CBA Marketplace
"When colorful autobiography is joined with orthodox theology, you have a book that's hard to put down. . . With honesty and wit, Smedes reveals how he struggled with family losses and theological debate, only to end up in stronger relationship with God. . . His story is a profound testimony to the beauty of lifelong commitment to personal growth."
Philip Yancey
"My world — the world — grew smaller and darker when Lewis Smedes departed it. I confess that I'm the one who pressured Lew into writing this memoir, and I'm so glad I did. As it happened, he had just enough time to trace the steps of his journey, a life all the more remarkable because he thought it so ordinary. Ordinary, it assuredly was not. We miss you, Lew. Thank you for this farewell gift."
David Neff
"The man who taught America how to forgive had many wounds. In My God and I Lew Smedes gives an honest and unvarnished account of the childhood hurts and churchly distortions that challenged him to learn grace, compassion, and forgiveness. Smedes offers no key to unlock the divine-human relationship, but models a perseverance in following God that nearly matches God's own persistence in reaching out to us."
Joan D. Chittister
"One thing readers can recognize at a great distance is truth. Lewis Smedes's My God and I positively emanates it. It is a warm, personable, readable, honest little book that enables the rest of us to be as true with ourselves about our notions of God as Smedes has been with us about his. This book smacks of the real rather than of intellectually airy ideas about what it is to be a human in search of — in contact with — the divine. Don't read this book to find out what Smedes believed, gripping (and often charming) as that account is; rather, read it to find out what you believe about God. I love this book."
Library Journal
"A popular speaker and religious writer, Smedes died at age 81 before this brief memoir could be published. . . Contradicting dour stereotypes of his Dutch Reformed tradition, he recalls his life with droll, self-deprecating humor. . . Recommended for public and church libraries where his many books are popular."
Richard J. Mouw
"Lew Smedes did many things with great style. Many people claimed him as their favorite writer. Some folks also said he was the best preacher they had ever heard. His students at Fuller typically described his class lectures as memorable — although they often added that it was worth showing up just to hear him pray at the beginning of each session. Here the scholar and pastor who listened so helpfully to the life stories of others tells his own story — which for him meant, at its heart, the story of a lifelong search to understand the ways of God. . . Vintage writing from a man equally at home discussing theology in a seminary classroom and the human need for forgiveness on Oprah. "
Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"Humbly recounted and gracefully written, this slim volume is a pleasure to read and a poignant valediction from a man who lived long and loved wisdom."