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Run with the Horses: The Quest for Life at Its Best
A Formatio book. We all long to live life at its best--to fuse freedom and spontaneity with purpose and meaning. Why then do we often find our lives so humdrum, so unadventuresome, so routine? Or else so frantic, so full of activity, but still devoid of fulfillment? How do we learn to risk, to trust, to pursue wholeness and excellence--to run with the horses in the jungle of life? In a series of profound reflections on the life of Jeremiah the prophet, Eugene Peterson explores the heart of what it means to be fully and genuinely human. His writing is filled with humor and self-reflection, insight and wisdom, helping to set a course for others in the quest for life at its best.
185 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1983
640 people are currently reading
3338 people want to read
About the author
Eugene H. Peterson
432 books990 followersEugene H. Peterson was a pastor, scholar, author, and poet. For many years he was James M. Houston Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He also served as founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland. He had written over thirty books, including Gold Medallion Book Award winner The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language a contemporary translation of the Bible. After retiring from full-time teaching, Eugene and his wife Jan lived in the Big Sky Country of rural Montana. He died in October 2018.
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February 25, 2025
Remember the story about the old man, his stick, his old, mangy horse... and the carrot? Every day the old man would drive his wagon into the rich folks’ area to sell his wares, encouraging his worn-out horse to keep going - just by dangling that carrot in front of his face.
And the old horse was too dumb and slow-witted to realize he was the one pulling the old man, the stick... and, of course, the carrot - continually out of reach of his mouth!
So it is with us. Incited by our best friends’ acquisitive raving, the well-prepped soft soap of a salesperson’s flattery, or the Joneses next door who have SO much more than us...
You got it.
We also keep going after these moving carrots. And they are Many. So we’re really pulling the crafty old man... the Economy. And the ever-moving Carrot!
So... Imagine this! WHAT IF... we SEE THROUGH THE GAME? What if our Bells and Whistles are suddenly all gone? What happens then?
Well, then our needs become simple. Ordinary. Nothing special. We’ve now run out of carrots -
So we start, like the old, tired horse, to slow down.
NEVER DO THAT!
Listen to my friend Gene tell it to you: “So, Jeremiah, if you're worn out in this foot race with men (the wise old man with the stick) what makes you think you can race against horses?
And if you can't keep your wits during times of calm, what's going to happen when troubles break loose like the Jordan River in flood?"
That’s Eugene Peterson’s very own street-talk version of Jeremiah 12:5. You can read the whole thing in Eugene Peterson’s multi-million-copy-selling translation of the books of the Bible - The Message...
You know, we ALL get stung in daily life. If we're still working, it happens MANY times a day. Stings hurt. So what do we DO about it? Get mad? Get even? Escape into our shell? OR - just continue trying to do our best?
And RUN WITH THE HORSES?
It's FAR, FAR from easy. If we, as thinking believers, are onto the game of the world’s treadmill, we’ll slow down! Then stop.
To Jeremiah, in the semi-apocalyptic era of the Babylonian invasion of Israel, it was next to impossible to stop. It seemed like the end of civilization itself was near...
So he just kept trying.
And praying. THERE’s the Real key - our prayer life. And Jeremiah was worn out, too - but kept on Running - because his Prayers Invigorated Him: the Spirit was in them!
You know, Jeremiah himself, as I say, was worn out just like that tired old horse.
But he also gave himself new life by writing Spirit-filled stories.
Like that wonderful story you may remember in his Book about the old Patriarch Jacob, all his joints crying out in pain, heading off on one last pilgrimage with his Biblical peers - the Journey up to the top of Mount Zion, to the final Place of Peace!
You see, don’t you, that Jeremiah’s stories were Spirit-filled, and THE SPIRIT WAS JEREMIAH’S NEW CARROT? It’s that simple.
And so when Jacob and his friends arrive at Mount Zion’s peak... oh, the joyful celebration - pipes and timbrels everywhere, the dancers, the Freedom!
A story, then, about Paradise...
We all get tired of not getting something out of the good we do. People won’t often tell us how much our kind words, good deeds and warm gestures of affection really MEAN to them, you know.
They’re caught up in webs of self-doubt and anxiety just like Jeremiah was when he started out.
And they’re all tired of trying.
So It’s up to US!
A writer once said that working on ourselves and reading inspirational self-help books is a lot like constructing a Model T Ford in our living room. We read the instructions, put together the pieces, and after a while we've got ourselves a real showcase of an automobile.
But what Peterson says is:
It’s no good to us at all...
Unless at some point we BREAK DOWN THE WALLS, TAKE IT ONTO THE STREET AND... DRIVE IT!
And it doesn’t matter if the weather forecast is calling for Slings & Arrows of Outrageous Fortune... We have to get in that old jalopy of ours - and DRIVE IT IN THE WIDE OPEN AIR OF EVERYDAY LIFE!
So what if that wicked old neighbour Mr. Murgatroyd sees us and smirks?
LET him smirk!
We know our Maker has always watched out for us in our past... And, when the storms of life hit he’ll always cover us with His Umbrella of Peace, anyway.
Who needs those old CARROTS?
We’re on the New Road that Goes On Forever. And the NEW, Spiritual carrots we’ve found are delicious - and they fill us with good things.
And this Road is made to be shared by Us All - rain or shine - for better or for worse.
So let’s remember to pass around our New Kind of Carrots to our fellow travellers... filled with the Love and the Inspiration and the Drive of the Spirit.
They’re Jeremiah’s Most Highly Recommended Food for our Souls -
And far better than the bitter taste of those hyped-up Shadow Carrots on a Stick, which never did anything for us, Anyway!
And the old horse was too dumb and slow-witted to realize he was the one pulling the old man, the stick... and, of course, the carrot - continually out of reach of his mouth!
So it is with us. Incited by our best friends’ acquisitive raving, the well-prepped soft soap of a salesperson’s flattery, or the Joneses next door who have SO much more than us...
You got it.
We also keep going after these moving carrots. And they are Many. So we’re really pulling the crafty old man... the Economy. And the ever-moving Carrot!
So... Imagine this! WHAT IF... we SEE THROUGH THE GAME? What if our Bells and Whistles are suddenly all gone? What happens then?
Well, then our needs become simple. Ordinary. Nothing special. We’ve now run out of carrots -
So we start, like the old, tired horse, to slow down.
NEVER DO THAT!
Listen to my friend Gene tell it to you: “So, Jeremiah, if you're worn out in this foot race with men (the wise old man with the stick) what makes you think you can race against horses?
And if you can't keep your wits during times of calm, what's going to happen when troubles break loose like the Jordan River in flood?"
That’s Eugene Peterson’s very own street-talk version of Jeremiah 12:5. You can read the whole thing in Eugene Peterson’s multi-million-copy-selling translation of the books of the Bible - The Message...
You know, we ALL get stung in daily life. If we're still working, it happens MANY times a day. Stings hurt. So what do we DO about it? Get mad? Get even? Escape into our shell? OR - just continue trying to do our best?
And RUN WITH THE HORSES?
It's FAR, FAR from easy. If we, as thinking believers, are onto the game of the world’s treadmill, we’ll slow down! Then stop.
To Jeremiah, in the semi-apocalyptic era of the Babylonian invasion of Israel, it was next to impossible to stop. It seemed like the end of civilization itself was near...
So he just kept trying.
And praying. THERE’s the Real key - our prayer life. And Jeremiah was worn out, too - but kept on Running - because his Prayers Invigorated Him: the Spirit was in them!
You know, Jeremiah himself, as I say, was worn out just like that tired old horse.
But he also gave himself new life by writing Spirit-filled stories.
Like that wonderful story you may remember in his Book about the old Patriarch Jacob, all his joints crying out in pain, heading off on one last pilgrimage with his Biblical peers - the Journey up to the top of Mount Zion, to the final Place of Peace!
You see, don’t you, that Jeremiah’s stories were Spirit-filled, and THE SPIRIT WAS JEREMIAH’S NEW CARROT? It’s that simple.
And so when Jacob and his friends arrive at Mount Zion’s peak... oh, the joyful celebration - pipes and timbrels everywhere, the dancers, the Freedom!
A story, then, about Paradise...
We all get tired of not getting something out of the good we do. People won’t often tell us how much our kind words, good deeds and warm gestures of affection really MEAN to them, you know.
They’re caught up in webs of self-doubt and anxiety just like Jeremiah was when he started out.
And they’re all tired of trying.
So It’s up to US!
A writer once said that working on ourselves and reading inspirational self-help books is a lot like constructing a Model T Ford in our living room. We read the instructions, put together the pieces, and after a while we've got ourselves a real showcase of an automobile.
But what Peterson says is:
It’s no good to us at all...
Unless at some point we BREAK DOWN THE WALLS, TAKE IT ONTO THE STREET AND... DRIVE IT!
And it doesn’t matter if the weather forecast is calling for Slings & Arrows of Outrageous Fortune... We have to get in that old jalopy of ours - and DRIVE IT IN THE WIDE OPEN AIR OF EVERYDAY LIFE!
So what if that wicked old neighbour Mr. Murgatroyd sees us and smirks?
LET him smirk!
We know our Maker has always watched out for us in our past... And, when the storms of life hit he’ll always cover us with His Umbrella of Peace, anyway.
Who needs those old CARROTS?
We’re on the New Road that Goes On Forever. And the NEW, Spiritual carrots we’ve found are delicious - and they fill us with good things.
And this Road is made to be shared by Us All - rain or shine - for better or for worse.
So let’s remember to pass around our New Kind of Carrots to our fellow travellers... filled with the Love and the Inspiration and the Drive of the Spirit.
They’re Jeremiah’s Most Highly Recommended Food for our Souls -
And far better than the bitter taste of those hyped-up Shadow Carrots on a Stick, which never did anything for us, Anyway!
September 11, 2012
This book was strangely just what I needed. Peterson talks through the life of Jeremiah and his story. He takes the narrative of Jeremiah's life and connects it to the narratives of all believers. He talks about being the best that you can be.
I found this book to be very enriching to my soul. In a weird sort of way, I couldn't read it quickly. I felt as if I needed a few days to deal with the truth of each chapter, applying it to each and every part of my life. For something that I thoroughly enjoyed, this book took me a strange amount of time to finish; however, I'd recommend it to anyone looking for some challenging and convicting truths about Jesus and a life pursuing Him.
I highlighted a ton in this book, so let these highlights be my review!!
-The thorough integration of strength and sensitivity, of firmness and feeling, is rare. We sometimes see sensitive people who are unstrung most of the time. They bleed profusely at the sight of blood. Their sensitivity incapacitates them for action in the rough-and-tumble cruelties of the world. In contrast others are rigid moralists, ramrod stiff with righteous rectitude. There is never any doubt about their dogmatically asserted position. But their principles are hammers that crack skulls and bruise flesh. The world makes a wide circuit around such persons. It is dangerous to be in their company for very long, for if they detect any mental weakness or moral wavering in us, we will be lucky to escape without at least a headache. location 516
-Religion became what it must be but often is not-a way of discovering the meaning of life, of ordering justice in society, of finding direction toward goals of excellence, of acquiring the discipline to live with integrity, of realizing how God loves and of learning how to love God in return. location 567
-All truth must be experienced personally before it is complete, before it is authentic.Read more at location 735
-What is wrong is to evaluate the worth of words and deeds by their popularity. What is scandalous is to approve only what is applauded. What is disastrous is to assume that only the celebrated is genuine. Read more at location 808
-Scripture cannot be used. It is God's word calling us to a personal response. The word of God addresses us, calls us into being. The only appropriate response is a reverent answering. It is always more than we are, always previous to us, always over us. Read more at location 1167
-An accident, a tragedy, a disaster of any kind can force the realization that the world is not predictable, that reality is far more extensive than our habitual perception of it. With the pain and in the midst of alienation a sense of freedom can occur. Read more at location 1325
-The aim of the person of faith is not to be as comfortable as possible but to live as deeply and thoroughly as possible-to deal with the reality of life, discover truth, create beauty, act out love. Read more at location 1368
-"As long as matters are really hopeful," wrote Chesterton, "hope is mere flattery or platitude. It is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength at all. Like all the Christian virtues, it is as unreasonable as it is indispensable."5 Read more at location 1559
-It is, of course, far easier to languish in despair than to live in hope, for when we live in despair we don't have to do anything or risk anything. We can live lazily and shiftlessly with an untarnished reputation for practicality, current with the way things appear. It is fashionable to espouse the latest cynicism. If we live in hope, we go against the stream. Read more at location 1609
-God does not send us into the dangerous and exacting life of faith because we are qualified; he chooses us in order to qualify us for what he wants us to be and do: "I've just put my words in your mouth.... I've given you a job to do among nations and governments-a red-letter day!" location 451
-In Jeremiah it is clear that the excellence comes from a life of faith, from being more interested in God than in self, and has almost nothing to do with comfort or esteem or achievement. location 106
-It is enormously difficult to portray goodness in an attractive way; it is much easier to make a scoundrel interesting. location 110
-If I am frequently and authoritatively treated impersonally, I begin to think of myself the same way. I consider myself in terms of how I fit into the statistical norms; I evaluate myself in terms of my usefulness; I assess my worth in response to how much others want me or don't want me. location 21
-Apart from the before, the now has little meaning. The now is only a thin slice of who I am; isolated from the rich deposits of before, it cannot be understood. location 300
-If we are going to live appropriately, we must be aware that we are living in the middle of a story that was begun and will be concluded by another. And this other is God. -location 323
-We are so used to considering everything through the prism of our current feelings and our most recent acquisitions that it is a radical change to consider the vast before. But if we would live well, it is necessary. Otherwise we live feebly and gropingly, blind to the glory that we are known, chosen and given away by God. location 399
-We underestimate God and we overestimate evil. We don't see what God is doing and conclude that he is doing nothing. We see everything that evil is doing and think it is in control of everyone.location 505
-
I found this book to be very enriching to my soul. In a weird sort of way, I couldn't read it quickly. I felt as if I needed a few days to deal with the truth of each chapter, applying it to each and every part of my life. For something that I thoroughly enjoyed, this book took me a strange amount of time to finish; however, I'd recommend it to anyone looking for some challenging and convicting truths about Jesus and a life pursuing Him.
I highlighted a ton in this book, so let these highlights be my review!!
-The thorough integration of strength and sensitivity, of firmness and feeling, is rare. We sometimes see sensitive people who are unstrung most of the time. They bleed profusely at the sight of blood. Their sensitivity incapacitates them for action in the rough-and-tumble cruelties of the world. In contrast others are rigid moralists, ramrod stiff with righteous rectitude. There is never any doubt about their dogmatically asserted position. But their principles are hammers that crack skulls and bruise flesh. The world makes a wide circuit around such persons. It is dangerous to be in their company for very long, for if they detect any mental weakness or moral wavering in us, we will be lucky to escape without at least a headache. location 516
-Religion became what it must be but often is not-a way of discovering the meaning of life, of ordering justice in society, of finding direction toward goals of excellence, of acquiring the discipline to live with integrity, of realizing how God loves and of learning how to love God in return. location 567
-All truth must be experienced personally before it is complete, before it is authentic.Read more at location 735
-What is wrong is to evaluate the worth of words and deeds by their popularity. What is scandalous is to approve only what is applauded. What is disastrous is to assume that only the celebrated is genuine. Read more at location 808
-Scripture cannot be used. It is God's word calling us to a personal response. The word of God addresses us, calls us into being. The only appropriate response is a reverent answering. It is always more than we are, always previous to us, always over us. Read more at location 1167
-An accident, a tragedy, a disaster of any kind can force the realization that the world is not predictable, that reality is far more extensive than our habitual perception of it. With the pain and in the midst of alienation a sense of freedom can occur. Read more at location 1325
-The aim of the person of faith is not to be as comfortable as possible but to live as deeply and thoroughly as possible-to deal with the reality of life, discover truth, create beauty, act out love. Read more at location 1368
-"As long as matters are really hopeful," wrote Chesterton, "hope is mere flattery or platitude. It is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength at all. Like all the Christian virtues, it is as unreasonable as it is indispensable."5 Read more at location 1559
-It is, of course, far easier to languish in despair than to live in hope, for when we live in despair we don't have to do anything or risk anything. We can live lazily and shiftlessly with an untarnished reputation for practicality, current with the way things appear. It is fashionable to espouse the latest cynicism. If we live in hope, we go against the stream. Read more at location 1609
-God does not send us into the dangerous and exacting life of faith because we are qualified; he chooses us in order to qualify us for what he wants us to be and do: "I've just put my words in your mouth.... I've given you a job to do among nations and governments-a red-letter day!" location 451
-In Jeremiah it is clear that the excellence comes from a life of faith, from being more interested in God than in self, and has almost nothing to do with comfort or esteem or achievement. location 106
-It is enormously difficult to portray goodness in an attractive way; it is much easier to make a scoundrel interesting. location 110
-If I am frequently and authoritatively treated impersonally, I begin to think of myself the same way. I consider myself in terms of how I fit into the statistical norms; I evaluate myself in terms of my usefulness; I assess my worth in response to how much others want me or don't want me. location 21
-Apart from the before, the now has little meaning. The now is only a thin slice of who I am; isolated from the rich deposits of before, it cannot be understood. location 300
-If we are going to live appropriately, we must be aware that we are living in the middle of a story that was begun and will be concluded by another. And this other is God. -location 323
-We are so used to considering everything through the prism of our current feelings and our most recent acquisitions that it is a radical change to consider the vast before. But if we would live well, it is necessary. Otherwise we live feebly and gropingly, blind to the glory that we are known, chosen and given away by God. location 399
-We underestimate God and we overestimate evil. We don't see what God is doing and conclude that he is doing nothing. We see everything that evil is doing and think it is in control of everyone.location 505
-
January 14, 2022
Through personal anecdotes and reflection, Peterson invites the reader to walk through the life of Jeremiah not as a theological scholar but as a co-laborer with the prophet.
The commentary on Jeremiah’s devotion to God is moving and inspiring, and the acknowledgment of the world around him is sober and gritty. In terms of takeaways, there are many scattered throughout the book. Perhaps the most relevant to most audiences is a new understanding of Jeremiah 29:11 that is properly contextualized to maximize God’s devotion in contrast with a very sinful Israel. However, I didn’t finish the book with the sense of a core message.
I found Run with the Horses to be a pleasant and meandering look at Jeremiah. It prompted me to consider my willingness when serving God, and inspired me to dig deeper into Peterson’s question of what it means to be human. Would recommend :)
The commentary on Jeremiah’s devotion to God is moving and inspiring, and the acknowledgment of the world around him is sober and gritty. In terms of takeaways, there are many scattered throughout the book. Perhaps the most relevant to most audiences is a new understanding of Jeremiah 29:11 that is properly contextualized to maximize God’s devotion in contrast with a very sinful Israel. However, I didn’t finish the book with the sense of a core message.
I found Run with the Horses to be a pleasant and meandering look at Jeremiah. It prompted me to consider my willingness when serving God, and inspired me to dig deeper into Peterson’s question of what it means to be human. Would recommend :)
September 8, 2022
This is my third Peterson book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. In this volume, first published nearly 40 years ago, Peterson has given us a biblical biography of Jeremiah the Prophet, an x-ray of his times, and an intermittent commentary on the text of Jeremiah's prophecy. There is much about this book that I like, and two aspects that I do not.
I read the 25th Anniversary edition. In the forward, Peterson commented on how relevant the prophecy of Jeremiah had been in 1983, when it was first published. Twenty-five years later, it proved even more so. It sharply confronts many aspects of postmodern thought and culture, and thoroughly rebukes the continuing trend of modern Christianity to "market" the Gospel to people as if they are "consumers," rather than to preach the Gospel to people, because they are sinners. This almost 40-year-old volume repeatedly demonstrates the relevance of these 2500-year-old revelations of God, given to Jeremiah, to this present age.
The secondary title of this book reveals the aspect that I liked least. When Peterson comments on the text, he does so with freshness and, often, thought-provoking brilliance. Although his commentary only covers a limited part of the text, if I were preparing to preach through Jeremiah, I would make sure to read Peterson on every text which he references. He handles Bible texts well. However, the theme that Peterson prominently champions throughout did not, in my opinion, arise out of the text. It is borrowed from psychology, the concept of being a "whole person," what it means to be a "real man," a "real woman," and fully "human." In my opinion, Running with Horses is more of a case of USING the Bible to support a concept, rather than developing a truth proclaimed by the text itself. This is, in my opinion, the major flaw of this book. Thankfully, it is more of a minor distraction than a serious error. As is often the case, this part of the book is not without merit; it just ought to be recognized as being an extra-biblical addition, or application, of the text.
This is a mentally stimulating, spiritually enriching work. I recommend it.
I read the 25th Anniversary edition. In the forward, Peterson commented on how relevant the prophecy of Jeremiah had been in 1983, when it was first published. Twenty-five years later, it proved even more so. It sharply confronts many aspects of postmodern thought and culture, and thoroughly rebukes the continuing trend of modern Christianity to "market" the Gospel to people as if they are "consumers," rather than to preach the Gospel to people, because they are sinners. This almost 40-year-old volume repeatedly demonstrates the relevance of these 2500-year-old revelations of God, given to Jeremiah, to this present age.
The secondary title of this book reveals the aspect that I liked least. When Peterson comments on the text, he does so with freshness and, often, thought-provoking brilliance. Although his commentary only covers a limited part of the text, if I were preparing to preach through Jeremiah, I would make sure to read Peterson on every text which he references. He handles Bible texts well. However, the theme that Peterson prominently champions throughout did not, in my opinion, arise out of the text. It is borrowed from psychology, the concept of being a "whole person," what it means to be a "real man," a "real woman," and fully "human." In my opinion, Running with Horses is more of a case of USING the Bible to support a concept, rather than developing a truth proclaimed by the text itself. This is, in my opinion, the major flaw of this book. Thankfully, it is more of a minor distraction than a serious error. As is often the case, this part of the book is not without merit; it just ought to be recognized as being an extra-biblical addition, or application, of the text.
This is a mentally stimulating, spiritually enriching work. I recommend it.
May 7, 2013
As usual with Peterson's books, I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful statements of truth in this book. Like Lewis, Peterson is great with metaphors and helps me visualize the backdrops of Scriptural passages. This book draws from the life of the prophet Jeremiah, and after reading it I feel like I have a better grip on Jeremiah's world. And there are lots of connection points to our world -- Peterson is so good at highlighting those! This book was absolutely worth reading and I shall, undoubtedly, return to it in the future.
February 24, 2025
This book is the type of book readers can continually go back to. Peterson uses the life of Jeremiah as a backdrop but skillfully pulls out the timeless messages of running a race apart from the crowd. However, he doesn't leave the reader with a simple axiom. He uses the turmoil, conflict, and resistance Jermiah faced to challenge us to reevaluate how we perceive that concept of the "crowd." By taking a step back and looking at the larger picture of who God is and what he wanted to do, and how that challenged Jeremiah's and his contemporaries views, Peterson challenges the modern reader to reexamine what our relationship to the "crowd" even is. Have we just substituted one for another? Are we off from where we think we are? Have we left the crowd to flounder on our own? Or are we really seeking to get away from the status quo and into communion with God.
August 27, 2025
Loved this and found it to be a really beautiful and encouraging commentary on living a life of faith. I had just started reading through Jeremiah and simultaneously was curious to read something of Peterson’s. When I discovered this was essentially a commentary on the book of Jeremiah, I went with this. Glad I did! Will definitely be revisiting this one in the future.
June 15, 2020
This is Eugene Peterson's modern day classic about Old Testament Prophet Jeremiah. Book examines what it means to be fully human, to risk and trust God, to run with the horses instead of stumbling along with the crowd. This is a small book but should be read slowly, thoughtfully. Probably needs to be read a few times.
April 13, 2021
When I started listening to this audiobook I did not realize it was a commentary on Jeremiah. Peterson can even make a commentary engaging! This book would be a nice guide to teaching or preaching Jeremiah, however I found it to be a nice guide for living the faith. There is wisdom for Jesus followed, including church leaders. I found wisdom in regard to prayer, discernment, and leading a congregation. Peterson fills the spiritual longing I yearn for as a pastor, when it’s easy to get caught up in the things that seem important but are not.
March 23, 2013
First I should say that I am a big fan of "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction" and I am a person who is glad that we have "The Message" Bible paraphrase. I am a Eugene Peterson fan so I may have rated this a little higher than I would have if someone else had written it. What I enjoy is that it seems that he invariably has some very quotable ideas about Christian living and the life of faith.
This book is a study of the book of Jeremiah but really is a study of how to live a life that has meaning in the context of eternity. Peterson call us to be "persons who are conscious of participating in what God is saying and doing, who are most human, most alive". It is very refreshing to start a book where the author sets up such a positive goal. Before we go onto thinking we are at the beginning of an Oprah-like "you are great" book, Peterson gives us the clear path of a disciple of Christ saying his goal is " to encourage people to grow in excellence and to live selflessly, at one in the same time to lose the self and find the self."
The author then proceeds to outline a life of faith in the example of Jeremiah the prophet. Faith is presented as tangible when Peterson quotes that "hope is not a dream but a way of making dreams become reality". He says that "God is out to win the world in love and each person has been selected...to be set apart to do it with him."
The Christian world is not the world we see. It is spiritual and exists beyond the plane of our earthly vision and experience. In order to understand it, a person must be able to see what is invisible to human eyes. It is a world of hope. Peterson points out the spiritual nature of hope when he writes that "if we live in hope, we go against the stream." But in going against the stream we are able to live in the eternal for as Peterson observes "hope-determined actions participate in the future that God is bringing into being."
One of the key phrases in the book of Jeremiah is when God speaks through Jeremiah to say " I know the plans I have for you...plans to give you hope and a future ."By reading this book I was encouraged to participate in those plans.
This book is a study of the book of Jeremiah but really is a study of how to live a life that has meaning in the context of eternity. Peterson call us to be "persons who are conscious of participating in what God is saying and doing, who are most human, most alive". It is very refreshing to start a book where the author sets up such a positive goal. Before we go onto thinking we are at the beginning of an Oprah-like "you are great" book, Peterson gives us the clear path of a disciple of Christ saying his goal is " to encourage people to grow in excellence and to live selflessly, at one in the same time to lose the self and find the self."
The author then proceeds to outline a life of faith in the example of Jeremiah the prophet. Faith is presented as tangible when Peterson quotes that "hope is not a dream but a way of making dreams become reality". He says that "God is out to win the world in love and each person has been selected...to be set apart to do it with him."
The Christian world is not the world we see. It is spiritual and exists beyond the plane of our earthly vision and experience. In order to understand it, a person must be able to see what is invisible to human eyes. It is a world of hope. Peterson points out the spiritual nature of hope when he writes that "if we live in hope, we go against the stream." But in going against the stream we are able to live in the eternal for as Peterson observes "hope-determined actions participate in the future that God is bringing into being."
One of the key phrases in the book of Jeremiah is when God speaks through Jeremiah to say " I know the plans I have for you...plans to give you hope and a future ."By reading this book I was encouraged to participate in those plans.
January 13, 2022
Peterson reminds me a lot of Buechner and Lewis. I love his writing, his earthiness, his clear-sighted picture of what makes us human, and what robs of us of that humanness. His works are full of countless lines that sit like mountains-timeless, explosive in detail, far deeper than sea level.
This is the kind of book that requires meditation, discussion, and review-particularly of your own life, and how you square up with his vision of a life well-lived. Peterson knows how to cast that vision because he’s a masterful storyteller, and he speaks in a way that cuts through the wind to bury deep in your lungs. Breathing it in and letting it sit is how this work comes to life, I believe.
I didn’t read it that way, however. I rushed to meet a deadline, and I feel like I missed a whole lot. At the same time, I do think it was hard to find the through-line, and I wish Peterson had done a better job of regularly orienting his reader to his larger intentions. It all felt slightly disconnected and honestly a bit overzealous at times.
I did really enjoy it though. It sparked something within me. It drew out longings and fears I didn’t realize I had, or at least couldn’t name, but which rang like bells upon reading of them in Jeremiah’s life. It called me into a deeper kind of living, which is really a deeper kind of being, even as it inspired me into a more true kind of doing.
It was a lovely blend of the poetic, the expositional, and the practical-which is to say it’s brilliantly taught and powerfully formative. I’m left with many questions about the office of the prophet, my own calling, and simply, how I can learn to see the Bible with such clarity, curiosity, and interest. Truly stunning.
This is the kind of book that requires meditation, discussion, and review-particularly of your own life, and how you square up with his vision of a life well-lived. Peterson knows how to cast that vision because he’s a masterful storyteller, and he speaks in a way that cuts through the wind to bury deep in your lungs. Breathing it in and letting it sit is how this work comes to life, I believe.
I didn’t read it that way, however. I rushed to meet a deadline, and I feel like I missed a whole lot. At the same time, I do think it was hard to find the through-line, and I wish Peterson had done a better job of regularly orienting his reader to his larger intentions. It all felt slightly disconnected and honestly a bit overzealous at times.
I did really enjoy it though. It sparked something within me. It drew out longings and fears I didn’t realize I had, or at least couldn’t name, but which rang like bells upon reading of them in Jeremiah’s life. It called me into a deeper kind of living, which is really a deeper kind of being, even as it inspired me into a more true kind of doing.
It was a lovely blend of the poetic, the expositional, and the practical-which is to say it’s brilliantly taught and powerfully formative. I’m left with many questions about the office of the prophet, my own calling, and simply, how I can learn to see the Bible with such clarity, curiosity, and interest. Truly stunning.
July 19, 2021
I have to say that *just a few* of the extrapolations Peterson made from the narrative elements of Jeremiah were a stretch. He does them with skill and panache and insight, so it's not so bad… For example, positing that Pashhur was the Joel Osteen or Norman Vincent Peale of Jeremiah's day very well might be true—but the text doesn't say it. Even so, Peterson's insights in that section were helpful. But there were times when I thought to myself, "This is a stretch," and then he came through with a Bible verse showing that it wasn't.
The strength of this book, no matter how clichéd it may sound, is that he makes Jeremiah come alive as a person. I realize now that I have at times been lost in the obscurity of some of the prophecies. Even though there is so much in the book of Jeremiah to reveal Jeremiah, I wasn't seeing it as well as I do now that Peterson brought it out.
The strength of this book, no matter how clichéd it may sound, is that he makes Jeremiah come alive as a person. I realize now that I have at times been lost in the obscurity of some of the prophecies. Even though there is so much in the book of Jeremiah to reveal Jeremiah, I wasn't seeing it as well as I do now that Peterson brought it out.
May 8, 2022
Bono recommended this book. Not to me directly, but I wish. Anyway, it’s awesome. Read it if you want to understand Jeremiah more and what a true prophet of God he was.
April 3, 2019
This is one of Eugene Peterson's best books. Based on the life of the biblical prophet Jeremiah, Peterson gives us a counter-cultural view of what "life at its best" means. We live in a world that measures success by all the wrong variables. We think that becoming rich and famous would lead us to happiness. We devour non-stop programs and busy ourselves with all sorts of activism to try to get a sense of fulfillment but to no avail. We think of excellence based on the wrong standards of measurements. At the root of our restlessness is our unsettled soul. By refusing that ordinary and normal is good enough, we embark on all kinds of projects to intensify our search for self-accomplishment. Peterson turns it all around to say that "excellence comes from a life of faith, from being more interested in God than in self, and has almost nothing to do with comfort or esteem or achievement."
Not only that, as Peterson had alluded to how the world influence us, we are reminded about how our quest for excellence had become ambitions clouded with all manner of selfishness and worldliness. So he goes back to an Old Testament prophet who experienced emotional turmoil and discouragement at critical junctures on his time. It was in one of these moments that God challenged him:
"If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country,how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?" (Jer 12:5)
Popular motivational gurus would say things like "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going." They could also say that success comes with strength and grit or other inspirational quips to whip one back into contention. These formulas work for some but usually for a brief moment. Unfortunately, when one's need for such mantras become chronic, one questions the long-term benefits of positive thinking. What if we could turn it around and recognize that we cannot help ourselves. We are unable to run the long race on our own strength. There is something we could do and many other things way beyond our control, even our will. He shows us that Jeremiah's story takes us on a totally different direction. It is about God helping us to write our own stories of faith. He enables us to be original to God and not copycats of the world. In other words, Peterson writes that the image of man is essentially "the intensity to intensify a passion for excellence combined with an indifference to human achievement."
How then do we live a life of excellence? Like a well-honed pastor and student of the Bible, Peterson brings us back to the identity question. Who is Jeremiah? The name points out the essence of the person's life. Neither roles nor achievements should define us. Our names should be the first thing with regard to knowing ourselves before we know how we can excel. Peterson notes how the name of Jeremiah is directly connected to God. In other words, Jeremiah's call is to the LORD. The more Jeremiah is connected to God, the more he becomes the best version of himself. There are reasons for this. First, it was God who created man, and obviously that means God knows what we are created for. Second, God knows the limitations of human beings. Learning to see from God's perspective also means a greater understanding of the limits of one's being. In fact, Peterson takes us further by saying that our relationship with God is not an "add-on" but the primary essence of understanding who we are. Third, Jeremiah's calling and purpose is intricately linked to his self-understanding. Without knowing his identity, how would he know his purpose? Without knowing his purpose, how would he know how to excel? As a skillful word-smith, Peterson answers all three simultaneously. Not only that, he seamlessly moves between the Old Testament story of Jeremiah and our modern cultural contexts to show us not only how relevant the life of Jeremiah is but also how much we could learn to be counter-cultural for our times.
My Thoughts
My first thought is that this book looks like a collection of sermons on the life of Jeremiah. Following a short passage from the book of Jeremiah, and a brief quotation to set the tone of the chapter, Peterson launches into chapter with an insight, a story, or an observation about life. It reflects his preaching style which is expository. Slowly, he shows the reader on the importance of understanding one's identity and not to let the world define us. This he is able to do with such effect that one would have to pause to let the words sink in. One of the most powerful segments has to do with the nature of a prophet and the purpose of religion, in which he brings us back to the purpose of our created beings:
"The task of a prophet is not to smooth things over but to make things right. The function of religion is not to make people feel good but to make them good."
Secondly, Peterson does not hold back from criticizing the culture of excess and self-conceit. His very first chapter pins down the tragedy of mediocre living that is trapping people in. That is the major barrier to our own growth toward excellence. More often than not, he makes self-application to remind himself that he too is vulnerable to the very traps he writes against. In the chapter about the potter's house, he compares and contrasts the two different perspectives of pottery and portraits. Frequently, these things are used by the world for efficacy purposes and miss out the beauty and the nature of the pottery and portraits themselves. Even the brown paper bag has become a way to describe this difference. This reminds me of how the world is becoming infatuated with the cheap and the pragmatic. When this happens, we see objects only as a means to an end, instead of learning to appreciate the thing for what it is. Very subtly, we are reminded that how we treat things could also translate into how we treat people.
Thirdly, I must say that this is one of the best books written by the late Eugene Peterson. With deep reverence for the Word of God, he combs the life of Jeremiah looking for gems to share with us. Very few people are able to do what he has done. Peterson has written many books, but this remains high in the list of my favourites.
Eugene Peterson was an ordained minister with the Presbyterian Church (USA). From 1993 to 1998, he served as the James M. Houston Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College. A prolific author, he is also an extremely popular pastor and professor with full-time ministers and students.
Rating: 5 stars of 5.
conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Inter-Varsity Press and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
Not only that, as Peterson had alluded to how the world influence us, we are reminded about how our quest for excellence had become ambitions clouded with all manner of selfishness and worldliness. So he goes back to an Old Testament prophet who experienced emotional turmoil and discouragement at critical junctures on his time. It was in one of these moments that God challenged him:
"If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country,how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?" (Jer 12:5)
Popular motivational gurus would say things like "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going." They could also say that success comes with strength and grit or other inspirational quips to whip one back into contention. These formulas work for some but usually for a brief moment. Unfortunately, when one's need for such mantras become chronic, one questions the long-term benefits of positive thinking. What if we could turn it around and recognize that we cannot help ourselves. We are unable to run the long race on our own strength. There is something we could do and many other things way beyond our control, even our will. He shows us that Jeremiah's story takes us on a totally different direction. It is about God helping us to write our own stories of faith. He enables us to be original to God and not copycats of the world. In other words, Peterson writes that the image of man is essentially "the intensity to intensify a passion for excellence combined with an indifference to human achievement."
How then do we live a life of excellence? Like a well-honed pastor and student of the Bible, Peterson brings us back to the identity question. Who is Jeremiah? The name points out the essence of the person's life. Neither roles nor achievements should define us. Our names should be the first thing with regard to knowing ourselves before we know how we can excel. Peterson notes how the name of Jeremiah is directly connected to God. In other words, Jeremiah's call is to the LORD. The more Jeremiah is connected to God, the more he becomes the best version of himself. There are reasons for this. First, it was God who created man, and obviously that means God knows what we are created for. Second, God knows the limitations of human beings. Learning to see from God's perspective also means a greater understanding of the limits of one's being. In fact, Peterson takes us further by saying that our relationship with God is not an "add-on" but the primary essence of understanding who we are. Third, Jeremiah's calling and purpose is intricately linked to his self-understanding. Without knowing his identity, how would he know his purpose? Without knowing his purpose, how would he know how to excel? As a skillful word-smith, Peterson answers all three simultaneously. Not only that, he seamlessly moves between the Old Testament story of Jeremiah and our modern cultural contexts to show us not only how relevant the life of Jeremiah is but also how much we could learn to be counter-cultural for our times.
My Thoughts
My first thought is that this book looks like a collection of sermons on the life of Jeremiah. Following a short passage from the book of Jeremiah, and a brief quotation to set the tone of the chapter, Peterson launches into chapter with an insight, a story, or an observation about life. It reflects his preaching style which is expository. Slowly, he shows the reader on the importance of understanding one's identity and not to let the world define us. This he is able to do with such effect that one would have to pause to let the words sink in. One of the most powerful segments has to do with the nature of a prophet and the purpose of religion, in which he brings us back to the purpose of our created beings:
"The task of a prophet is not to smooth things over but to make things right. The function of religion is not to make people feel good but to make them good."
Secondly, Peterson does not hold back from criticizing the culture of excess and self-conceit. His very first chapter pins down the tragedy of mediocre living that is trapping people in. That is the major barrier to our own growth toward excellence. More often than not, he makes self-application to remind himself that he too is vulnerable to the very traps he writes against. In the chapter about the potter's house, he compares and contrasts the two different perspectives of pottery and portraits. Frequently, these things are used by the world for efficacy purposes and miss out the beauty and the nature of the pottery and portraits themselves. Even the brown paper bag has become a way to describe this difference. This reminds me of how the world is becoming infatuated with the cheap and the pragmatic. When this happens, we see objects only as a means to an end, instead of learning to appreciate the thing for what it is. Very subtly, we are reminded that how we treat things could also translate into how we treat people.
Thirdly, I must say that this is one of the best books written by the late Eugene Peterson. With deep reverence for the Word of God, he combs the life of Jeremiah looking for gems to share with us. Very few people are able to do what he has done. Peterson has written many books, but this remains high in the list of my favourites.
Eugene Peterson was an ordained minister with the Presbyterian Church (USA). From 1993 to 1998, he served as the James M. Houston Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College. A prolific author, he is also an extremely popular pastor and professor with full-time ministers and students.
Rating: 5 stars of 5.
conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Inter-Varsity Press and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
February 15, 2025
Run with the Horses by Eugene Peterson is an intimate look at the life of the prophet Jeremiah. An older man gifted this to me, thinking I’d like it - and while it turns out he was right, I don’t think I’d have otherwise ever read this gem of a book so it is primarily a reminder to gift books to people.
But wow! This book was such a timely encouragement to me in this season of life where the next couple of years hold so many unknowns. It was a reminder of the goodness of God, His mercies that are new with each sunrise, that He works in details I may not ever know, and, ultimately, that a life of faith is worthwhile because of the character of God.
I love the way Eugene Peterson expresses biblical truths while maintaining an understanding of human nature. For instance, when he is talking about prayer he shares that we often think of a person at prayer as being a person at peace but that that isn’t how we see Jeremiah - Jeremiah at prayer is scared, lonely, hurt, and angry. He goes on to share how Jeremiah prays through these emotions and then ends with this wisdom “priorities are re-established in prayer.” And he reminds us that the setting of priorities needs to be done over and over as circumstances change and moods swing.
I found the book practical, engaging, encouraging and challenging, and there are now many highlighted portions in my book :)
But wow! This book was such a timely encouragement to me in this season of life where the next couple of years hold so many unknowns. It was a reminder of the goodness of God, His mercies that are new with each sunrise, that He works in details I may not ever know, and, ultimately, that a life of faith is worthwhile because of the character of God.
I love the way Eugene Peterson expresses biblical truths while maintaining an understanding of human nature. For instance, when he is talking about prayer he shares that we often think of a person at prayer as being a person at peace but that that isn’t how we see Jeremiah - Jeremiah at prayer is scared, lonely, hurt, and angry. He goes on to share how Jeremiah prays through these emotions and then ends with this wisdom “priorities are re-established in prayer.” And he reminds us that the setting of priorities needs to be done over and over as circumstances change and moods swing.
I found the book practical, engaging, encouraging and challenging, and there are now many highlighted portions in my book :)
January 28, 2025
3.5/5
A great synopsis of Jeremiah and a rousing call to live out our true purpose.
"Our lives become the pottery that makes possible the emergence of civilization- what Jeremiah called the "people of God," what Jesus called the "kingdom of God," what Augustine called the "city of God." It is no longer every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost. We are containers, "regions of being" in Heiddeger's words, in which love and salvation and mercy are conserved and shared. Everything is connected and makes sense now- the shape of creation and the shape of salvation, God's shaping hand and the shape of my life."
A great synopsis of Jeremiah and a rousing call to live out our true purpose.
"Our lives become the pottery that makes possible the emergence of civilization- what Jeremiah called the "people of God," what Jesus called the "kingdom of God," what Augustine called the "city of God." It is no longer every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost. We are containers, "regions of being" in Heiddeger's words, in which love and salvation and mercy are conserved and shared. Everything is connected and makes sense now- the shape of creation and the shape of salvation, God's shaping hand and the shape of my life."
February 26, 2019
Run with the Horses is a re-imagined and updated version from Eugene H. Peterson's previously published version in 2009. With quotes from "The Message" translation of the Bible, Peterson blends personal stories along with observations and thoughts regarding Jeremiah. (The person and the book in the Bible). It is well thought out and challenging... Challenging in that it isn't a "feel good" wasn't he amazing and wow we should be like him type of Bible devotional. Instead it challenges the reader to step out of what is comfortable to find the faith that comes with God's presence. Very good!!
October 5, 2020
Het was een lange tijd geleden dat een boek me zo aan het denken heeft gezet. Eugene Peterson prikkels me, daagde me uit anders - vaak groter en breder - te denken. Run with the horses betekent leven uit geloof. Aan de hand van het bijbelboek Jeremiah en kijkend naar diezelfde hoofdpersoon, legt hij uit hoe zo’n leven vanuit geloof in elkaar steekt. Het is niet eenvoudig en zeker niet comfortabel. Maar wel rijk, dynamisch, grandioos, spontaan en buitengewoon. Een echt leven.
July 31, 2020
An inspiring biography of the prophet Jeremiah.
September 4, 2023
4.5/5
“The Bible makes it clear that every time that there is a story of faith, it is completely original. God’s creative genius is endless” (13).
“It is enormously difficult to portray goodness in an attractive way; it is much easier to make a scoundrel interesting” (14).
The difficult pastoral art is to encourage people to grow in excellence and to live selflessly, at one in the same time to lose the self and find the self” (15).
“It is easier to define oneself minimally (‘a featherless biped’) and live securely within that definition than to be defined maximally (‘little less than God’) and live adventurously in that reality” (18).
“Some people as they grow up become less. As children they have glorious ideas of who they are and of what life has for them. Thirty years later we find that they have settled for something grubby and inane. What accounts for the exchange of childhood aspiration to the adult anemia?
“Other people as they grow up become more. Life is not an inevitable decline into dullness; for some it is an ascent into excellence” (24).
“Any time that we move from personal names to abstract labels or graphs or statistics, we are less in touch with reality and diminished in our capacity to deal with what is best and at the center of life…if I am frequently and authoritatively treated impersonally, I begin to think of myself the same way. I consider myself in terms of how I fit into the statistical norms; I evaluate myself in terms of my usefulness; I assess my worth in response to how much others want me or don’t want me” (26-7).
“One of the supreme tasks of the faith community is to announce to us early and clearly the kind of life into which we can grow, to help us set our sights on what it means to be a human being complete” (29).
“Anything other than our name—title, job description, number, role—is less than a name. Apart from the name that marks us as uniquely created and personally addressed, we slide into fantasies that are out of touch with the world as it is and so we live in effectively, irresponsibly. Or we live by the stereotypes in which other people cast us that are out of touch with the uniqueness in which God has created us, and so live diminished into boredom, the brightness leaking away” (32).
“Before it ever crossed our minds that God might be important, God singled us out as important. Before we were formed in the womb, God knew us. We are known before we know.
“This realization has a practical result: no longer do we run here and there, panicked and anxious, searching for the answers to life. Our lives are not puzzles to be figured out. Rather, we come to God, who knows us and reveals to us the truth of our lives. The fundamental mistake is to begin with ourselves and not God.
“If we are going to live appropriately, we must be aware that we are living in the middle of a story that was begun and will be concluded by another. And this other is God.
“My identity does not begin when I begin to understand myself. There’s something previous to what I think about myself, and it is what God thinks of me. That means that everything I think and feel is by nature a response, and the one to whom I respond is God. I never speak the first word. I never make the first move” (38).
“Many critical things happen before I am conceived and born that predetermined the reality that I experience (biological, geographical, political, scientific)…But the most important things are what God did before I was conceived, before I was born. He knew me, therefore I am no accident; he chose me, therefore I cannot be a zero; he gave me, therefore I must not be a consumer” (43-4).
“A prophet is obsessed with God, and a prophet is immersed in the now” (47).
“The work of the prophet is to call people to live well, to live rightly—to be human. But it is more than a call to say something, it is a call to live out the message” (47).
“A prophet wakes us up from our sleepy complacency so that we see the great and stunning drama that is our existence, and then pushes us onto the stage playing our parts whether we think we are ready or not. A prophet angers us by rejecting our euphemisms and ripping off our disguises, then dragging our heartless attitudes and selfish motives out into the open where everyone sees them for what they are. A prophet makes everything and everyone seem significant and important—important because God made it, or him, or her; significant because God is actively, right now, using it, or him, or her” (48).
“We are practiced in pleading inadequacy in order to avoid living at the best that God calls us to…There is an enormous gap between what we think we can do and what God calls us to do. Our ideas of what we can do or want to do are trivial; God’s ideas for us are grand” (48, 50).
“It is not our feelings that determine our level of participation in life, nor our experience that qualifies us for what we will do and be; it is what God decides about us” (50).
“If we forget that the newspapers are footnotes to Scripture and not the other way around, we will finally be afraid to get out of bed in the morning. Too many of us spend far too much time with the editorial page and not nearly enough with the prophetic vision. We get our interpretation of politics and economics and morals from journalists when we should be getting only information; the meaning of the world is most accurately given to us by God’s Word” (54).
“Places are important—immensely important. Sites and buildings are places where we gather ourselves for fresh action and assemble ourselves for a new endeavor. But standing in a church singing a hymn doesn’t make us holy any more than standing in a barn and neighing makes us a horse.
“And words are important—immensely important. What we say and the way we say it expresses what is most personal and intimate in us. But mindlessly repeating holy words no more create a relationship than saying ‘I love you’ twenty times a day makes us skilled lovers…the right place and the right words are not the life of faith but only the opportunity for faith. They can just as easily be used as a respectable front for a corrupt self” (65-6).
The temple as a “robbers den”: “a secure place to hide between forays into the countryside to pillage weak and unprotected travelers” (66).
“It is not enough to be in the right place; it is not enough to say the right words; it is never enough until we are walking with God twenty-four hours a day everywhere we go, with everything we say an expression of love and faith” (68).
“Josiah’s reform was like a wedding. Jeremiah’s concern was with a marriage” (68).
“The great masters of the imagination do not make things up out of thin air; the direct our attention to what is right before our eyes. They then train us to see it whole—not in fragments but in context, with all the connections…faith is not a leap out of the every day but a plunge into its depths” (75).
“All truth must be experienced personally before it is complete, before it is authentic” (80).
“The task of a prophet is not to smooth things over but make things right. The function of religion is not to make people feel good but to make them good…and peace? Yes, God gives peace. But it is not a peace that gets along with everyone by avoiding the hint of anything unpleasant. It is not a peace achieved by refusing to talk about painful subjects or touch sore spots. It’s a peace that is hard won by learning to pray” (89).
“What [Jeremiah] did fear was worship without astonishment, religion without commitment. He feared getting what he wanted and missing what God wanted. It is still the only thing worthy of our fear” (93).
“Prayer is personal language raised to the highest degree” (99).
“Prayer is never complete and unrelieved solitude; it is, though, carefully protected and skillfully supported intimacy. Prayer is the desire to listen to God firsthand, to speak to God firsthand, and then setting aside the time and making the arrangements to do it” (99).
Authentic prayer: “We take [God] seriously— why else would we be praying?— but we take ourselves more seriously, telling him exactly what he must do for us and when” (101).
“In prayer God is not merely audience, his partner” (103).
“God feels our pains, but he does not indulge our self-pity” (104).
“It is not enough to carry memory verses around with us; we need daily encounters with the resonant voice of God. Prayer is that encounter…prayer is not so much the place where we learn something new, but where God confirms anew the faith to which we are committed” (106).
“That is the secret of his persevering pilgrimage—not thinking with dread about the long road ahead but greeting the present moment, every present moment, with obedient delight, with expectant hope…He was not stuck in a rut; he was committed to a purpose” (114).
Jeremiah learned to live persistently toward God because God lived persistently toward him…God’s persistence is not a dogged repetition of duty. It has all the surprise and creativity, and yet all the certainty and regularity, of a new day” (117).
“Everyone has choices to make. The choices are not trial-and-error guesses; they are informed by the commands of God. These commands do not restrict a natural freedom; they create the conditions of freedom. The first word addressed to Adam by his Creator is a command (Gen. 1:28). Commands assume freedom and encourage response. Addressed by commands we are trained in response-ability” (124).
“Scripture’s task is to tell people, at the risk of their displeasure, the mystery of God and the secrets of their own hearts—to speak out and make a clean breast…Honest writing shows us how badly we are living and how good life is. Enlightenment is not without pain. But the pain, accepted and endured is not a maiming but a purging” (128).
“Giggling in the presence of the holy, cheap joke-making in the atmosphere of the sublime are defenses against an awareness that requires a change of life…Jehoiakim knew that he was hearing the word of God; but if he gave any indication he knew, he would be accountable for responding in obedience…Jehoiakim with his penknife is a parody of all who attempt to use Scripture, who attempt to bring it under control and reduce it to something manageable. Scripture cannot be used. It is God’s word calling us to a personal response” (130).
In crowds the truth is flattened to fit a slogan…The crowd makes spectators of us, passive in the presence of excellence or beauty. The crowd makes consumers of us, inertly taking in whatever is pushed at us. As spectators and consumers the central and foundational elements of our being human—our ability to create, our drive to excel, our capacity to commune with God—atrophy” (135).
Biblical faith has always insisted that there are no special aptitudes for a life with God—no required level of intelligence or degree of morality, no particular spiritual experience. The statement ‘I’m not the religious type’ is inadmissible. There are no religious types. There are only human beings, everyone created for a relationship with God is personal and eternal” (137).
Any part of our lives that is turned over to the crowd makes it and us worse. The larger the crowd, the smaller our lives…If we can’t do it well, we make it larger. We add dollars to our income, rooms to our houses, activities to our schedules, appointments to our calendars. And the quality of life diminishes with each addition.
“On the other hand, every time that we retrieve a part of our life from the crowd and respond to God’s call on us, we are that much more ourselves, more human. Every time we reject the habits of the crowd and practice the disciplines of faith, we become a little more alive” (143-4).
“The aim of the person of faith is not to be as comfortable but to live as deeply and thoroughly as possible—to deal with the reality of life, discover truth, create beauty, act out love…The only opportunity you will ever have to live by faith is in the circumstances you are provided this very day” (152-3).
“Exile (being where we don’t want to be with people we don’t want to be with) forces a decision: Will I focus my attention on what is wrong with the world and feel sorry for myself? Or will I focus my energy on how I can live at my best in this place I find myself…We can say: ‘I don’t like it; I want to be where I was ten years ago’…Or we can say: ‘I will do my best with what is here. Far more important than the climate of this place, the economics of this place, the neighbors of this place, is the God of this place. God is here with me. What I am experiencing right now is on ground that was created by him and with people whom he loves’” (153).
Zedekiah shows that good intentions are worthless if they are not coupled with character development. We don’t become whole persons by merely wanting to become whole, by consulting the right prophets, by reading the right book. Intentions most mature into commitments if we are to become persons with definition, with character, with substance…goodness does not just happen…It requires careful nurture, disciplined training, long development” (164).
“The whole life, the complete life, cannot be lived with haughty independence. Our goal cannot be to not need anyone…It is easier to extend friendship to others than to receive it ourselves. In giving friendship we share strength, but in receiving it we show weakness” (166).
“Practical” is biblical but biblical practicality is different from what we/the world thinks is practical. “Every person is made for a relationship with God, and without that relationship acknowledged and nurtured we live falsely and therefore impractically. People try to be good without God and it doesn’t work. We tried to live a good life and not the God life, and it doesn’t work…The most practical thing we can do is hear what God says and act in appropriate response to it” (171, 178).
“Judgment is not the last word; it is never the last word. Judgment is necessary because of centuries of hardheartedness; its proper work is to open our hearts to the reality beyond ourselves, to crack the carapace of self-sufficiency so that we can experience the inrushing grace of the healing, merciful, forgiving God” (173).
“Hope commits us to actions that connect with God’s promises…Hope acts on the conviction that God will complete the work that he has begun even when the appearances, especially when the appearances, oppose it…Hope-determined actions participate in the future that God is bringing into being” (176, 178).
“The Bible makes it clear that every time that there is a story of faith, it is completely original. God’s creative genius is endless” (13).
“It is enormously difficult to portray goodness in an attractive way; it is much easier to make a scoundrel interesting” (14).
The difficult pastoral art is to encourage people to grow in excellence and to live selflessly, at one in the same time to lose the self and find the self” (15).
“It is easier to define oneself minimally (‘a featherless biped’) and live securely within that definition than to be defined maximally (‘little less than God’) and live adventurously in that reality” (18).
“Some people as they grow up become less. As children they have glorious ideas of who they are and of what life has for them. Thirty years later we find that they have settled for something grubby and inane. What accounts for the exchange of childhood aspiration to the adult anemia?
“Other people as they grow up become more. Life is not an inevitable decline into dullness; for some it is an ascent into excellence” (24).
“Any time that we move from personal names to abstract labels or graphs or statistics, we are less in touch with reality and diminished in our capacity to deal with what is best and at the center of life…if I am frequently and authoritatively treated impersonally, I begin to think of myself the same way. I consider myself in terms of how I fit into the statistical norms; I evaluate myself in terms of my usefulness; I assess my worth in response to how much others want me or don’t want me” (26-7).
“One of the supreme tasks of the faith community is to announce to us early and clearly the kind of life into which we can grow, to help us set our sights on what it means to be a human being complete” (29).
“Anything other than our name—title, job description, number, role—is less than a name. Apart from the name that marks us as uniquely created and personally addressed, we slide into fantasies that are out of touch with the world as it is and so we live in effectively, irresponsibly. Or we live by the stereotypes in which other people cast us that are out of touch with the uniqueness in which God has created us, and so live diminished into boredom, the brightness leaking away” (32).
“Before it ever crossed our minds that God might be important, God singled us out as important. Before we were formed in the womb, God knew us. We are known before we know.
“This realization has a practical result: no longer do we run here and there, panicked and anxious, searching for the answers to life. Our lives are not puzzles to be figured out. Rather, we come to God, who knows us and reveals to us the truth of our lives. The fundamental mistake is to begin with ourselves and not God.
“If we are going to live appropriately, we must be aware that we are living in the middle of a story that was begun and will be concluded by another. And this other is God.
“My identity does not begin when I begin to understand myself. There’s something previous to what I think about myself, and it is what God thinks of me. That means that everything I think and feel is by nature a response, and the one to whom I respond is God. I never speak the first word. I never make the first move” (38).
“Many critical things happen before I am conceived and born that predetermined the reality that I experience (biological, geographical, political, scientific)…But the most important things are what God did before I was conceived, before I was born. He knew me, therefore I am no accident; he chose me, therefore I cannot be a zero; he gave me, therefore I must not be a consumer” (43-4).
“A prophet is obsessed with God, and a prophet is immersed in the now” (47).
“The work of the prophet is to call people to live well, to live rightly—to be human. But it is more than a call to say something, it is a call to live out the message” (47).
“A prophet wakes us up from our sleepy complacency so that we see the great and stunning drama that is our existence, and then pushes us onto the stage playing our parts whether we think we are ready or not. A prophet angers us by rejecting our euphemisms and ripping off our disguises, then dragging our heartless attitudes and selfish motives out into the open where everyone sees them for what they are. A prophet makes everything and everyone seem significant and important—important because God made it, or him, or her; significant because God is actively, right now, using it, or him, or her” (48).
“We are practiced in pleading inadequacy in order to avoid living at the best that God calls us to…There is an enormous gap between what we think we can do and what God calls us to do. Our ideas of what we can do or want to do are trivial; God’s ideas for us are grand” (48, 50).
“It is not our feelings that determine our level of participation in life, nor our experience that qualifies us for what we will do and be; it is what God decides about us” (50).
“If we forget that the newspapers are footnotes to Scripture and not the other way around, we will finally be afraid to get out of bed in the morning. Too many of us spend far too much time with the editorial page and not nearly enough with the prophetic vision. We get our interpretation of politics and economics and morals from journalists when we should be getting only information; the meaning of the world is most accurately given to us by God’s Word” (54).
“Places are important—immensely important. Sites and buildings are places where we gather ourselves for fresh action and assemble ourselves for a new endeavor. But standing in a church singing a hymn doesn’t make us holy any more than standing in a barn and neighing makes us a horse.
“And words are important—immensely important. What we say and the way we say it expresses what is most personal and intimate in us. But mindlessly repeating holy words no more create a relationship than saying ‘I love you’ twenty times a day makes us skilled lovers…the right place and the right words are not the life of faith but only the opportunity for faith. They can just as easily be used as a respectable front for a corrupt self” (65-6).
The temple as a “robbers den”: “a secure place to hide between forays into the countryside to pillage weak and unprotected travelers” (66).
“It is not enough to be in the right place; it is not enough to say the right words; it is never enough until we are walking with God twenty-four hours a day everywhere we go, with everything we say an expression of love and faith” (68).
“Josiah’s reform was like a wedding. Jeremiah’s concern was with a marriage” (68).
“The great masters of the imagination do not make things up out of thin air; the direct our attention to what is right before our eyes. They then train us to see it whole—not in fragments but in context, with all the connections…faith is not a leap out of the every day but a plunge into its depths” (75).
“All truth must be experienced personally before it is complete, before it is authentic” (80).
“The task of a prophet is not to smooth things over but make things right. The function of religion is not to make people feel good but to make them good…and peace? Yes, God gives peace. But it is not a peace that gets along with everyone by avoiding the hint of anything unpleasant. It is not a peace achieved by refusing to talk about painful subjects or touch sore spots. It’s a peace that is hard won by learning to pray” (89).
“What [Jeremiah] did fear was worship without astonishment, religion without commitment. He feared getting what he wanted and missing what God wanted. It is still the only thing worthy of our fear” (93).
“Prayer is personal language raised to the highest degree” (99).
“Prayer is never complete and unrelieved solitude; it is, though, carefully protected and skillfully supported intimacy. Prayer is the desire to listen to God firsthand, to speak to God firsthand, and then setting aside the time and making the arrangements to do it” (99).
Authentic prayer: “We take [God] seriously— why else would we be praying?— but we take ourselves more seriously, telling him exactly what he must do for us and when” (101).
“In prayer God is not merely audience, his partner” (103).
“God feels our pains, but he does not indulge our self-pity” (104).
“It is not enough to carry memory verses around with us; we need daily encounters with the resonant voice of God. Prayer is that encounter…prayer is not so much the place where we learn something new, but where God confirms anew the faith to which we are committed” (106).
“That is the secret of his persevering pilgrimage—not thinking with dread about the long road ahead but greeting the present moment, every present moment, with obedient delight, with expectant hope…He was not stuck in a rut; he was committed to a purpose” (114).
Jeremiah learned to live persistently toward God because God lived persistently toward him…God’s persistence is not a dogged repetition of duty. It has all the surprise and creativity, and yet all the certainty and regularity, of a new day” (117).
“Everyone has choices to make. The choices are not trial-and-error guesses; they are informed by the commands of God. These commands do not restrict a natural freedom; they create the conditions of freedom. The first word addressed to Adam by his Creator is a command (Gen. 1:28). Commands assume freedom and encourage response. Addressed by commands we are trained in response-ability” (124).
“Scripture’s task is to tell people, at the risk of their displeasure, the mystery of God and the secrets of their own hearts—to speak out and make a clean breast…Honest writing shows us how badly we are living and how good life is. Enlightenment is not without pain. But the pain, accepted and endured is not a maiming but a purging” (128).
“Giggling in the presence of the holy, cheap joke-making in the atmosphere of the sublime are defenses against an awareness that requires a change of life…Jehoiakim knew that he was hearing the word of God; but if he gave any indication he knew, he would be accountable for responding in obedience…Jehoiakim with his penknife is a parody of all who attempt to use Scripture, who attempt to bring it under control and reduce it to something manageable. Scripture cannot be used. It is God’s word calling us to a personal response” (130).
In crowds the truth is flattened to fit a slogan…The crowd makes spectators of us, passive in the presence of excellence or beauty. The crowd makes consumers of us, inertly taking in whatever is pushed at us. As spectators and consumers the central and foundational elements of our being human—our ability to create, our drive to excel, our capacity to commune with God—atrophy” (135).
Biblical faith has always insisted that there are no special aptitudes for a life with God—no required level of intelligence or degree of morality, no particular spiritual experience. The statement ‘I’m not the religious type’ is inadmissible. There are no religious types. There are only human beings, everyone created for a relationship with God is personal and eternal” (137).
Any part of our lives that is turned over to the crowd makes it and us worse. The larger the crowd, the smaller our lives…If we can’t do it well, we make it larger. We add dollars to our income, rooms to our houses, activities to our schedules, appointments to our calendars. And the quality of life diminishes with each addition.
“On the other hand, every time that we retrieve a part of our life from the crowd and respond to God’s call on us, we are that much more ourselves, more human. Every time we reject the habits of the crowd and practice the disciplines of faith, we become a little more alive” (143-4).
“The aim of the person of faith is not to be as comfortable but to live as deeply and thoroughly as possible—to deal with the reality of life, discover truth, create beauty, act out love…The only opportunity you will ever have to live by faith is in the circumstances you are provided this very day” (152-3).
“Exile (being where we don’t want to be with people we don’t want to be with) forces a decision: Will I focus my attention on what is wrong with the world and feel sorry for myself? Or will I focus my energy on how I can live at my best in this place I find myself…We can say: ‘I don’t like it; I want to be where I was ten years ago’…Or we can say: ‘I will do my best with what is here. Far more important than the climate of this place, the economics of this place, the neighbors of this place, is the God of this place. God is here with me. What I am experiencing right now is on ground that was created by him and with people whom he loves’” (153).
Zedekiah shows that good intentions are worthless if they are not coupled with character development. We don’t become whole persons by merely wanting to become whole, by consulting the right prophets, by reading the right book. Intentions most mature into commitments if we are to become persons with definition, with character, with substance…goodness does not just happen…It requires careful nurture, disciplined training, long development” (164).
“The whole life, the complete life, cannot be lived with haughty independence. Our goal cannot be to not need anyone…It is easier to extend friendship to others than to receive it ourselves. In giving friendship we share strength, but in receiving it we show weakness” (166).
“Practical” is biblical but biblical practicality is different from what we/the world thinks is practical. “Every person is made for a relationship with God, and without that relationship acknowledged and nurtured we live falsely and therefore impractically. People try to be good without God and it doesn’t work. We tried to live a good life and not the God life, and it doesn’t work…The most practical thing we can do is hear what God says and act in appropriate response to it” (171, 178).
“Judgment is not the last word; it is never the last word. Judgment is necessary because of centuries of hardheartedness; its proper work is to open our hearts to the reality beyond ourselves, to crack the carapace of self-sufficiency so that we can experience the inrushing grace of the healing, merciful, forgiving God” (173).
“Hope commits us to actions that connect with God’s promises…Hope acts on the conviction that God will complete the work that he has begun even when the appearances, especially when the appearances, oppose it…Hope-determined actions participate in the future that God is bringing into being” (176, 178).
August 16, 2019
I read this simultaneously with reading Jeremiah; what a powerful experience, illuminating so much about Jeremiah’s life and times. Peterson’s insights for contemporary life are timeless and provocative. A rich book, challenging me in timely ways.
February 14, 2014
Run with the Horses is a study in the life of Jeremiah. Peterson follows the book of Jeremiah covering every major event with his attempt at making the life of a prophet the standard for normal Christian life. The admirable goal of the author is made stronger by the character and text which was chosen. Prophecy books are some of the most underused Scriptural texts. Prophets by their very nature are considered mostly unrelatable and outcast from mainstream society. The result is a study which pulls the average Christian into a world unlike the norm with challenges such as dedication to God, risks of hope and boldness in faith.
I've read several other books by Eugene Peterson including Eat this Book and A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. Run with the Horses is not his best work but it is certainly impactful on the reader. The chapters "I'm only a Boy!" and "I Bought the Field at Anathoth" were especially moving. Peterson skillfully and responsibly connects normal expectations of Christian life to high and lofty standards set by the peculiar behavior of a prophet. In the end, we are all challenged to be a little more like Jeremiah.
I've read several other books by Eugene Peterson including Eat this Book and A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. Run with the Horses is not his best work but it is certainly impactful on the reader. The chapters "I'm only a Boy!" and "I Bought the Field at Anathoth" were especially moving. Peterson skillfully and responsibly connects normal expectations of Christian life to high and lofty standards set by the peculiar behavior of a prophet. In the end, we are all challenged to be a little more like Jeremiah.
February 21, 2017
Eugene Peterson is the granddad you never had. His ways of communicating faith, scripture, and 'Christian living' is beyond phenomenal. I read this because Bono said it had "kept him sane," and funny enough the book is almost a full argument against our pop-culture and it does a fantastic job at it. But the replacement of that culture is not appealing, at least parts aren't in my opinion. He assumes things about the Bible and other ideas that I would love to see challenged. I guess I had an image of Eugene as a devout liberalist, but he stays very much within Orthodoxy while critiquing Evangelical America. I can't fully pinpoint, but the book left me a bit disappointed. At the same time, it was probably me having the wrong expectations for both book and the writer. And I must say, this for laypeople is a rather good read & it does weirdly compel me back to a more traditional / orthodox form of reading scripture and viewing the Christian faith.
January 28, 2023
The book is Peterson's study of Jeremiah.
I was waiting for the book to pull me in as other Peterson books have. It did not
I really wanted to like the book but it seems the audiobook did not have the power to pull my mind into it to trigger my imagination of Jeremiah's life,
I was waiting for the book to pull me in as other Peterson books have. It did not
I really wanted to like the book but it seems the audiobook did not have the power to pull my mind into it to trigger my imagination of Jeremiah's life,
Read
July 4, 2016My life verse is Jeremiah 12:5 "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete (or run) with horses? Lovely book about the life of Jeremiah. He was radical.
May 7, 2019
You know what attracted me to this book at first, the title. Run With The Horses – The Quest for Life At Its Best was written by Eugene Peterson in 1983. But also the author, I like Eugene Peterson’ writing, it is almost novel poetic in style, but with biblical application. Now this book has been out for over 25 years, however so much good application that can be gained by reading it. The popular message of today is live your best life or do what makes you happy, this book will be very counter to that message, as that is not what life is about. So, it is very timely that this revision is being released!
This is new revision has a commemorative wrote by Eugene’s son’s Eric Peterson. “What you thought was a flow is actually a gift to us all. In ways that continue to astound me, God consistently chooses to accomplish divine purpose through the agency of human imperfection. Through the weaknesses and short comings of the clay pots – which are our lives – uncommonly beautiful things emerge.”
This book goes through the life of the prophet Jeremiah. The title is from Jeremiah 12:5 If you’re worn out in this footrace with men, what makes you think you can race against horses? What a great summary for what this book is about. Eugene writes, his life is not an American pursuit of happiness. It is more like God’s pursuit of Jeremiah. We people have it backwards if we think the Gospel is about our happiness and what God can give us. Eugene writes, “People, aimless and bored, amuse themselves with trivia and trash. Neither the adventure of goodness not the pursuits of righteousness gets headlines.”
What you will see through reading Run With The Horses, is how Eugene took biographical parts of the book of Jeremiah and reflected on them personally and pastorally in the context of present, everyday life. What he finds is the only way that any of us can live our best is in a life of radical faith in God. “It is not enough to be in the right place; it is not enough to say the right words, it is never enough until we are walking with God twenty-four hours a day everywhere we go, with everything we say as an expression of love and faith.” He says, “We need to be stretched out of dull moral habits, shaken out of pretty and trivial busy work. Where we are and will be is compounded with who God is and what He does…Before Jeremiah knew God, God knew Jeremiah…Our lives are not puzzles to be figured out. Rather, we come to God, who knows us and reveals to us the truth of our lives. The fundamental mistake is to begin with ourselves and not God. God is the center from which all life develops.”
This is a hard book to put down once you start, I enjoy the way Eugene writes and how he brings out convicting truth that is needed. There is so many nuggets to be gained in his writing. This would be a great book to read after you have read through the book of Jeremiah.
This is new revision has a commemorative wrote by Eugene’s son’s Eric Peterson. “What you thought was a flow is actually a gift to us all. In ways that continue to astound me, God consistently chooses to accomplish divine purpose through the agency of human imperfection. Through the weaknesses and short comings of the clay pots – which are our lives – uncommonly beautiful things emerge.”
This book goes through the life of the prophet Jeremiah. The title is from Jeremiah 12:5 If you’re worn out in this footrace with men, what makes you think you can race against horses? What a great summary for what this book is about. Eugene writes, his life is not an American pursuit of happiness. It is more like God’s pursuit of Jeremiah. We people have it backwards if we think the Gospel is about our happiness and what God can give us. Eugene writes, “People, aimless and bored, amuse themselves with trivia and trash. Neither the adventure of goodness not the pursuits of righteousness gets headlines.”
What you will see through reading Run With The Horses, is how Eugene took biographical parts of the book of Jeremiah and reflected on them personally and pastorally in the context of present, everyday life. What he finds is the only way that any of us can live our best is in a life of radical faith in God. “It is not enough to be in the right place; it is not enough to say the right words, it is never enough until we are walking with God twenty-four hours a day everywhere we go, with everything we say as an expression of love and faith.” He says, “We need to be stretched out of dull moral habits, shaken out of pretty and trivial busy work. Where we are and will be is compounded with who God is and what He does…Before Jeremiah knew God, God knew Jeremiah…Our lives are not puzzles to be figured out. Rather, we come to God, who knows us and reveals to us the truth of our lives. The fundamental mistake is to begin with ourselves and not God. God is the center from which all life develops.”
This is a hard book to put down once you start, I enjoy the way Eugene writes and how he brings out convicting truth that is needed. There is so many nuggets to be gained in his writing. This would be a great book to read after you have read through the book of Jeremiah.
May 7, 2019
This commemorative edition of Eugene H. Peterson’s classic, Run with the Horses, intrigued me. Heretofore, my general impression of Jeremiah came from the word jeremiad—a prolonged lamentation or mournful complaint. It doesn’t sound much like something an optimistic person like myself would want to spend time on.
Peterson made me see Jeremiah in a completely different light. Yes, Jeremiah lamented, warned, and annoyed his contemporaries with his prophecies from God. But he also lived an incredible life of obedience and faith in a world gone wild.
According to Peterson, “My procedure here is to select the biographical parts of the book of Jeremiah and reflect on them personally and pastorally in the context of present, everyday life.”
And he does just that. He takes the incidents from Jeremiah’s life—the strange, unique, ordinary, and terrible, and shows us how Jeremiah maintained his faith through each and every one.
For Peterson, “The fundamental mistake is to begin with ourselves and not God. God is the center from which all life develops.” And Jeremiah began with God. We need to do the same, because, according to Peterson, “we are living in the middle of the story.” Only the Author knows the entire story, so we must go to him for information, direction, and wisdom.
Grab a Highlighter Before You Begin
I don’t think I’ve highlighted a book this much since my university days. Jeremiah has wisdom on every aspect of life, and Peterson does a marvelous job of sussing out the truths. Instead of feeling depressed whilst reading Run with the Horses, I found myself encouraged. All too often the state of the world depresses me if I think on it too long. But Peterson reminds us:
“And if we are going to live in the world, attentive to each particularity, loving it through all the bad times without being repelled by it or afraid of it or conformed to it, we are going to have to face its immense evil, but know at the same time that it is a limited and controlled evil.”
I also fall into the trap of arguing with fellow Christians about trivial things (such as how to worship, when to worship, what a passage in the Bible means). But Peterson reminds us that “Believers argue with God; skeptics argue with each other.” This brought me up short. Do I argue for the sake of argument and thus waste emotional and mental energy?
I’ll read this book over again more than once. And next time, I’ll read the book of Jeremiah along with it. You don’t have to have a theology degree to understand Run with the Horses. And reading the book of Jeremiah along with Peterson’s book will help you dig in to an important book for out time. After all, God still needs people of incredible obedience and faith living in a world gone wild.
Peterson made me see Jeremiah in a completely different light. Yes, Jeremiah lamented, warned, and annoyed his contemporaries with his prophecies from God. But he also lived an incredible life of obedience and faith in a world gone wild.
According to Peterson, “My procedure here is to select the biographical parts of the book of Jeremiah and reflect on them personally and pastorally in the context of present, everyday life.”
And he does just that. He takes the incidents from Jeremiah’s life—the strange, unique, ordinary, and terrible, and shows us how Jeremiah maintained his faith through each and every one.
For Peterson, “The fundamental mistake is to begin with ourselves and not God. God is the center from which all life develops.” And Jeremiah began with God. We need to do the same, because, according to Peterson, “we are living in the middle of the story.” Only the Author knows the entire story, so we must go to him for information, direction, and wisdom.
Grab a Highlighter Before You Begin
I don’t think I’ve highlighted a book this much since my university days. Jeremiah has wisdom on every aspect of life, and Peterson does a marvelous job of sussing out the truths. Instead of feeling depressed whilst reading Run with the Horses, I found myself encouraged. All too often the state of the world depresses me if I think on it too long. But Peterson reminds us:
“And if we are going to live in the world, attentive to each particularity, loving it through all the bad times without being repelled by it or afraid of it or conformed to it, we are going to have to face its immense evil, but know at the same time that it is a limited and controlled evil.”
I also fall into the trap of arguing with fellow Christians about trivial things (such as how to worship, when to worship, what a passage in the Bible means). But Peterson reminds us that “Believers argue with God; skeptics argue with each other.” This brought me up short. Do I argue for the sake of argument and thus waste emotional and mental energy?
I’ll read this book over again more than once. And next time, I’ll read the book of Jeremiah along with it. You don’t have to have a theology degree to understand Run with the Horses. And reading the book of Jeremiah along with Peterson’s book will help you dig in to an important book for out time. After all, God still needs people of incredible obedience and faith living in a world gone wild.
November 19, 2018
I want to remember this passage:
The Intimacy of Prayer
Nearly everyone believes in God and throw casual offhand remarks in his general direction from time to time. But prayer is something quite different. Suppose yourself at dinner with a person whom you very much want to be with- a friend, a lover, a person important to you. The dinner is in a fine restaurant where everything is arranged to give you a sense of privacy. There is adequate illumination at your table with everything else in shadow. You are aware of other persons and other activity in the room, but they do not intrude on your intimacy. There is talking and listening. There are moments of silence, full of meaning. From time to time a waiter comes to your table. You ask questions of him; you place your order with him; you ask to have your glass refilled; you send the broccoli back because it arrived cold; you thank him for his attentive service and leave a tip. You depart, still in companionship with the person whom you dined, but out on the street conversation is less personal, more casual.
That is the picture of prayer. The person with whom we set aside time for intimacy, for this deepest and more personal conversation, is God. At such times the world is not banished, but it is in the shadows, on the periphery. Prayer is never complete and relieved solitude; it is, though, carefully protected and skillfully supported intimacy. Prayer is the desire to listen to God firsthand, to speak to God firsthand, and then setting aside the time and making the arrangements to do it. It issues from the conviction that the living God is immensely important to me and that what goes on between us demands my exclusie attention.
But there is a parody of prayer that we engage in all too often. The details are the same but with two differences: the person across the table is Self and the waiter is God. This waiter-God is essential but peripheral. You can't have the dinner without him, but he is not an intimate participant in it. He is someone to whom you give orders, make complaints, and maybe at the end, give him thanks. The person you are absorbed in is Self- your moods, your ideas, your interests, your satisfactions or lack of them. When you leave the restaurant you forget about the waiter until the next time. If it is a place you go regularly, you might even remember his name.
The Intimacy of Prayer
Nearly everyone believes in God and throw casual offhand remarks in his general direction from time to time. But prayer is something quite different. Suppose yourself at dinner with a person whom you very much want to be with- a friend, a lover, a person important to you. The dinner is in a fine restaurant where everything is arranged to give you a sense of privacy. There is adequate illumination at your table with everything else in shadow. You are aware of other persons and other activity in the room, but they do not intrude on your intimacy. There is talking and listening. There are moments of silence, full of meaning. From time to time a waiter comes to your table. You ask questions of him; you place your order with him; you ask to have your glass refilled; you send the broccoli back because it arrived cold; you thank him for his attentive service and leave a tip. You depart, still in companionship with the person whom you dined, but out on the street conversation is less personal, more casual.
That is the picture of prayer. The person with whom we set aside time for intimacy, for this deepest and more personal conversation, is God. At such times the world is not banished, but it is in the shadows, on the periphery. Prayer is never complete and relieved solitude; it is, though, carefully protected and skillfully supported intimacy. Prayer is the desire to listen to God firsthand, to speak to God firsthand, and then setting aside the time and making the arrangements to do it. It issues from the conviction that the living God is immensely important to me and that what goes on between us demands my exclusie attention.
But there is a parody of prayer that we engage in all too often. The details are the same but with two differences: the person across the table is Self and the waiter is God. This waiter-God is essential but peripheral. You can't have the dinner without him, but he is not an intimate participant in it. He is someone to whom you give orders, make complaints, and maybe at the end, give him thanks. The person you are absorbed in is Self- your moods, your ideas, your interests, your satisfactions or lack of them. When you leave the restaurant you forget about the waiter until the next time. If it is a place you go regularly, you might even remember his name.
June 3, 2020
I read this in the early eighties just before it was published when I worked for the publisher. I loved how Peterson turned a series of hard-to-digest prophetic passages into rich, deep spiritual insights by grounding them in the life of Jeremiah himself. This took some detective work since the Bible provides only a few biographical clues. (I gave it only 4 stars because when I reread it a few years back I was surprised to find the writing wooden and not as accessible as I had remembered.) But this is the point that has stayed with me ever since: speaking God’s Word to God’s people can be a thankless, if not dangerous, path. Jeremiah was imprisoned in a dry cistern at one point. Often, almost everyone was against him. This has helped me in two ways. First, I keep this in mind if I am in agreement with all my fellow Christians about opposing something but there is something nagging in my mind that says, "Still, what if . . ." I listen to that hesitation. Second, when I am troubled that what I think it means to follow Jesus is opposed to or different from what the Christians I know best think, I remember that walking a lonely path is part of what it means to follow God and, besides, Jeremiah had it much worse.
June 16, 2021
2.7263 stars. By trotting through the book of Jeremiah, Peterson extracted various lessons to encourage the reader to live a similar life of focused fervency.
Peterson helped me discover the humanity of the infamous prophet; it was encouraging not only to know that a divinely appointed oracle of God struggled with doubt and despair, but also that someone so obviously human could achieve a life of such devotion and assuredness in the Lord.
However, I felt Peterson took lots of interpretive freedoms with the prophetic book in order to substantiate what sounded like trivial self-help maxims, especially ones related to standing out from the ho-hum crowd. Also, I found his suggestions that the pattern of Jeremiah’s life, including his special call by God, can be so easily applied to the life of a church member in the new covenant to be problematic and unhelpful. Even though this book wasn’t an attempt at an academic or philosophical exploration of Jeremiah, it’s still difficult to wholly accept and rely on words of wisdom if the rationale behind them lacks nuance and explanation.
Peterson helped me discover the humanity of the infamous prophet; it was encouraging not only to know that a divinely appointed oracle of God struggled with doubt and despair, but also that someone so obviously human could achieve a life of such devotion and assuredness in the Lord.
However, I felt Peterson took lots of interpretive freedoms with the prophetic book in order to substantiate what sounded like trivial self-help maxims, especially ones related to standing out from the ho-hum crowd. Also, I found his suggestions that the pattern of Jeremiah’s life, including his special call by God, can be so easily applied to the life of a church member in the new covenant to be problematic and unhelpful. Even though this book wasn’t an attempt at an academic or philosophical exploration of Jeremiah, it’s still difficult to wholly accept and rely on words of wisdom if the rationale behind them lacks nuance and explanation.
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