A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
What would your life look like if Hollywood edited it for a feature film?
Donald Miller has done it again, in a way that only he can. Thought-provoking, odd, whimsical, and deep, his provocative literary style makes its best showing yet in his latest work, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. This time around, we go deeper into Miller’s mind than ever before, journeying with him side-by-side outside his childhood home, over Incan mountains, riding coast-to-coast across the United States on bicycle, and meeting his long-lost father for the first time in his adult life. The narrative, while bouncing back and forth between short essays on seemingly random topics, hinges around the thought of self-editing: What would it be like to rewrite your story? In fact, how would you change if all the elements of good story (per Hollywood legend Robert McKee) were applied to your life? These are the questions that Donald asks us to ask ourselves.
All in all, the book is Miller’s best by far, due to its poignant transparency matched with selfless intentions. Donald doesn’t tell us about the nooks and crannies of his life in order to promote himself or ask for our pity: He wants us to wake up from what we’ve been calling our “life” and make more of ourselves. No matter our present rank in society, all of us owe it to ourselves to reflect on what it truly means to live, particularly as Christ-followers, and how all our stories could use a bit of editing. You won’t be able to put this book down until it seeps into your soul and activates fresh passion for personal transformation. While Donald’s theology is a bit…..obtuse at times, his message remains acute: Your story deserves greatness. Five stars for this introspective masterpiece.
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