Book Review of Yearning for More by Barry Morrow

Yearning for More: What Our Longings Tell Us About God and Ourselves
by Barry Morrow
ISBN 978-0-8308-5636-7
IVP Books
Reviewed by Clint Walker

One of my favorite albums is U2's Joshua Tree. I first heard the music on the album 25+ years ago. It still captures my heart and imagination. Joshua Tree is really an album about desert spirituality, and as such, it speaks of a longing for God in the midst of the heartaches, heartbreaks, and banal parts of life. Recently I discovered a book by Barry Morrow entitled Yearning for More that speaks to the same place in my heart as Joshua Tree did years ago. Yearning for More reminds me that my hope for something better, my dissatisfaction for the status quo, and my dreams for something more are an important part of my faith in the Jesus who promises more, and has filled me with a longing for his kingdom.

Barry Morrow has divided this book into two parts. The first part of the book chronicles the faithful believers' journey of longing and hoping for more. He shows that this is a part of being human, and a part of being a person with faith in Jesus Christ. He gives examples from modern believers, saints throughout history, and even the Bible itself to describe the yearnings that make us human.

The second half of Yearning for More documents how we encounter and deal with this longing in everyday life. How do we experience this holy longing for transcendence in our work, our routines, our play, our families? This book challenges us to look at how our longing for "heaven and home" forms who we are now, and how we live our lives.

The conclusion of the book both affirms longing, and points those with holy longing to the one they are longing for, namely the Lord God.

This book is full of useful quotes, great stories, and down to earth examples of how our hopes, dreams, and aspirations form our everyday spirituality. And, as a person who loves literature and culture, the quotes from John Updike, Fredrich Beuchner, and Martin Scorsese are much appreciated.

Yearning for More is both spiritually edifying and fun reading. I recommend it to anyone who is seeking something more in life than just living and dying, especially those who are open to hearing the wisdom of the God of the Bible.