Author: Andy Andrews
Guest reviewer: Dan MacIntosh
Everybody reacts to crises differently. For some, urgent situations help them focus best. But for others, the heat of the moment causes them to miss obvious solutions. The character “Jones,” in Andy Andrews’ new story, The Noticer, is like that second set of eyes we all wish we had during stressful situations. Throughout this book, Jones acts as a mystery man; one that seemingly appears out of nowhere to help lost souls find their way. Andrews’ work is a reminder that, no matter how confusing life may get, there is always an answer to every question and an escape for any possible trap.
Jones’ simple advice is best summed up in a letter he leaves for a group of townspeople he’s recently helped, before moving on to another ripe mission field. It is wisdom that can be universally applied to nearly any trouble spot, and states, in part: In desperate times, much more than anything else, folks need perspective. For perspective brings calm and calm leads to clear thinking. Clear thinking yields new ideas. And ideas produce the bloom…of an answer. Keep your head and heart clear. Perspective can just as easily be lost as it can be found.
At its best, The Noticer dispenses wisdom that makes a lot of sense. In one chapter, for example, Jones helps a suicidal man come to grips with his constant worries. “You worry because you’re smart,” he compliments this burdened man. “The dumber folks among us don’t worry much. They ain’t afraid of nothing.” Later, he explains: “Because we are smart and creative, we imagine all the things that could happen, that might happen, that will happen if this or that happens.” And he’s right: there are times when we just over think situations, nearly to our breaking point. According to Jones, we should only concern ourselves with circumstances we can truly control. As any member of Alcoholics Anonymous will tell you, you need not worry about the stuff that is completely out of your control. The Bible also supports the notion that excessive worry is utterly ineffective.
A chapter where Jones talks a couple out of getting divorced is bothersome, however, because his advice comes straight out of Gary Chapman’s book, The Five Love Languages. Yet, as far as I can see, Andrews never gives Chapman proper credit for these biblically-based love expressions. The husband presented is a Words of Affirmation guy, and he needs others to tell him how much they love him. The wife, on the other hand, is an Acts of Service individual, where what you do for her shows how much you love her. Andrews, through Jones, gives this pair the right advice. But he also should have more clearly sited his source.
The Noticer is geared toward church study groups, with pointed discussion questions associated with each chapter. And while Andrews’ fiction device– via the Jones character—is a unique way to present a Bible study-related material, it sometimes renders the overall story a little less compelling, simply because it fits together so nice and neatly. On the plus side, Bible students can learn the lessons it teaches without too many literary distractions. Yet we all know too well that stories do not always have happy endings, including those from the Bible, and such unpredictability makes them that much more believable. Thus, Andrews’ various life lessons come off slightly contrived at times. Real life is messier than that.
Unfortunately, Andrews’ “Jones” is but a story character, not a real person. Wouldn’t it be great if a wise man always stopped you before you did something stupid? Even so, you do not need this sort of gentlemanly guardian angel. If you learn to stop, think over troubling situations, and only act after giving yourself the best possible perspective on a crisis, perhaps Andrews has done his job well.
The Noticer
By Andy Andrews
Thomas Nelson
$17.99, 167 pages, hb
Copyright 2009
ISBN: 976-0-7852-2921-6
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