Wisdom Chaser by Nathan Foster

I have read quite a few books this summer — at some point, I’ll do quick reviews on them all but this one deserves its own post. Nathan Foster is the son of world famous author Richard Foster (Celebration of Discipline, Streams of Living Water). The subtitle of the book really tells the arch of the story – Finding my Father at 14,000 feet.

Being from Colorado, I read with delicious envy his descriptions of Long’s Peak, Mount of the Holy Cross, Mount Quandry, and other adventures in the Rocky Mountains. What ambushed me about the story was the relationship mess that Nathan and Richard had and how something as simple (and dangerous) as climbing a mountain could be the tool God used to heal that mess.

There is nothing more complicated, precious, and delicate than a father-son relationship. As sons we expect our dads to be better than what they really are. As dads we hope our sons don’t find out how clueless we are at parenting. Nathan exposes this reality in a tender, humorous, honest way. And in the midst of figuring out their own relationship, they both teach the rest of us something important about the human condition and the relationships we hold as sacred.

For Nathan – the risk of the ask, the risk of trusting, and the risk of pushing deeper. I’ll let the book fill in how each of those risks looked like.

For Richard – the grace of forgiveness, the humility of being truly humble, and quiet desperation of loving a son enough to do something he’d never thought he’d do.

There is much in each person to relate to and I have a feeling I’ll come back to this book again.