Paying Attention III

Uncommon God in Our Common World

Christian - Devotion/Study
813 Pages
Reviewed on 06/07/2023
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    Book Review

Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

Paying Attention III: Uncommon God in Our Common World by Rollie Johnson is a Christian devotional in which the author, a lay pastor in North Dakota, shares his passion for outdoor activities and highlights their spiritual significance. Johnson is not just sitting in his backyard. By outdoor activities, we mean what most would associate with extreme sports, but Johnson finds these cathartic because of what he finds in them: God, everywhere. Through engaging chapters, connections are drawn between these pursuits and Christian teachings, specifically to scripture. The book's aim is to encourage readers to reflect on God's presence in the natural world, emphasizing the importance of the wilderness in recognizing and paying attention to spiritual insights.

There is one gut-wrenching scene between animals described only by sound from afar at about the halfway mark in the chapter Life and Death on the Red that, had I not already been three hundred-odd pages deep and in full devotional mode would have had me in tears. I point this out because the fact that Paying Attention III: Uncommon God in Our Common World by Rollie Johnson gave me such a deeply emotional response means that the work resonated with me, and in doing so Johnson had succeeded in his book's purpose. “For to this end, Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” (Romans 14:9). The book is thoughtfully and beautifully written and every single experience proves that what Johnson sees, feels and experiences—and everything we do too—is divine. We just have to be aware to see it for ourselves. Very highly recommended.