. His third premise: as Christians, God calls us to “adorn the dark with the light of Christ.” What a high calling! What an encouraging book! 

In the introduction, Peterson claims, “What’s shaped me and my work more than any particular talent on my part has been living out a calling in the midst of a Christ-centered community.” The book made me hunger for a Christian writing community as I used to have when we lived in DeKalb, Illinois. Although I tried a local library writer’s group, I worry my focus is too religious for their liking. Enter the current dilemma: How does one find such a community and align with it amid a pandemic? I don’t have what it takes to continue plugging away without affirmation that I’m on the right road or without cheerleaders alongside to rally my spirits when the opponent feels fierce. ("The ability to overcome resistance, self-sabotage, and self-doubt is way more important than talent." - Steven Pressfield) 

Still, with such community absent, this book is an outstanding encouragement. I cling to two statements toward the beginning: “You have to believe that you’re precious to the King of Creation, and not just a waste of space…. We holy fools all bear God’s image.” And “All you really have is your willingness to fail, coupled with the mountain of evidence that the Maker has never left nor forsaken you.” He also articulated well my biggest beef with much Christian fiction, when agenda overshadows story. Peterson writes, “Agenda isn’t necessarily bad…. [It] is bad when it usurps the beauty…. Truth without beauty can be a weapon; beauty without truth can be spineless.” 

Again and again, I wanted to recommend Peterson’s book to my friend, Kyle White (from my DeKalb writer’s group), knowing he would appreciate the content and its poetic conveyance. It was clinched when I read the chapter on “Serving the Audience.” As the author compared a song to a spell, able to “inject beauty into some unsuspecting passerby and lead them to the truth,” I thought of Kyle’s profound poetry. Peterson talked of a songwriter friend, Andy Gullahorn, who can slip past the “watchful dragons” (a C. S. Lewis reference). That is exactly what Kyle has done in his poem about the circus museum. You begin with the panoramic delight and, before you know it, Kyle zooms in on the truth of how a circus museum is kind of like the church today, and why we’re wrong to make it a museum. 

Next, Peterson wrote: “The song is a tightrope, and the listener is inching along, enraptured by the hope and light raveling in the middle distance…. When that happens, the world falls away and you’re both a channel for and a recipient of grace.” What a magical description of Christian writing. If only I could be a channel for and recipient of grace in my writing. 

After closing the book, I struggled with two conflicting emotions. His reminder that God gifts each of us and intends us to cultivate and grow our gifts for use in His magnificent kingdom encouraged me. But self-doubt (the very thing Peterson warns the reader to bite back) reared his ugly head all the more. I slunk into depression because my words are merely adequate and amateur. Plus, there is a  monumental chasm between completing a project and finding a publisher. I do not have the large platform publishers require, proof the work is profitable. I’m sure my words are not as well-articulated as they could be. However, I'm convinced God gave me those words to soothe another soul. Thus, I’m right back to where I always seem to find myself. I must lay the work at His feet and pray He will use it as He wills. If He intends to reach others through my meager talents, it will be His act of turning on the spout and allowing the water to gush into the hands that need it most.

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If you're interested in exploring my friend Kyle's work, visit his art/book website. In addition to purchasing his newest book of poetry and essays, Freezing, Thawing: New & Revised Stories from the Midwest, you might want to purchase an art print (my favorite is one with a quote from Henry Van Dyke: "Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent... if no birds sang there except those that sang best.") He is currently offering a sale of 15% off any art print, through December 6th, if you use the code 15off. His previous books are also available on Amazon. Great Christmas gift ideas!