The Blind Side

I'm on a veritable reading binge these days. After finishing Surviving Paradise, I went on to polish off Bonhoefer's Life Together, Smith's The Good and Beautiful Community and (unfortunately) Palmer's The Second Opinion. Come to think of it, that's quite an eclectic sample!

Two weeks ago I was in Denver on a layover and I picked up a copy of The Blind Side by Michael Lewis. 48 hours later, I was back in the Denver airport looking for something else to read. I haven't seen the movie yet, but the book was a fantastic read.

To begin with, Michael Lewis knows how to tell a story. He's an amazing writer. In particular, he is great with detail. Want to know exactly what a left tackle does on the football field? Lewis will tell you. Want to understand the racial dynamics in play in Memphis during the last decade? Lewis is your guy. Heck, I bet Lewis could take the intricate (and, on their face, boring) details of the business end of the game of baseball and make it a great read. Oh wait, he already did that.

Next, of course the story of the white, evangelical, wealthy family adopting a large, black kid from the other end of Memphis was compelling. And there's certainly lots to learn from the story: what advocacy looks like, how to navigate the system, the dynamics of crossing cultures, etc. Truly, it's a great book and a worthy read. No wonder it made it onto the big screen and Sandy took home an Oscar.

But here's the thing. I put the book down and wondered: why did they do it? I don't think that Lewis gives us a good answer, which is odd considering his passion for details. I feel like I'm missing a chapter where he explores exactly what motivated this family's actions. What exactly was it that inspired this socially outrageous act?!?

I'm left to piece it together. It seems pretty clear that their faith is somewhere down at the core of their motivation. These are good, Christian people, so surely they must be loving the least because that's what Jesus does. But if that's true, I'm wishing I was given a window into their process. What Scriptures inspired them? What cost did they count as a part of the journey? What about their understanding of Jesus and the Gospel pressed them into this arrangement? And if it's not about any of these things, what else could their motivation be?!?

What to do? Put the movie in the Netflix cue in short order. Google the Tuohys. Talk about it with others. But, first, head to the library or my nearest used bookstore for another Michael Lewis book before my flight to Madison on Monday!