At StoryMakers, our deep desire is for kids and teens to know God in a real and intimate way in their youth. But sometimes we grown-ups wonder: Is a young heart and mind really able to find comfort in God when things get tough? Are there experiences that might feel too big for God to lead them through?
What if they lose their connection to God?
Esau McCaulley’s new memoir How Far to the Promised Land is a comfort to all of us who wonder and worry about God’s presence with our young people—and with ourselves.
With the gift of holy honesty, McCaulley explores the truth about his individual life as well as the life of his community, recognizing that “a good narrative—a Black one, at least—is not owned by any single individual; it is, instead, the story of a people.”
Walking the reader through the events of his childhood, McCaulley reckons with the personal, familial, societal, racial, and cultural legacy that shaped him as a Black man growing up in the southern United States. We meet the father for whom he is named—a complicated, frustrated, abusive, and addicted man whose near-absence creates a painful anger in his son. McCaulley also paints the picture of his faithful, believing, struggling mother of four as well as the various grandparents, aunts, uncles, and church folk who continue to point him to the God who hears and does miracles in the lives of his people. He recalls times as a child when God was as real to him as a spoken voice, ever drawing McCaulley closer into his presence.
As McCaulley navigates the complexity of his parents and community, he recognizes the Holy Spirit nudging him toward the beautiful and the true. Finding forgiveness for his father is not easy—and McCaulley is clear that the journey is long and challenging—yet the more he confronts the truth, the more he experiences a supernatural freedom.
And isn’t that what we hope for our young people? A life bound up with a God that enables them to face what is true and painful in the world but enfolds them in the power of God’s mercy and miracles, reminding them that “like the ancient Israelites finding their way in the desert, we have received just enough manna in the wilderness to make it to another day.”
Esau McCaulley (@esaumccaulley) is a New York Times contributing Opinion writer and an associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College. His writings have also appeared in places such as The Atlantic, Washington Post, and Christianity Today.
How Far to the Promised Land is scheduled to be published by Penguin Random House on September 12, 2023.
A limited amount of signed copies are available to pre-order HERE.
