Bart Millard

I can't even begin to tell you how amazing this book is. Into the first chapter I was sobbing thinking how awful this must have been for such a young child to have to deal with. I was upset thinking to myself how could a mother just leave her children? I have 5 children myself and I cannot imagine how difficult this must have been for Bart to feel rejected and unloved. God was there with him every step of the way and eventually gave him the love and acceptance he needed to make him the man he is today. Having Faith in the Lord will get you where He wants you to be.
I would recommend this book to anyone.… (altro)

You know how a song can be so popular, played so often, that you almost start to not care about it, even though you thought it was a great song when you first heard it. I won't pretend I enjoy "I Can Only Imagine" as much now as I did when it was first released in 2001. But reading this book definitely puts the song in a whole new light. Though it sounds like Bart Millard has told the story about his abusive-turned-repentant dad many times over those years, I don't recall ever hearing it, and I haven't seen the movie. And wow, it is quite the heartbreaking story. From the physical and mental abuse to the (worse in some ways) checking out of his dad later, Bart Millard has every reason to be traumatized. And to know that it has continued to affect him in more recent years, even while playing music to large crowds, of which, at various times, I've been a part, only adds to the sadness.

I am incredibly grateful for so much of the music that Bart Millard has written and that the band has recorded, and I think it's important for "fans" to keep in mind that these are real people with real problems. They often seem like they have it all together, like they have all the answers, to the degree where even when they're standing on the stage telling us that they've had some rough times, we imagine those rough times to be over, because otherwise, how could they be standing there in front of us leading us in worship? We assume that whatever problems they have can't be as bad as our own, and maybe by the time they get to writing a book like this, they've got it all sorted out. But most likely, Bart Millard will continue to struggle with PTSD and the feelings of inadequacy that his dad instilled in him, while thanking God that he had some good times with him before it was too late.

I listened to the audiobook, because I wanted to hear the words in the author's own voice. I'm incredibly glad I listened to the book, and though I'll probably never quite think of MercyMe songs the same way again, I don't think that's a bad thing.… (altro)

For someone who’s not an evangelical, I guess I read a lot of evangelical memoirs, you know. I guess I’m like Rachel. You can’t break up with family. Well, and my dad had me watch this movie with his friends. Incidentally—although technically this is not the place to review the movie, lol—the book Considerably reduced my once-favorable opinion of the movie. Most movie adaptations have to simplify, but they really edited out the mother in that movie except for one far from flattering scene. The result was something closer to slander than simplification. It also raises the question of gender in the evangelical church, again.

But anyway. If I had to choose between an evangelical codependent memoir—like this one—and an evangelical religious abuser’s memoir—there’s been at least one I remember that I deleted—then I would certainly go for the codependent any day. I guess we codependents are just more likable—almost too much so; it’s easy to gloss over a codependent who does the right thing (usually—there can be dramatic exceptions) for the wrong reasons, usually motivated by fear, and just gloss it over and gush over it and promote, you know. Of course, that’s often what reviewers do with any book like they. It’s either smash it up or gush over it—it’s not usually give and take, you know.

On the other hand, I think this sort of reflection CAN be taken too far; for example, it would be easy to see Bart as a patsy for his “Christian” Texas father, etc etc.—Texas guys certainly like to pretend to be Christian even if they’re not even overly involved even formally with the church, let alone moral or spiritual in any way. And, just basically: the pre-conversion father had more to do with Victorian realism—imagination just distracts you from grey skies and dollar bills—than anything like the mythopoetic or religious imagination, you know.

And, at the end of the day—and I guess for this reason something can be said even for the movie—I don’t recommend that people abuse their older adult parents, you know. Sometimes I get a little uptight about that, I know; but it’s the truth. The kids are probably going through something, and it’s hard; I know.

But don’t hate your parents, you know. It’s no achievement.

…. It is true that Christian music, even though it usually doesn’t sell as well as plain pop, is meant to be commercial and can be kinda slick. Nashville music, when it’s religious, is very codependent; it’s hard to describe…. Always the codependent allowing people this cocoon of how Bible people imagine themselves to be, and essentially never how they usually are, which somehow dovetails well enough with judging people, you know…. I don’t know. If I listened to vocal music on my own time, I might listen to U2 or MercyMe, I don’t know…. It’s just so hard to get to the truth with songs though, and especially bands like MercyMe, you know—Southern codependents…. I’m not saying there’s nothing good about them morally, though. Maybe it would be equally easy to be uncomfortable with people’s fantasies—and religion CAN be a fantasy, even though it doesn’t have to be, and isn’t, /as such/—when really there is a sort of beauty in the fantasy.

…. I hope this doesn’t make me a prick or whatever, but I think it’s kinda funny that the last chapter could basically be titled, Things My Record Label (And My Inner Critic) Won’t Let Me Make Songs About …. 😹

But what are you gonna do. I guess he’s right—we can only imagine. We don’t know what real Christians are like, because the data’s not in yet. So, we can only imagine. 😸

What are you gonna do.… (altro)