There's No Such Thing By John Ortberg Summary

1.When I first picked up John Ortberg’s Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them I did not think I would like, but I read the first two chapters and was captivated. As you make your way through the book Ortberg separates it into three parts; “Normal: There’s No Such Thing, Dear”, “How To Get Close Without Getting Hurt”, and “The Secret of Strong Relationships.” The first section Ortberg uses the imagery of a porcupine to explain how to handle relationships. We are given the choice to either attack other by throwing our quills and injuring others. Or, we can withdraw our quills and choose to engage in relationships with others. Ortberg uses this analogy to begin to show that community is about beginning with an attitude of engagement with one another. Section two focuses on four words as a

You have the power to manipulate and coerce if you want to. You can avoid and ignore if you choose. But you can also ennoble and inspire (123).” This sums up the idea that feels like Ortberg is displaying. People are the most valuable part of God’s plan, and it is our job to cherish that. There is one last section and Ortberg chooses an interesting idea to explain this. That is forgiveness and confrontation along with inclusion. We need to be able to effectively communicate in confrontation and allow others into to the parts of our lives that might be the messiest and most difficult. Ortberg reminds us of this on page 214, “We complicate or faith and lives in many ways, but at the core, our purpose is simple: We are called to love.” Love is the core of all human connection and community. Ortberg leaves the book with the image of heaven and what is to come. This was a very interesting direction and let me remember that Heaven is not going to be a place where things will need to make us happy, or will be the end but instead it is a place that is the beginning of a new life full of people who are a perfect, beautiful