Breakfast with Bonhoeffer: God works through our messy, inconsistent faith
“Breakfast with Bonhoeffer” is different from any other book I’ve written. I structured it like a novel, hoping to show the reader how God works through our often messy and inconsistent faith.
It tells the story of how I struggled with faith after being laid off twice and diagnosed with bipolar II disorder, losing our family home, and, in a heartbreaking turn of events, my wife filed for divorce after twenty-four years of marriage.
I think the experiences I describe reflect the difficulties many people have endured as they tried to make it through the economic crisis of the past few years. The story touches on a lot of headline issues, such as trying to refinance my home and my experiences with the government’s handling of the mortgage crisis and trying to find affordable health insurance. But, ultimately, the story I tell is about how God works through his own economy and how we should look to him, not the government, for help.
It also suggests the Church needs to re-think the way it ministers to people going through divorce.
The book is raw and transparent; it doesn’t try to wrap everything up in a pretty bow. Yet, still, I hope that “Breakfast with Bonhoeffer” pushes the reader toward a deeper faith in Jesus.
The title refers to the fact that Dietrich Bonhoeffer, through his writings, helped me see the cost of following Jesus and that only through embracing the cost — the suffering — can we grow into Christlike character. I think I’ve written something special here, and I’d be grateful if you’d take a look at it.
Jon Walker
