The book made its headlines ten years ago, but I just read it this week after reading an essay that mentioned it. The Amazon page from which I ordered “When Breath Becomes Air,” quoted a New York Times review describing the book as ““Unmissable . . . Finishing this book and then forgetting about it is simply not an option.”  I will not forget about it.

The dust jacket of “When Breath Becomes Air” identifies the book as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The Pulitzer nominees page describes the setting for Paul Kalanithi’s writing, “At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live.” The book is the story of Kalanithi’s first 35 years of life – his growing up years and his decision to become a neurosurgeon, and of his last 20 months of living with and then dying of cancer.

“When Breath Becomes Air” was not the first in the genre of death journals, nor of the genre of a physician becoming the patient. With its fine writing and deep insights both into medicine and the search for meaning in life, it may be one of the best of either genre. The book is not a “Christian book” by any means, but Christian faith is present and real as Kalanithi seeks the meaning of life and of death.

I recommend the book without hesitation. Because it is ten years old, the hardcover edition is actually cheaper than the Kindle version. Buy it! Go to your local library and check it out!

But something else has got me thinking. Before ordering the book, I checked several reviews from a variety of sources and perspectives: the New York Times, the Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, the Christian Century, Christianity Today, and the Gospel Coalition among others. All of them praised the writing and work.

It is a good book.

I wondered, then, about those 2% of Amazon readers among nearly 120,000 who rated it with just a star or two. What did they find so objectional? I read some of the one-star reviews. A few of them can be dismissed as complaints about a torn dusk jacket or late delivery. Others commenting about Kalanithi’s ethnicity or faith deserve no attention. Among the others, however, it often boiled down to opinion – “I would not have used that vocabulary,” “I didn’t like the medical details – or the philosophical pondering,” “I would not have made the decision he made.”  In fact, “I would not have died the way he died.”

Who cares?

Online reviews are part of our lives. Everyone from the plumber to the doctor wants one. The “how did we do?” text often arrives before you have the car back from the mechanic.

Now, in some ways, every review is an opinion. In my opinion “When Breath Becomes Air” is a very good book. But not everything is a matter of opinion. By objective standards Paul Kalanithi’s use of the English language is superb. By the high standards of Yale and Stanford medical schools, Kalanithi was a gifted physician. By the standards of historic orthodoxy, his journey to death’s door was faithful and good.

Yes, we all have opinions. I can tell you what in my opinion is the best Mexican restaurant in Fort Wayne, Indiana (4.6 stars on Google Reviews). You may not like it.

We live in a world where opinion has become truth. The internet is full of opinion and little truth, however. Clever memes and angry influencers are the arbiters of reality.

“When Breath Becomes Air” is a good book. It is also a true book. I may not die the same way Paul Kalanithi died, but I hope I die as well.

Forgetting the story told in “When Breath Becomes Air” is not an option.  But I hope also to remember the importance of seeking truth over opinions, especially my own opinions.

Our 8-year-old grandson has taken to calling us “the oldies.”  We take it as a term of affection.  It’s also true. We are oldies. I will celebrate my 75^th birthday next month and enter what J.I. Packer called being old. Not young-old and not old-old. Just old.

For all our lives we Baby Boomers have dominated our world. Suburbs and schools were built for us in the 1950s. We warned against trusting anyone over 30 in the 1960s. Our music, our movies, our politics, and our preferences have defined reality for decades. Now the youngest of us are receiving monthly Social Security checks and the oldest of us are finding ourselves in assisted living and nursing care facilities.

We may be old, but still we dominate.

A current best-seller, Gerontocracy in America, by Yale historian Samuel Moyn looks primarily at the political ramifications of our generation’s refusal to go gentle into that good night, but considers, as well, other ways Boomers hold onto power, position, and possessions.

Maybe it is just a case of turn-around being fair play. Gen-Xers like Moyn along with younger Millennials and Zoomers are taking aim at the generation that ignored Gen-Xers, belittled Millennials, and now mostly roll our eyes at our Zoomer children and grandchildren. They want us to go away. Not only do we need to vacate our political offices (good idea!), we should hurry up and pass on our $100 trillion of accumulated wealth, sell our houses, travel less, maybe even make a final exit. Continue reading →

“A Self-Help Influencer with Troubles of Her Own.” The headline appeared in last week’s New York Times and offered enough bait for me to click the link. Full disclosure: I think the existence of “influencers” is a bitter indictment of the sad state of our culture, and I wondered if I might take delight in the woes of one member of a breed of such pernicious persons. I was not disappointed

The article is about an influencer who, according to the Times, “millions look to (…) for advice on how to achieve contentment and maintain healthy relationships.” It turns out that she has achieved little contentment in her own life and that her personal relationships are a disaster, even according to the New York Times, which, in its current iteration, has not seen a left-leaning relationship trend it cannot endorse (currently all in for polyamory). The on-again off-again estrangement with her two partners and the lawsuits filed against one another do not paint a picture of contentment and healthy relationships.

The English Standard Bible translates the Greek word κανῶν as “area of influence” (kanon – from which we get the English word “canon” – a standard or rule of faith and conduct). As Paul writes to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 11:13-18) he speaks of the area of influence God has assigned. He desires that he might influence others for the sake of the Gospel. Continue reading →

This past week we visited our daughter, her husband, and our 8-year-old grandson.  In addition to Star Wars and Legos, the 8-year-old loves karate and, related, the old Chuck Norris television series, Walker, Texas Ranger, where the Chuck Norris Texas Ranger typically uses his karate skills to apprehend the villain of the week.

During our visit we were able to attend one of our grandson’s karate lessons and watch an episode of Texas Ranger (and Episode VI of Star Wars). I preferred the karate lesson.

At the karate studio, the sensei (teacher) instructs the karatekas (students) mostly by demonstration. The sensei makes a move and the karatekas mimic what they see. It is a fascinating process. I’m not sure most adults would fare any better, but among the under-10 set there are many lapses in replicating the moves of the sensei. Of course, because the sensei typically faces the karatekas as he or she teaches, the left-right mirror image can be confusing, but at other times the student just doesn’t see what the teacher has done – how high the knee was lifted or whether the punch was a lunge or a hook. Perfection comes through repetition. Continue reading →

If all goes well, Becky and I will be in Memphis visiting family about the time you read this. We should escape our upper Midwest smoke for some deep south heat and humidity – headed towards 100 degrees and 82 percent humidity in Memphis on Monday. Still, it will be warm enough in Indiana while we’re gone, with no or little rain in the forecast. Fortunately, we have a programmable sprinkler system to help keep the lawn half-way healthy. Every other morning the sprinkler heads will pop up and spray their life-giving water on the thirsty grass. 30 minutes for each section. Besides that, not only will the lawn receive its measured dose of water while we’re gone, if it does rain, the system knows not to add more moisture to the wet ground. The WR2 Wireless Sensor is an electronic rain gauge, and once a half an inch of rain falls, the irrigation system is turned off for 24 hours.  No wasted water. No sprinklers spraying while rain is falling. The idea is to keep the lawn green, to conserve water, and to save money on the water bill. It’s a nice system.

The Psalms begin with a description of the righteous person. Like our lawn that needs water in order to remain healthy in the hot summer, the righteous person needs God’s word to remain healthy in the droughts and storms of life. The righteous person is one who “delights in the law of the Lord” and meditates on it day and night. The law of the Lord, the torah, the written word of God given as a gift to the faithful. (Psalm 1:2)

The psalmist paints a picture of the righteous person as being “like a tree planted by streams of water.” (Psalm 1:3) Continue reading →