responses
feel free to use the comment function below to leave a response to a delicate fade. I'll do my best to only moderate comments which are extremely irrelevant (spam), inappropriate (gratuitous language) or ad hominem (personal). if you'd prefer to send a response to me in private, please feel free to do so via the email link in my profile section. I would be grateful to read it and respond in turn.
thank you for taking the time, either way.
ben
(thank you to my brother, Joshua DeVries, for the image, copyright 2005.)
10 comments:
Ben -
Thanks for being so transparent, the world needs more people to be as real as you are.
I believe that's how God wants us to be towards each other.
Don’t be discouraged by the world! Try again, and try again!
Nick the lighting guy.
I have never read a book that so eloguently described what goes on inside this messed up head of mine. As I read the words on the pages, I kept thinking, "How can he capture my perceptions so clearly?" Thanks for helping me sort through my own questions.
Ben, I went to grad school at Trinity in Deerfield, Il., near your area. I must say my soul resonates with the words of a delicate fade. I feel you in regard to the power of emotional turmoil in overcoming the human ability to cope. I also use sream of consciousness writing to provide myself a little of solace, believing I've left an imprint of truth and that I'm leaving something that isn't just another christian platitude. I love your transparency, not holding onto personal pride, but providing the Christian community one thing it truly needs - that is to know that what the world needs and desires is to know we as Christians are real and care. thanks man and be strengthened through the fight of faith
J. Mac
Ben, I am about a third of the way through your book but I have to stop to take a moment and reflect. As I read the pages I am forced to go back to the dark place I fought so hard to get out of. It was a long, desperate fight to come back from, but it hasn't left me entirely. I some times wonder if that dark corner in my head will always be there waiting for a weak moment to take over? That is a fear that I acknowledge almost daily, and I accept it. I think it empowers me to take each moment as it comes - the good and the bad. That is why I sit and reflect now. Do I want to read more of your book and in the process re-examine my journey? I can't pretend I didn't hear or feel your words and although it scares me to go back I have to. So in good faith, I continue on and continue hoping for the both of us.
sincerely,
a sister of a friend
i loved your book.
thank you for being honest - a word i feel fails to describe the immensity of what you have done. if anything, i am grateful that i am not alone and that though people can feel so isolated and so out of sync with the rest of the world and the way people relate to each other it was like reading my own thoughts on pages someone else wrote. if only for one person to share, and as selfishly as it may seem, i am grateful for all of your difficulty and stripping bear. The persistent and subtle heartbeat of hope that i see runs through your book changes the world for me. if only words could explain or amount to anything that mattered - thank you.
Dear anonymous, I'm so honored and grateful for your comment, and I do apologize most sincerely for not responding sooner. I just now noticed it, not havcing received new comments in quite some time. You really made my day and ecnouraged me so much with what you wrote, and I thank you for that. Most folks who had access to the book didn't recognize that intended thread of hope throughout it, and rather thought it was exactly the opposite. So it's so nice to know someone such as yourself understood where I was trying to come from. I thank you again (as well as all of you who have commented previously) and do hope and pray you continue to find yourself in a hopeful place. Please feel free to email me directly anytime ... Ben
This book is had more of an impact on my understanding of God and life and hope and emptiness and hurt and joy than any I have read. I'm a recent college graduate and a church planter in nyc. I found your book during high school and have bought it several times, each time I find myself giving it to a friend who could use a little more hope in their life. Maybe A Delicate Fade wasn't a NYT best seller, but it has impacted my life deeply. Thanks for writing.
Glenn, your comment meant an awful lot to me, thank you. Please feel free to email me personally anytime, and I'd be happy to send you some extra copies for free if they'd be of value to you - Ben
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