Laura's Reviews > That Way and No Other: Following God through Storm and Drought

Whenever I read the words of Christians from the Victorian era, I wonder if such sincere, earnest faith is even possible anymore. Take, for example, this sweet instruction from Amy Carmichael: "I wonder what your biggest temptation is. Is it to be suddenly angry? That was mine when I was a little girl. I used to feel something like a fire suddenly burning up in my heart. If you feel like that, ask the Lord Jesus to pour his cool, kind, gentle love into your heart instead." I catch myself thinking Yes, of course! as I read these words, then immediately afterward Wait, is that all? And then you never got angry again?

I love Amy's sincerity, I really do. I love her courage and her faith and admire her example. I just don't know if such sincerity is even possible in a cynical age. Can I really just pray for the "cool, kind, gentle love of Jesus" to wash away my anger and be done with anger forever? Could she? I have a hard time not deconstructing her words as too simple, too optimistic, too hard to live up to. And I wonder if the fault lies in me for being too cynical or in her for being too naive. Either way, I find a gap between her good intentions and my lived experience. Was her era so different that a simple faith was possible only then and my era requires a more nuanced, jaded understanding of faith? I don't have an answer. That's just the question I ask every time I read words like hers.

This is not to say there is any fault with this little book. On the contrary, it's a delightful, short insight in Amy Carmichael's heart. I feel I've caught up a bit with all my contemporaries who have admired her words. It feels a bit like getting the Sparknotes version, but instead of summaries, you get selections of her actual words, curated and ordered to help you get the most out of each selection. Love these books!