Love Does

I decided to read the book of first-time author Bob Goff called Love Does (subtitled Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World), following the recommendation of Bill at Cycleguy's Spin. The book was having such an impact on him that he spent two weeks writing about it. The book is divided into thirty-some chapters. Each chapter views an episode in Bob's life and how it taught him to love or to demonstrate love. In fact, he is adamant that "love" is not a noun, but a verb, an action verb. He states in the first chapter his view:

The kind of love God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence.

Bob has a very approachable style and can move you to a great belly laugh one moment and streaming tears the next. He seems like an approachable man who would give you the shirt off his back if he saw your need. The kind of man it would be enjoyable to talk about life with sitting out on your porch. His philosophy is that kindness demonstrated by people has the ability to endure in our lives, and so he goes out of his way to demonstrate love not just in words, but in doing. Hence, love does.

In reading this book, some might detect a distinct influence or subtle flavor of author Donald Miller. It turns out that these two are friends and Miller helped to shape this work. That adds to my enjoyment as a fan of Miller. The message that Bob has is one that I hope spreads across this world like wildfire. He is upbeat, has an infectious spirit, is not afraid to get his hands dirty, and puts himself out there. Several online reviews that I stumbled across likened his style to the television pitch-man with the tag line, "the most interesting man in the world." The only criticism that I have are his constant urgings of living with whimsy and spontaneity, yet his personal stories and examples demonstrate a whimsy that requires a substantial amount of money. Yet I got past this mild annoyance and loved going along for the ride with him.