Once Upon a Time – Review of “Love Wins” by Rob Bell

Disclaimer: When I sat down to write this review I started hundreds of many times and it seemed the only way I could write it was like this …

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Once upon a time there was a book.

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THE BEGINNING

Just like other books, a writer put letters together to make words and put words together to make sentences. With time, the pages filled and a book was produced. Before the book was delivered to the stores, the book’s owners wanted to tell many people about the lovely, winning words of the book, so they made a little moving-picture about the book. One dark and stormy night calm and sunny day, they released this picture into a world known as the WWW.

Suddenly some of the WWW turned into an ugly playground. Some of the children people didn’t like what the moving-picture said about the book and they wrote not-so-kind things about it. One even tweeted (something like birds do, but not quite) that its owner should go away. Soon many readers people were talking about the book like they knew what it said.

THE MIDDLE

The wheels of Bookland turned slowly did their thing and finally the not-read-but-much-discussed book made its way to the store shelves. Months earlier, a subject who had read other books by this scribe writer had sent a request for the book to a faraway land. As she waited in her palace for her copy, she read what others were saying about the book and wondered if she’d like it.

The subject read the book, as her servants stood by with a platter of grapes, and she was surprised. Surprised that people had gotten upset by the words in the book. It was all about a King’s love. Pure, real love! How could that upset anyone?

You see, in the land there were rulers and such, but many believed that there was one wise King over everything. No one ever saw this King or had a face-to-face conversation with him, but the land had a book, known as The Book, where many got their information about him. The story in The Book often spoke of love, but it was written in ages past in another language, so there were different ideas about this love. It was a big land, with lots of room, so most people were okay that not everyone agreed.

Some thought The Book meant that the King was kind and loving to everyone … all the time. Others thought it meant that his love was unpredictable just … as they called it. At times, this ‘just love’ looked a lot like anger. Can love and anger ever be the same thing?

This new book asked some questions about this King’s love that weren’t allowed to be asked aloud in the land. He asked why a King who said that he would love everyone throughout all the ages … wouldn’t actually do that? As the subject read, she was confused why this upset people. Did they not want to be loved? Who doesn’t want to be loved?

She assumed they wanted to be loved, but that they weren’t sure if everyone else should be loved. But what is love if it doesn’t include everyone?

The subject was sad that some people thought their corner of the land or their understanding of The Book was the only right way. She wondered if it was frustrating or lonely to live that way. She hoped everyone would be able to have a new understanding of love, because nothing is as freeing as love.

The subject hadn’t always understood love in this way, but in recent times, pages of her scroll journals were filled with many of the same questions, longings … and conclusions. This happened after the subject almost died twice … once when a few people made mistakes on a road and she was at the wrong place at the wrong time and her body was badly damaged. After that, she sank down into a deep, dark hole where she almost lost her life a second time.

She ended up in this black hole because she misunderstood love and life. One misunderstanding was that she thought the King, who said he was love … was the one that had hurt her. Talk about confusing! If this King was wise and loving … why would he hurt anyone? The subject knew she had a lot to learn, but with all the King’s wisdom and love, couldn’t he come up with a better plan than violence and pain?

Also, the pain she went through made her question, not only whether this King of love would cause pain to anyone in this age … but if he would cause pain throughout the ages. Why would he cause torment to anyone … especially to those who didn’t know him because they were born in a land without The Book? Can anyone help where they were born?

These thoughts roamed through the subject’s mind for an age or two, but she kept quiet because some of her thoughts weren’t allowed to be spoken aloud in the land. But she believed in love, so she had added the thought that Love Wins to her city-wide Facebook scroll an age or two before she heard of the book. Now reading this book about how love is freedom and freedom wins was almost like reading her own mind. She looked around her palace house to see if the writer had stolen her journals.

As the subject had learned these new things about the King and about love, she had written many things down in a scroll book. Thoughts about almost dying, about pain and about learning to care for her body, mind and spirit in a new way. Though she wanted Bookland to do their thing with her book and put it on store shelves too, she hesitated.  After all she was an uneducated old-fashioned Mennonite (almost Amish) from small-town America. And now there’s another thing to think about if her words end up in print … will people tell her to go away too?

But as she thought about what she now has. The beauty she finds in every day. The joy of life. About giving and receiving love. About the freedom, peace and hope she lives with … in this age.  And no fear about the future age. She wants others to have that too. She wants everyone in the whole world to know about this true love! So the subject shouts from the rooftops … read Love Wins!

THE END

Everyone lives happily ever after.

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Have you read “Love Wins?” If not, you can Order Love Wins here. Would love to hear your thoughts about it. If you’ve written a review or thoughts about it, please leave a link, I’d like to read it.

I have an extra copy … want to WIN it? Leave your name and email addressbefore Sunday, April 10th at midnight … I will randomly pick a winner next week.

 

If you want to read a more-normal review, read these:

AndiLit

Elizabeth Esther

New Ways Forward

Rachel Held Evans

Jesus Needs New PR

Or listen to a conversation with Rob Bell. (Bell comes on about 10 mins into the video)