Author Interview: Chris Maxwell
I met Chris Maxwell through my association with the Evangelical Press Association, where he serves unofficially as our chaplain. He loves writing and books, and I think you need to know about his latest. Here’s an interview I did with him:
Q: What motivated you to write Things We’ve Handed Down: Twelve Letters I Leave for You—your twelfth book? And what do you hope readers will receive from it?
A: I wrote thinking, “What if this is the last book I write?” I hope to write more books, but I wrote in that mood. Death and sadness and sickness were on my mind as I wrote. Health issues. The suicides of five friends. Counseling many people who were battling deep sorrow. I wanted to meet readers in that place, offering true hope.
Q: Why did you choose to feature books you've read to “hand down” those things?
A: Remembering books that had a deep influence on me was a different twist for this book. Why not about lessons I have learned from books which impacted my life? I loved that angle. I went back and re-read those books . They hit me deeply as I began writing about them. Doing so was just what I needed during this season. I hope it has the same affect on my readers.
Q: Why did you write each chapter as letter?
A: Using book titles as chapter titles was a different approach from anything I’d done in previous books. And I wanted it to feel personal. One of my friends took her own life, and I thought, “How can I write letters to her daughter? How can I send her letters about lessons learned from books while she’s grieving and adjusting to this new life?”
Q: Talk to us about a few of the chapters.
A: I’ll begin with the first three: Disappointment with God, by Philip Yancey; Wounds Are Where Light Enters, by Walter Wangerin Jr.; and The Wounded Healer, by Henri J.M. Nouwen. My book doesn’t start with drama or humor. I begin with disappointment. What so many are facing. What so many are enduring. Yancey’s book helped me through many seasons of disappointment and mourning; I wrote hoping the letter would do the same for my readers. I argue that the best way to deal with disappointment—even if it is toward God—is “with God.” Not away from Him. But with Him. Even when wounded through the disappointments. And realizing the One who brings healing to us in our disappointment and through our wounds is he, Himself, wounded. He is the wounded healer.
The next chapters—letters—continue that journey of healing. We experience healing through these three words: love, acceptance, forgiveness. We find it in mountains and waterfalls as I reflect on Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard, Life is Mostly Edges, by Calvin Miller, and Surprised by Joy, by C. S. Lewis. We realize God is our Artist, crafting us in His image and offering us deep hope. We can then live with wishful thinking (as Frederick Buechner wrote) and wake early each morning (as Mary Oliver wrote). The letters from books have been handed down to us. They move through disappointment and wounds toward deep joy and true hope.
Q: You’ve covered eleven chapters with eleven book. What's your final letter?
A: I end with a letter having a title borrowed from on a book by Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. Instead of a sprint, a quick fix, a life of every trend and thrill, I want to hand down an invitation to the marathon. Running the race. Enduring the adventure. Staying. Refusing to quit.
Q: You selected such a variety of books and authors. What were some experiences you recall as you were writing this book?
A: Five suicides, as I mentioned. That brings wounds. My walks on Anna Ruby Falls near Helen, Georgia. My interviews with those who have dealt with painful things that have been handed down to them and also hopeful things that have been handed down to them. Breakfast by the mountains. Reading to a woman a few days before she passed away. Leading the funeral service of a friend who took her own life. Walking near the railroad track as a child with a grandfather. Watching a student move from being controlled by wounds toward healing. My wife in the hospital. Fog. Snow. A Christmas tree. Napkins. Statistics of disappointments. Stories of pain and hope and endurance. Locked doors, delicious food, dear friends, and the battle for endurance.
Q: Was it hard to limit yourself to only twelve books?
A: I actually wrote about many more than the twelve books I used as the chapter titles. The introduction and conclusion are both based on books. Some chapters mention many other books and writers. I show the impact books can have on us. When we read books, the books can be reading us. The words and stories can shift our narratives. I appreciate “narrative” even more because of my battle with encephalitis, severe brain damage, and epilepsy. I’ve had to spend time learning to read again. That was difficult. That was a major season of disappointment. The writing and the reading were a huge part of my adjusting, relearning, and enduring. I am so thankful for words and stories and poems. I do not ignore them. I cherish them, desiring to hand down hope to others through words.
Q: You serve as Campus Pastor at Emmanuel University, speak around the world, pastor a church, write books, help others write books, and host video teaching for a denomination. How can people invite you to speak? How can we pick up copies Things We’ve Handed Down or your other books?
A: The books are on Amazon and available on my site. People can contact me at CMaxMan11@gmail.com. Our podcast is “Next Step Leadership.”
Website:
chrismaxwell.me
Facebook:
facebook.com/PauseWithChrisMaxwell
Twitter:
@CMaxMan
Instagram:
CMaxMan
Podcast:
https://nextstepleadership.buzzsprout.com/
Chris Maxwell, the guy in red above, served nineteen years as lead pastor in Orlando, Florida, after five years of youth ministry. He’s now in his eighteenth year as Campus Pastor and Director of Spiritual Life at Emmanuel University. He speaks in churches, conventions, and schools, and is the co-host of Next Step Leadership podcast. Chris has been the editor or ghostwriter of over forty books and is the author of twelve, including “Things We’ve Handed Down: Twelve Letters I Leave for You,” “Pause With Jesus,” “Underwater,” “a slow and sudden God: 40 years of wonder,” and “Equilibrium: 31 Ways to Stay Balanced on Life’s Uneven Surfaces.” Chris also serves as Pastor of Goldmine Church in Royston GA, speaks as an Epilepsy Advocate for UCB Pharma, writes with the Evangelical Press Association, hosts the IPHC Ministerial Credentialing Process videos, works with the leadership council of LifePoint Conference, serves as a consultant with Encephalitis 411, and soon begins hosting a new series of his previous show “Pause with Chris Maxwell.”
