A touching, humorous account of the author's cultural reckoning with his Korean heritage and hidden family secrets.
A surprising diagnosis of PTSD led Dave Gibbons to look to his past for clues to explain the unexpected result.
Born to an American soldier and a Korean mother in the wake of the Korean War, Dave has spent his life struggling to blend his Korean roots and his very American upbringing. The family joins a conservative church that embraces a strict, rule-based faith, and they try to navigate life as one of the few mixed-raced families in their community. But when tragedy strikes, tearing the family apart, Dave is forced to face long- buried secrets that he can no longer ignore.
As he explores his family's difficult past, he confronts his own pain and the persistent feelings of not quite fitting in either in America or his mother's home country. And when a DNA test ultimately reveals a truth that shatters everything he understood about his history, he begins the journey to reconcile his American upbringing with his deep Korean roots, and he is forced to confront the traumas he unknowingly carried.
The Shape of My Eyes beautifully weaves historic reference points of the oppression and discrimination against Asian Americans with Dave's own personal story. Dave's wrestling with belonging in his family, in America, and in the church creates a raw, thought-provoking memoir about race, religion and finding home.
We thirst for purpose, clarity, fulfillment and direction in our lives. How do we go about sorting through all the self-help books, talks and seminars? The common, normal solutions to navigating life are focused on strengths, gifts, and passion. The reality is quite contrarian to what seems to make sense. The revelations is found in the divine fingerprints of all that we are: our life story, what energized and de-energizes us, our rhythms, and even our pain and weaknesses. It's a different way of approaching clarity of life.
At the heart of this book is the understanding that a life filled with passion is radically different than what many of us have been taught. Often it's not in the how do we find life but a commitment to a passionate pursuit. Neurologically, if we ask the question how our brains can't tap the new domains, our brains resorts to typical default solutions that are often inadequate. The way to live life to its fullest is found in abnormal rhythms and principles, that have the tension of questions more than answers. It's a place where strategy is important but an ethos where relationships trump vision. The way we are invited to live life to its fullest is found with a contrarian set of beliefs, values and questions. It's not about quick fixes and simplistic 'solutions.'.
God works through our weaknesses and our failures. Real vision is found through relationships with God and with other people. Obedience is better than passion. These contrarian concepts have been presented and tested in many business and non-profit settings, including Willow Creek's Leadership Summit where Dave gave a keynote address.
The tone of this book was established as Dave thought about what he would want to share with his four third culture children and future leaders. It was Dave's heart that they would walk a life where they experienced life to it's fullest, exploring the new and old domains of world that is constantly changing.
Our world is marked by unprecedented degrees of multiculturalism, ethnic diversity, social shifts, international collaboration, and technology-driven changes. The changes are profound, especially when you consider the unchecked decline in the influence, size, and social standing of the church. There is an undercurrent of anxiety in the evangelical world, and a hunger for something new. And we're sensing the urgency of it.
We need fresh, creative counterintuitive ways of doing ministry and church and leading it in the 21st century. We need to adapt. Fast. Both in our practices and our thinking.
The aim of this book is simple: When we understand the powerful forces at work in the world today, we'll learn how something called The Third Culture can yield perhaps the most critical missing ingredient in the church today---adaptability---and help the church remain on the best side of history.
A Third Culture Church and a Third Culture Leader looks at our new global village and the church's role in that village in a revolutionary way. It's a way to reconnect with the historical roots of what Jesus envisioned the church could be---a people known for a brand of love, unity, goodness, and extravagant spirit that defies all conventions.
This book is part of the successful Leadership Innovation Series.
