Eldredge says that we, collectively and individually, are in denial. Wearied by the incredible trauma of a global pandemic and its effect on our daily lives for months, we are denying the depth of that trauma and comforting ourselves that “things are getting back to normal.” But does a victim of abuse instantly get better when the abuse stops? No, there is lingering damage that has to be dealt with. Eldredge says this book is his effort to get us to face the ongoing effects of what we’ve been through and deal with them in a biblical way...but it veers a lot in the process.

I certainly went into the book skeptical of his thesis. Sure, I was tired of all the COVID intrusions, but I didn’t see myself as having been through some trauma like a person struggling with PTSD. But when faced with one of his challenging questions of self-analysis, I had to admit that my own reserves had largely been used up.
His concern is that we will be chasing things that try to cheer us up, rather than turning to the only lasting source of life—God’s river of life. And he doesn’t keep it theoretical, he offers practical steps we can take to do that. He helps us to see—and live—the truth that everything that is happening today will become yesterday’s story, and only one will continue through human history.

I very much appreciate his thoughts on how we have developed a “Comfort Culture” that has made us softer. He did a remarkable job of painting a picture by comparing humans to amphibians—beings capable of living in two different worlds. In our case, the physical and spiritual. I found myself drawn into Eldredge’s descriptions of the negative feelings the world has pushed us toward, and I appreciated his honesty that he and his trusted mentors had been tempted down that same path. But he spoke of (and I have experienced) overcoming that!

I think the book’s strength is in the simple statement he made, “The battle is over your heart.” Who, and what, are we allowing to drive our hearts? The media? No, that’s probably a secondary discussion. The news—wherever it comes from? Or God’s truth?

My enjoyment was derailed when I came to this: “We are in an unnamed Institution. In grainy, flickering images, we are shown Jane, a little black baby, just after her mother had been forced to leave her for what would turn out to be a three-month period.” Eldredge had never pointed out that earlier examples were white, so what reason could there be for him pointing out this baby was black? Is the illustration based on race? Quite the contrary, he is in the midst of something he describes as universal! So why did he feel it necessary to point out this baby’s race? Did he want us to draw the conclusion that the baby’s three months away from her mother was because her mother was in jail? This casual racism affected my respect for Eldredge, and the credibility I gave the whole rest of the book. I was equally disappointed in the editorial team at Thomas Nelson for allowing this to go through uncorrected.
Perhaps this cloud is part of the reason why the rest of this chapter bothered me. Eldredge’s fascination with breastfeeding and mother-love and mother-nourishment and mother-need seemed to border on obsession. I understand the analogy he was trying to make, but chapter 5 didn’t seem to fit with where everything in the book up to that point was going. Chapter 6 didn’t seem to get us back on topic.

I’m glad I persevered, because things started to come back around a bit in chapter 7. But then he goes to some length to build an unorthodox eschatology based on the return of Eden, and our Eden hearts and Eden longings, to try to give us greater hope for the future. Surely the orthodox view of heaven is sufficiently inspiring! He builds on this unorthodoxy with this:
"If you tell a survivor that rescue is coming in three weeks, or even three months, they can hang on. They find new strength. They’ll make it. But if you tell that same survivor the hope for rescue will probably not happen until after they die, they will lose all hope. They are left to hunker down and grasp for whatever little crumbs of life they can find."
Eldredge appears to be saying that we should convince ourselves that the Second Coming will be within our lifetimes so we can gain more (probably false) hope. I was also uncomfortable with his suggestion that we should give our hearts to Eden in this prayer:
"Jesus—catch my Eden Heart. I put my hope in the restoration of Eden when you return. I give my heart to you and your return. You are the only safe place. There is only one Eden. I give my heart to the true and only Eden, which you will restore when you return."

He quotes Hebrews 10:39 "We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved," and goes on to declare: "You are one of the faithful ones, dear reader. If you’ve cared enough to make it this far through this book, I can assure you—you are one of the faithful ones." I rather thought that it was up to God to determine who "the faithful ones" are, and that it would not be measured by patience through Eldredge's book.

Chapter 8 starts as repetition of what he said in the first part of the book. It adds to the feeling that there is the core of a great booklet in the first few chapters, and he artificially glued some odd other parts onto it to try to fill out a book. But he does then try to give practical advice on how we can dig deeper to tap into the strength of God within us. He uses "benevolent detachment" to avoid the mystical baggage of the word "meditation," but that's very much the helpful process he takes us through--including posture suggestions and helpful mantras.

I found it odd that a therapist would claim that our life concerns cause ulcers. We have known for decades that that isn't true. (See https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peptic-ulcer/symptoms-causes/syc-20354223)

I'm afraid chapter 9 was nearly the end for me. Eldredge rips Mathew 25:1-8 out of its context to claim that it is "unnerving and unclear" and build an interpretation of his own invention. If you read the same passage in the full context which starts in Matthew 24 and continues through 25:13, Jesus Himself gives the correct interpretation of the passage--something Eldredge claimed He didn't do. It is important to remember that Eldredge is a therapist, not a Bible teacher.

It might as well have been the end, because he really said nothing new for the rest of the book.

There are really excellent parts in this book, and I suspect that if those were pulled into a coherent book half the size I would be giving it high praise. As it is, I have to encourage readers to go into it with a biblical skepticism to guide them past the times when Eldredge turns from valuable therapeutic content to questionable theological content.

Let me start by saying that I'm a John Eldredge fan: I have an entire portion of my shelf dedicated to his books, and I typically devour everything he writes. The introduction to this newest book hit my parched soul like water in a desert, and I couldn't wait to jump further in.

Unfortunately, the work lost a lot of steam really fast. The trouble, as I was reading, seemed to be that this is really two or three books, not one, and that makes for difficult reading. It's as if Eldredge couldn't decide exactly what angle he wanted to take. He says early on that this isn't going to be a book about Covid specifically, but then he spends a fairly good deal of time talking about...Covid. He also says he's not a prophet and doesn't really want to get lost in the prophecies, but several of the chapters (the early ones in particular) are little more than him trying to create a case for why we are right now living in the end times and how important it is to get things in order and have our priorities straight because this is it, folks - Jesus is coming back now. It's really, really hard to read.

What he says about actual resilience, which is surprisingly scant in a book by this name, is solid. It is the water my parched soul thought was coming. I really wish he had spent more of an emphasis on these things because these are the things that his readers are really wanting and needing from this book, not his take on what he assumes are "signs of the times." I also think he doesn't give the reader enough credit - he assumes everyone is on some kind of low road and the truth is that it's just as possible to be weary and need resilience on the high one.

It took me several weeks to finish this read, which is uncharacteristic of me with an Eldredge work, but it was just such hard slogging through. As I read the final chapter, though, I finally realized what was happening - all of this stuff about the end times and the final days is part of the story Eldredge is telling himself to help him hold on in these difficult times. It is his coping mechanism. It is how he is clinging on and getting through. A quick re-read with this perspective in mind really changes how I engage this book. I still wish it was more purely in the flesh-meets-faith category, but realizing that he is living out in his words the very things he's telling us that we all do in times of distress...there's something authentic about that that is worth appreciating, once you get it.

Still, I think he's going to lose a lot of readers early on in this work because of the over-emphasis on the prophecies and this narrative he's clinging to. If you can push through, there are some really good nuggets of hope and truth and yes, resilience, to take with you.

4.5 stars for this post-pandemic look at weariness and filling your reserves in Christ. I've been a huge fan of John Eldredge for years and while this book is not my favorite of his, it was a well-needed read for this time in history. Looking at the effects of the pandemic as a trauma, it's easy to see what coping mechanisms we've used to get through it and how we've looked for things to "get better again". Eldredge uses the pages of this book to help guide the reader to draw closer to Christ and get our fill from Him rather than turning away as many have. This is a great guide on resilience, particularly in the wake of the pandemic, but also in the wake of any trauma. I would definitely recommend this read to any who are desperate in their desire to return to "normal", to those who are weary to their very souls, and to those believers who are questioning God during these times.

Special thanks to Nelson Books and NetGalley for an advance e-copy of this book. I was under no obligation to provide a review and the thoughts contained herein are my own.

I've been reading g John Eldredge since the Sacred Romance. His writing is truly a balm to the soul. This one again meets that criteria. He presents ways to lean on Jesus and Scripture during these pandemic crazy times. A book to savor and reread.

What does "resilience" mean for a Christian? John Eldredge, a Christian counselor for over thirty years, addresses the concept of resilience from an evangelical perspective, and provides concepts and prayers to help make it through such a time as a global pandemic.

First, the good stuff (from a liberal Christian theologian's perspective). Eldredge affirms that God gives us a core of life that wants to survive and thrive, and that we can access that life force through prayer. He provides a practice of meditative prayer stretching back to the medieval mystics to help generate a core of resilience upon which we can draw in hard times, including a biblical prayer to God as Mother. Eldredge also stresses the importance of disentangling from technology and a culture of overwork, spending time in nature and honoring the Sabbath. Finally, he reminds us that Christians do not need to worry or speculate about the future - including hoarding supplies or End-Times speculation.

Where we part ways is some of Eldredge's theology that undergirds these fine suggestions. He believes that we can divorce religion from politics, all the while making political statements about queer people and against people of other religions. (He specifically slams pluralism and inclusivism by saying, "Hindu gods didn't die on the cross for you." That's right - and it's not the most important part of Jesus, either.) Oddly for a practicing therapist, he suggests that depression is caused by Satan, and urges you to "put away the pain" and muscle through manfully for Christ. This undergirding of toxic masculinity and exclusivism undercuts the helpful practical suggestions (that he seems to have gleaned from secular psychology and Buddhist meditation in any case).

Read this book for the emphasis on prayer and resilience, not for the theology, and you will find a useful resource for surviving difficult times of all sorts.