"Exit the Cave" (Blaine Hogan)

TITLE: Exit the Cave: Embracing a Life of Courage, Creativity, and Radical Imagination
AUTHOR: Blaine Hogan
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2023, (256 pages).
 

Each of us has our own cave. It is a place where we could feel comfortable, relaxed, and honest with ourselves. For author Blaine Hogan, his cave is more than that. It is about him boldly taking a step out of the cave of addiction, depression, self-pity, and encountering health issues among his loved ones. He shares about past broken relationships, broken marriages, and emotional struggles.  As an actor, he toggles from the highs of success to the lows of addiction. He shares his ups and downs through personal stories told with brutal honesty. Some of his most painful episodes were about the hurts he had inflicted on others and the resultant turmoil that tormented him emotionally and spiritually. He thought singing can help him feel better but any positive vibes didn't last. He shares about his constant travels because of his gigs. His search for peace continues with his foray into theological education in Seattle. While disappointed with the city and the school for various reasons, he soon finds inspiration in the stories of Hagar and Sarah. He would be challenged by two simple questions:

1. Where have you come from?
2. Where are you going?

These two questions would gradually help sprout other questions that not only probe his inner self and relationships but also his purpose in life. The bulk of this book deals with the way he answers these two questions. On the question of where he came from, Hogan shares honestly about his past, celebrating the highs as well as admitting the lows. The second question about where he is going deals with his desire to move forward from his checkered past. His journey in search of healing does not come easy. He summarizes his life with "four straight lines" or more specifically, our imperfect efforts to draw four perfectly straight lines. In a throwback to life in general, he shows us that we ought not be chained by our imperfections. Spirituality is essentially about not giving up in spite of our imperfect drawings of life. This is such a liberating thing to learn. 

My Thoughts

Hogan shows us that it is entirely possible, even liberating to just live and let live. Don't be too anxious about having the perfect results that many of us crave. As long as we are true to ourselves, and as long as we trust God to lead the way, we should always do our best and let God handle the rest. Why should anyone read this book? Let me give three reasons.

First, it is an honest assessment of how broken this world is. Christians are in the world but not of the world. It is not true that Christians no longer have any problems once they believe in Jesus. In fact, faith opens us up to courageously face up to our challenges in life. Hogan's stories can be a way to inspire us not to be bogged down by our past but to remember that in Christ, we are free to get up every time we fall. Second, this book reads like a memoir but is more like a collection of personal stories. This collection shows us the journey of a man in search of healing and meaning. If we are honest with ourselves, we all need to make such journeys too, albeit in different specifics. In fact, when we learn to tell our stories, we get a better sense of where we have gone and where we ought to be going. Hogan's journey through the two fundamental questions should inspire us to do the same. Finally, it is always a good thing to take stock of our lives through reflections and remembering of our past. That way, we learn from past mistakes. We remember the good and bad times. We do not forget the lessons learned. Failure is often thought to be the seed of success. Through that process, we become better people as we grow in wisdom. May this book inspire us in unique ways that speak to us.

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Books and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.