Hinds Feet On High Places (vuoden 2012 painos)

a timeless allegory dramatizing the yearning of God’s children to be led to new heights of love, joy, and victory. In this moving tale, follow Much-Afraid on her spiritual journey as she overcomes many dangers and mounts at last to the High Places. There she gains a new name and is transformed by her union with the loving Shepherd ( )

MMD Reading Challenge 2017- For Fun
Category: Book recommended by someone with great taste

Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2017
Category: 20th Century Classic

I had such mixed feelings about this book. It is a Christian allegory, that has some great themes, and it does make you think, but I wasn't a fan of the writing style. Much-Afraid is called by the Shepherd to make a journey to His Kingdom of Love, where he will give her a new name. It was a really strange mix of biblical language and more modern language. She kept switching between Thee and Thou and You, etc. Also, it was really repetitive. The descriptions were wordy, but repetitive. I felt like I was having De'ja vu. I also felt like I was being spoon-fed a majority of the time. It actually has some very similar themes to Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, which I will be re-reading for my challenges this year, but Till We Have Faces is far superior in my opinion. There was one part in this book that drove me crazy. The Shepherd asks Much-Afraid if she would still love Him if he seemed to deceive her. She replied that she knows He cannot lie, so she would still love him. Then He asks if she would still love Him if he really did deceive her. She replied that, yes, it wouldn't matter if He really liked to her, she loves him and would still follow him. Now, I'm not a theologian or anything, but this makes absolutely no sense to me. The Shepherd is God. God cannot lie. So, if the Shepherd could lie it would mean he is not God, so she shouldn't follow him in that case. It was just a really weird scene. I do think that some people would really like this book, and I did relate in certain ways, so it's definitely a mixed bag for me. ( )

Hinds' Feet on High Places is an allegory dramatizing the journey each of us must take before we can live in "high places" The emotions & struggles of our fleshly nature are personified. The journey to overcome these is led by the shepherd king (Jesus) who gently instructs & guides us through what seems terrible, impossible difficulties. As we trust Him & continue to follow Him we begin to change until we finally offer ourselves & everything about ourselves to death with fearless surrender. Only then can we experience true love with blissful abandonment by giving and giving and giving. ( )

I don't often read allegory and there were moments where I found this contrived; yet the sum of its story line was great. I liked the movement from the valley of humiliation through the desert to the high places. There is transformation along the way, but because the spiritual life is cruciform, there are things Much Afraid has to die to before she experiences fullness.

I also appreciated that this book isn't just a move up. The protagonist (a re-christened Much-Afraid) returns to the valley at the end with a new purpose and a new concern for her relatives. ( )

Very motivating..I felt the love of the Lord Almighty
and how all things are possible for us through Him.. ( )