One might call him Multifarious Miller, as he’s rightly known as professor, pastor, poet, artist, evangelist and best-selling author.
Calvin Miller has written more than 40 books on theology and inspiration, ranging from devotions to textbooks to “The Singer Trilogy,” a popular mythic retelling of the books of Acts and Revelation. He’s also written articles on preaching and church leadership, among other topics.
But recently Miller undertook a project of a different nature, albeit a logical one for someone of such seasoned diversity — his memoirs.
“Memoirs need to be written when you’re old enough to have history — and young enough to remember it,” said Miller, a professor for 10 years at Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School until he retired in 2007 and a member of NorthPark Baptist Church, Trussville, in Birmingham Baptist Association. “It’s better to write a novel of this type when the memory is acute because you don’t want to lose edge. And at 72 years old, it seemed like a good idea.”
Of course, Miller’s memoirs portray the moments that represent the key turning points in his life, such as meeting and marrying Barbara, his wife of 50 years, and a life-changing relationship with a fellow pastor who, at 29, went blind.
“Life Is Mostly Edges: A Memoir” offers an engaging account of Miller’s unconventional upbringing. His unintentional comedy keeps the pages turning at a rapid rate.
But one lesson Miller made sure to teach is about his life with Christ.
“Throughout all of [life’s] stages, I learned obedience. I truly believe that most of the time, the great learning points of our life occur during stress,” he said. “The place at which we stumble becomes the principle to guide us in the next stance of life.”
Using that idea, Miller came up with the title and concept for “Life Is Mostly Edges.”
“Those who don’t experience life on the edge haven’t cried enough. The great lessons, the deep tragedies, the storms of unbearable heartquakes always happen along the edges,” he said. “It’s because of these hard lessons on the edge that we become useful to others.”
As Miller puts it, brinkmanship is the name of the game.
Growing up, Miller resisted the calling to preach because he was so shy. Even his sister told him back then, “If God called you to preach, He got the wrong number.”
Of course, Miller did submit to the call eventually and now teaches that the things we think we could never do, we suddenly find ourselves in. And with God’s support, they can turn out amazing, he said.
“If anyone had said to me when I was younger, ‘You will become a successful writer,’ I would never have believed him or her,” Miller said.
Timothy George, Beeson’s dean, can believe it.
“He (Miller) is a unique person and is multigifted,” George said. “He has a great burden for reaching people through the gospel and has touched hundreds of thousands of lives through his gifts as preacher, writer, poet and evangelist. He is one of the greatest creative Christian artists of our time.”
For more information about Miller’s memoirs, visit www.calvinmillerauthor.com.
Share with others: