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Run with the Horses: The Quest for Life at Its Best

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Reading it now for the second time, I realise that "Run with the Horses" (the British title is "The Quest") is possibly one of the most dynamic and uplifting books I've ever read. It's about living life, the God-life, to the fullest - persuing it with excellence, "running with the horses". It's about how living life this way, and refusing to accept or settle for the mediocre, is, for the Christian, the only true measure of success. In a goal-driven, achievement-orientated world, the life of Jeremiah offers hope and encouragement to those who do not fit the world's mould. Jeremiah's is a life lived passionately for God; a life that refuses to be beaten down, and to be conformed to the standards and patterns of the world. It's not an easy life - Jeremiah has more than his fair share of doubts, despair and rejection. But, ultimately, it's the only life worth living. A stunning piece of writing. Read it, and marvel.

God said to Jeremiah, "If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?" To put it in modern language, "If you can't pay your bills on time, how are you going to walk on water?" Okay, sort of modern. The point is, God wants us to walk on water, and we're still struggling to pay our bills on time. That was Jeremiah's problem, until he realized, "No, I won't be able to do that in my own strength; but I will in Yours." And that was when Jeremiah changed from being a spiritual workhorse to being a thoroughbred.

No one says it like Eugene Peterson. He's one of the most eloquent writers around, and what he says is loaded with meaning. In this case, no one says what's involved in the quest for life at it's best like he does. In chapter 8, "My Wound Incurable," in Run with the Horses, he describes a picture of prayer that looks very much like having dinner in a fine restaurant with the most important person in your life. It's private, intimate, conversational, meaningful, personal - in a word, special. Occasionally, the waiter shows up to take your order, bring your food or take the broccoli back because it was cold; but otherwise, it's just you and your special loved one.

Then he writes, "But there is a parody of prayer that we engage in all too often. The details are the same but with two differences: the person across the table is Self and the waiter is God. This waiter-God is essential but peripheral. You can't have the dinner without him, but he is not an intimate participant in it. He is someone to whom you give orders, make complaints, and maybe, at the end, give thanks. The person you are absorbed in is Self - your moods, your ideas, your interests, your satisfactions or lack of them. When you leave the restaurant you forget about the waiter until the next time. If it is a place to which you go regularly, you might even remember his name.

"The confessions of Jeremiah are no parody but the real thing - exclusive focus on God: intense, undivided preoccupation with God. This accounts for much that is powerful and attractive in Jeremiah. Here is the source of the personal intensity and incorruptible integrity that is so impressive in Jeremiah."

As Peterson unfolds the life of Jeremiah, you realize how distinguished it was for its lack of triviality, radical faith, unparalleled excellence, spiritual prowess, and risking of everything for God. But Jeremiah wasn't always like that. He had to start at square one like the rest of us. That is where he was when God asked, "What is it you really want, Jeremiah, do you want to shuffle along with the crowd, or run with the horses?" "The response when it came was not verbal, but biographical. His life became his answer, 'I'll run with the horses.'" So can we.

Waitsel Smith

This book is a masterpiece. I have read the book of Jeremiah several times, but Peterson makes this prophet of old come alive. We end up feeling what Jeremiah felt; we see what he saw; we understand his fear. Peterson's intrepretation makes this Old Testament book apply personally to our lives whereas sometimes a person can read the Old Testament and have trouble seeing how it relates to modern day. God has surely blessed Peterson with gifts of writing, prophecy, interpretation and understand. Thank you Mr. Peterson for sharing your gifts with us all.

Ancient Jeremiah as personal trainer? He of the many trials and tantrums?

Revisited via Eugene Peterson's knowledge and sensibilities, the Old Testament prophet comes alive; he compels present-day readers to "run the race." Jeremiah's words and works crackle with passion: visible, audible, and absorbable. You want to be like him--but luckier.

As relevant today as when first published, Run With The Horses is a superb merger of scholarship, story, and style. Personal and eloquent, Peterson's observations and exhortations on postmodern culture mirror the ancient seer's: He challenges our assumptions, assuages our fears, and cheers our God-given aspirations.

Brief selections from a wide range of writers enhance each thought-provoking chapter, and extensive End Notes point the way to further reading. If in doubt about an older book still being relevant, note the subtitle: The Quest for Life at Its Best.

What do you do when times get tough? When life gets gritty? When the pressures of life squeeze you pencil-thin? Do you give up, give in, and despair? Or do you rise above the difficulties and uncertainties with faith and confidence? In "Run With the Horses: The Quest for Life at Its Best," Eugene Peterson takes us through the life of the prohpet Jeremiah and shows us how we can live adventurously, courageously, and excellently despite the challenges we will inevitably face.

"Run With the Horses" is not so much a commentary on the book of Jeremiah as it is a meditation on the life of Jeremiah. Though Peterson does move us chronologically through Jeremiah's life, he chooses only certain "episodes" or "situations" to discuss. Peterson ties his meditations on the life of Jeremiah to our lives as Christians, covering such topics as:

* Our identities as human beings with a definitive purpose.
* How we can be misled through deceptive teachings and words.
* How our choices can twart God's purposes for us.
* The importance of being honest and vulnerable before God.
* The significance of persistence and perseverance when enduring life's challenges.
* How God's ways and purposes often seem to contradict what we see and know from the world.

In essence, "Run With the Horses" is a meditation on the anatomy of a life of faith--a risky endeavor that is not for the faint of heart. Personally, I was more challenged and encouraged by this book than any other book I have read in recent memory. Highly recommended.

In this study of the life of Jeremiah the prophet we come to see how those who seek to serve the Lord do not have it easy by any means, but the troubles we encounter actually make us more passionate and purposeful and we become all the richer in the process. One of my favorite parts is on page 24 where he says, "Life is a continuous exploration of ever more reality. Life is a constant battle against everyone and anything that corrupts or diminishes that reality." Chapter 7 is especially insightful as it relates to the church today. He says, "What is wrong is to evaluate the worth of words and deeds by their popularity. What is scandalous is to approve only what is applauded. What is disastrous is to assume that only the celebrated is genuine." How true! One can't help but see the similarity of the priest Passhur in Jeremiah's day to the leader of the largest church in the United States today when you read: "Everyone loved to hear him: he was positive, affirmative, confident. He had the ability to draw out the best from everything. He was able to search the Scriptures and find texts that made the darkest days bright." I had to look at the front and see when this book was written. I thought for sure it had to be written in the 2000s, but it was 1983.

Running with the Horses is a great examination of the book of Jeremiah. I love how the author applies it to present day Christianity. Each page will challenge you and help you to capture what this sometimes puzzling book is about. Give it a chance. It's a great pick for a reading group.

Love this book that I'm reading. I've never completed reading Jeremiah straight from the Bible cos I find it very heavy stuff. But after reading Run with The Horses, I'm beginning to appreciate this weeping prophet. I'm still mulling over those chapters that I've read and look forward to turning the pages still. Very sobering stuff in there for personal reflection. You can't ignore what you see/realise in yourself.

"A book must be like an ice-axe to break the sea frozen inside us." This quote from Franz Kafka is a worthy description of Peterson's compelling study of Jeremiah.

The book speaks of living as a counter-cultural Christian and being authentically, vehemently human. And how so? Through an undivided preoccupation with God; by always taking the better rather than the easier way; by choosing courage over caution. And in so doing, being able to live at one's best, to not just shuffle along with the crowd but to run with the horses.

This book is a sharp reminder against the cushy and postured soft-minded religion that, unfortunately, characterises most professedly Christian communities today.

Through Peterson's writing, the portrait of Jeremiah comes to life in vivid terms - from his calling as a youth to his prophetic ministry, his friendships, his writings, his experiences of persecution and through it all, his dogged and single-minded obedience to God. He is presented as one who lives life at its best.

For me, the book's biting prose and incisive observations, presented through a series of reflections on Jeremiah's life, made the material easy to relate to. Peterson's writing, as always, is "terse, concrete, poignant and graceful" (a quote from George Adam Smith used by the author himself in the book)

A most excellent read that I cannot recommended more.

This book is a study of Jeremiah who reminds us of the importance of not being shallow but of growing our faith, the importance of being authentic. One important point this book drove home for me was that we are free to choose the path we walk but we can't choose, or control, the consequences. At the end of Chapter 12 it speaks to this in that after a loss then, "The reality of our lives is rearranged without anyone consulting us or waiting for our permission." This book really spoke to me.