Looking for meaning in the barrage of busyness

By Kurt Armstrong and ChristianWeek | April 27, 2011

Tony Woodlief calls himself "a bewildered father, stumbling husband, reluctant handyman and prodigal son." His book, Somewhere More Holy, is a collection of stories and reflections from what is immediately around him: his wife, their four sons and the home they live in.

We first meet Woodlief standing at the front door of his own house, preparing himself for his kids' "crotch-level flying tackles" that will hit him with the minute he steps foot inside. Chapter by chapter, he then walks us through the rooms of the house, talking about all the everyday things that happen in those rooms, looking for meaning in the barrage of busyness.

Young kids are unruly, unpredictable, unglamorous creatures, and Woodlief does an absolutely brilliant job of describing life with young children. He has an extraordinary way of recounting scenes and events that capture precisely the noise, chaos and frustration of trying to love and raise young kids. It's refreshing and wildly entertaining to read his descriptions of daily life because I can hear, smell, taste, see and feel exactly what he's talking about. His description of a mealtime "conversation" - "I need some syrup on this pancake;" "You have syrup;" "Ahgoom. AHGOOM!" "This piece doesn't have syrup, Dad;" "It's floating in a pool of syrup;" "But I need syrup on it;" "Fine." - will ring bells with every parent.

But his extraordinary gift for writing helps him look beneath the surface of daily life. In the details of the everyday, in the middle of the fights, spilled milk, crying, hollering, wrestling, arguing, hugs and diapers, Woodlief discovers that being a dad is holy work, and every room of the house is a place of holy business. I can't think of a dad - or mom - that doesn't need the ongoing reminder that there really is a point to all the busyness and bustle of parenthood. It might be hard to find it on our own, but Woodlief's stories might help us see the mystery and wonder right in front of our own eyes.

Somewhere More Holy had me laughing out loud and then, a few pages later, crying so hard I had to set the book down to collect myself. The book strikes such a chord in part, because, like Woodlief, I am a bewildered father (two kids in the house, one on the way) who struggles with the day-to-day of domestic life. But it's also because Woodlief is such an astonishingly good writer. Hands down, this is one of the very best books I've read in a long time.