I completed this recommendation in 4 days, purchasing the book on Sunday October 7th and completing it on Thursday October 11th, 2018. The book was recommended to me by a fellow Wheaton alum who also graduated with a business/economics degree. We had lots of classes together, we both were resident assistants our junior year, and I was so happy to reconnect with her on my roadtrip in March 2018.
Recommendation #19 from Becca Waid Yu
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
From Wikipedia – The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver’d by Pyrates, commonly known as Robinson Crusoe, (/ˈkruːsoʊ/) is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work’s protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a travelogue of true incidents.
The reason I read this so quickly (the last 150 pages on October 11) is because I met a guy named Alvin from Grindr. It turned out he was on his last day in Queenstown and would be returning to San Francisco October 12 (here in NZ). I also found out that he works at USF, where I also worked when I lived in SF in 2011-2012. We met in the morning briefly, I found out those pieces of information, and he said he loved book exchanges. And so, I spent 3 hours in Starbucks finishing the book. Once completed, I wrote him a note in the cover and planned to give it to him later that night. Meanwhile, he went to the luge, did a bungy jump, and had dinner on a boat. We met up around 11pm for a drink. Here is what I wrote him.
Alvin,
It’s hard to put into words the experiences of 2018 for me. I have my blog, journals, my autobiography, my podcast, and yet this year supercedes all of that. Because I’ve discovered something greater than I have ever know…the Holy Trinity, the Christian God.
Robinson Crusoe also discovers that, oftentimes referring to his experience as Providence – the protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power. I pray that you are also able to experience that protective care. Because it’s life-changing.
To that end, here are the most impactful pages of this book, at least to me…
- Pg 69 – fitting its a 69, but it’s so true that even in the darkest times, we can find light around us
- Pg 80 – Providence
- Pg 95 – A cure for both body and soul
- Pg 98 – “Call on Me, and I will deliver you”
- Pg 115 – Daily Employments – 3 times
- Pg 135 – Who needs society when you have God’s providence?
- Pg 154 – Fear is powerful, and humans are fickle.
- Pg 155 – We cannot see the ends of Divine Wisdom
- Pg 157 – Fear can overpower reason and faith
- Pg 158 – Anxiety is often worse than what we are anxious about
- Pg 173 – Seeing reasons and guidance in happenstance and coincidence
- Pg 216 – Being made into an instrument of Providence
- Pg 217 – The Bible can be enough…The Word of God
- Pg 247 – Sometimes we are nearer to our deliverance than we realize
May God Bless you in your journey.
Yours Faithfully,
Derek Michael Shaw – Trinity Dreamer – Homosexual Christian
And so, just like I did for Alvin, I recommend this book to you, my reader. For me, it’s confirmed that I was missing many important practices in my life. I hope and pray it does the same for you.
Since I’m writing this on October 12, I’ll also leave you with the 12th song on my ReInvented playlist.
God has truly erased all the hurt I felt before, and She has replaced it with something I cannot ignore. I just can’t stop falling for the Holy Trinity!