Falling Into the Face of God: Forty Days and Nights in the Judean Desert

In early June of 2002, I left the United States and traveled to the locus of my own soul. If one were to look at a map, they would say that my destination was Israel (specifically the Judean Desert) and that I had traveled 6,497 miles. But in actuality, I traveled much farther than that-upon a road whose traversing is not measured in miles, but by the deepening of the human experience, love and acceptance; and not by direction (for there is only one direction-inward). And whose perilous mountains, cliffs, and valleys were not composed of stone or sand, but of one’s own psyche (the most dangerous of the world’s creations).

In Bill Elliott’s forty days in the Judean desert he learns many deep and poignant truths about himself, his world, and his relationship with God. He reflects back on significant (and insignificant) moments in his life and learns from them as well-his parents dying at his home when he was 12, a dream he had about TV psychiatrist Frasier, the comical relationship with his best friend Dave who later committed suicide, and other incidents.

This book is truly in the vein of the introspective works of Anne Lamott, Don Miller, and others. If you’re looking for a deeper spiritual experience, you will devour this book.