Have I read “Blue Like Jazz?” No.

Donald Miller seems like a wonderful man. I’ve skimmed his book (especially the chapter on “Penguin Sex”) and can tell that Miller is extremely creative and a wonderful writer. The reason why I have not read the whole book is because I can’t get past the first two pages.

Miller writes, “I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn’t resolve. But I was outside the Bagdad Theater in Portland one night when I saw a man playing the saxophone. I stood there for fifteen minutes, and he never opened his eyes. After that I liked jazz music…I used to not like God because God didn’t resolve…”

“In America, the first generation out of slavery invented jazz music. It is a free-form expression. It comes from the soul, and it is true.”

I have not read the book because I can’t get past these words. I am enthralled with this connection between God and jazz…jazz and God. Perhaps someday I’ll read the rest of the book, but for now these opening words have given me enough to think about.