Eric Liddell is a man for our time, not because of his Olympic fame nor the glorification of him in the award winning film, Chariots of Fire. It is because we live in a time when our rationalization has destroyed the faith that fuels holy fires.

In A Strange Habit of Mind, we join our protagonist, Cameron Winter, as he continues his crime-solving work. But we also get a window into his past. It is realistic, moving, and crushing all at the same time. Klavan pulls us into Winter’s beliefs, ethics, and inconsistencies, not just with a good plot, but with ideas that you and I face every day.

How does the “nice” Christian prepare as the horizon darkens? He must become a light in his community, someone unmovable, willing to offend and even be wounded for the Christ he follows and the moral values he promotes. In doing so, his “nice” will die. The pressure will forge a Christian, not loved, but respected; A Christian not “nice”, but kind.  

When our study has the proper aim of God, our pride is shattered, our thirst for knowledge is satisfied and strengthened, and our hearts for the lost can overflow with the love of God.

What of the crumbs under his table? I am worse than a dog. I am the dust under his feet, and the substance on which his holy fingers wrote.