When I reviewed Scary Close by Donald Miller, I said that the highest compliment I can give a book is that I didn’t want it to end. Today I’m floundering about for new level of praise for Tony Kriz’s Aloof: Figuring Out Life With a God Who Hides, because it’s equally fantastic. I mean, I ordered his last book before I even finished this one. I guess that says it all.

(Let me pause here and say THANK YOU JESUS for some great faith based memoir writing. I can’t describe how happy this makes me. It’s like potato chips and a baloney sandwich for my hungry soul.)

Aloof is Tony Kriz’s memoir of figuring out how to be close to a God who doesn’t always seem so close to us. I’ve never seen anyone describe this tension so candidly without making up some big excuse for God (like how we’re all such gormless, wretched plebes we’re lucky that God deigns to deal with us at all). Tony skips the easy answers and stays in this tension–how we long for God to be close, speak to us clearly, fix things that are broken, make our lives more like heaven and less like hell–and yet how often we’re left feeling alone and wondering, unsure what to do. Somehow he describes all of this with hope and humor–I’m still not sure how he pulled that off–and gives us chapters that are both entertaining and inspiring.

In one of my favorite chapters, he points out that for all the talk of marriage as a metaphor for God’s relationship with His people, betrothal might be a better term. We’re waiting and hoping, counting on a promise that is not yet fully realized. I love that. I recommend this book, and I’m excited to read the prequel.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Aloof from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.