Book Review: “True Life: Practical Wisdom from the Book of Ecclesiastes” by Carolyn Mahaney & Nicole Whiteacre

Introduction

Have you ever felt like no matter how much you try to organize things, they never turn out quite how you’d like them to? Do you spend your life trying to make special moments happen, only to watch them slip through your grasp? Do you feel like life is an endless cycle of repetitive activities that you must do over, and over, and over again? How can you find joy when things go terribly wrong? True Life: Practical Wisdom from the Book of Ecclesiastes provides you with answers and encouragement from King Solomon himself, who had every earthly pleasure and found no satisfaction in any of it. “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” ¹

I love this book, and as a testament of my love for this book, I’ve read it twice within a year. This is one of the books I believe I will read again and again (along with The Power of Habit and Discipline: The Glad Surrender). It has made a big impact on the way I think about my life.

A Problem with Control

If you had asked me a year or so ago if I had a problem with control, I would have answered you, “No way!” and then, to myself, I would listed the people in my life who do have a problem with control. This book has been a blessing to me in that it has showed me that I do, indeed, have a problem with control. For example, all my things must be in the spot in which they belong. I can’t work well in an area that’s messy. My scheduled activities need to happen when and how I think they’re supposed to or I get cranky. In other words, I like to remain sovereign over my own place and time. This is idolatry. I’m putting my own desires over what God desires for me, even though he “is able to do far more abundantly than all that I ask or think…” (Ephesians 3:20). His will for my life is far better than anything I could whip up. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” ² God is God, the Beginning and the End, and I am me, a finite, created being, dependent on her Creator for everything.

Enjoying Life

True Life contains 14 chapters, seven “Life Is…” chapters followed by seven “Live Faithfully,” “Live Industriously”, etc. chapters. The book begins by explaining how life is using quotes from Ecclesiastes and practical examples. Then, the book explains how we ought to live based on how this life is. The authors drew me in right away with a very relatable personal story followed by a series of true-to-life statements. They write, “When Nicole’s children were little, they loved riding in the special grocery store cart with the car attached to the front…They reveled in the illusion that they were steering Mommy for once, turning the car this way and that, up and down the aisles.” (pg. 19) My kids enjoyed the same thing when they were young. Then, in the following paragraph, the authors continue,

Sometimes we have the same idea, driving through life in our brightly colored cars with shiny plastic wheels. We think we’re steering this life thing pretty well, carefully turning down one aisle after another, all according to our plans. Then life veers down the cat litter aisle when we were aiming for the candy aisle. We’re puzzled and dismayed: I never meant to go that direction! What’s happening? What did I do wrong? Why isn’t life going the way I planned?

This series of true-to-life statements is also very relatable. I think that if I plan everything well enough, everything will turn out like I planned. The authors go on to explain that in this life, we can expect things to go wrong. We shouldn’t be surprised when find ourselves in the cat litter aisle instead of the candy aisle. What can we do, then, but enjoy the everyday blessings God gives us? “Finding enjoyment in our food and drink and toil is not making the best of a bad situation. It is the only way to truly live.” (pg. 58) “The simple, ordinary things in life are often the best things.” (pg. 59)

Of all the ideas in True Life, this is probably the one that impacted me the most, both times I read the book. The title of the chapter is “Life Is Enjoyable”. In my copy of the book, this chapter has the most underlined sentences, starred paragraphs, and exclamation points marking things I want to remember and re-read. The authors helped me see that I can enjoy life even if nothing ever turns out how I want it to. My things don’t have to be in the spots in which they belong. I’d like that, but I can still use them well even if someone has misplaced them and found them again. I can do the work God gives me to do even if the house is messy. I can accept interruptions to my schedule as gifts from God and opportunities to serve him and others. Enjoyment in life doesn’t come from perfectly executed plans or organized homes, it comes from appreciating what God gives us each day as he gives it to us. The authors make this abundantly clear, and they do so in a way that is both convicting and encouraging.

Formatting & Ideas

Overall, the combination of the formatting of the book itself and the way in which the authors lay out their ideas is really helpful. The ideas in the book flow easily from one to the other. Often I think the authors don’t understand the world at all, and then in the next sentence, paragraph, or chapter, they explain how they’re exactly right. For example, “Life Is Enjoyable” follows the chapter “Life is Grievous.” Also, the authors state that, “Life under the sun is positively hateful,” and then, in the next paragraph, they explain: “Jesus tells us in the Gospels that you have to despair over life (that always ends in death) before you can truly live.” (pg. 55) They reference Matthew 16:25, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

They also include reflection questions throughout each chapter. I generally don’t find reflection questions to be that compelling, especially when they come at the end of a chapter and focus on summarizing what the authors already said. I do, however, like the reflection questions in True Life. I didn’t answer all of them, but the ones I did answer helped me apply the ideas in the book to my own life better than I think I could have otherwise. The authors placed the reflection questions at opportune points in each chapter as well. They don’t appear random, but intentional; you can tell they’re placed where they are for a reason.

Conclusion

I commend True Life to you, dear readers. We live at a time when self-help and positive thinking are common ideas. Self-help and positive thinking teach us that if we do these steps or think these things, our lives will be infinitely better, by our own willpower. But, despite our own efforts to improve our lives, living in this world will prove to be hard. The Bible tells us that the days are evil ³, and we can see the effects of sin all around. True Life: Practical Wisdom from the Book of Ecclesiastes explains how terrible life on this earth is, but instead of offering us help found within ourselves, the authors offer us help found without ourselves. We can trust in God’s faithfulness and in his will for our lives, even though we may not understand how he is working all things for our good. We can find joy amidst the chaos of life, in our work and our families and our churches. And if we’re hidden in Christ, even though life may seem disorganized and scary, we could not be more secure.

1. Ecclesiastes 1:2 ↩
2. Isaiah 55:8 ↩
3. See Ephesians 5:16. ↩

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Thank you to Crossway for providing me with a free copy of True Life in exchange for an honest book review.