Born Again: Chuck Colson, from Nixon’s White House to prison

Summary

One of Nixon’s closest advisors finds purpose amidst the tumult of the Watergate investigation.

Who I would recommend this to

Most politically interested types. Our own embattled presidency makes this reading more potent than it should be.

Also anyone who is career obsessed, though I expect a lot of overlap with the previous group. His strivings and sacrifices end up costing him his first marriage and drive him to the point where giving his life in service to those who society ignores seems rational. Be careful out there, if you hold onto your life too closely you just might lose it.

Also, though I personally know very few people this would apply to, and so hesitate to draw the comparison, I would say anyone who had experienced incarceration. I myself have spent seven days on the other side of a door with only one lock, and that image strolls unbidden through the bleach white corridors of my mind. From time to time.

Why I loved it

First and foremost I loved the difference in speed between the three sections of the book. His life before is high speed, stress, work, achievement. Go go go. An American of his times. I understand the perverse delight in wanting to thumb your nose at Harvard’s acceptance, though in my case I took the offer since financial aid would be far more valuable than going to Georgetown. But I love how his time in prison melts all of that. A man who had the ear and trust of the president is now concerning himself with daily work details in prison. I’m not sure that I could imagine a steeper drop within 18 months. It is painful, and the difference in writing and energy painfully emphasizes it.

I love that, like Rahil Patel, his newfound faith shields him from no consequences. In fact it makes him suspect to his accusers in a way that he probably would’ve escaped if he had tried to hide it. His experience becoming a new Christian while in the very angry public’s eye took guts, and reflects an honest reading of a Christian life.

How many times does he learn to live God’s way? How many times does he learn the difference between what he thinks he can do, and what he is being asked to rely on instead?