Book Review: You Are Not Your Own by Alan Noble
Reading this book was like finally receiving a correct diagnosis for an illness that’s been plaguing you for years. And although the symptoms are painful and there’s no immediate cure, there is good, potent medicine available right now.
Noble does a masterful job of pinpointing and then expanding on the source of our collective discontent. He draws effectively from the works of philosophers, sociologists, authors, theologians and others to piece together an anthropological framework and at the same time reveal a prison of our own making. He introduces and expounds on sophisticated ideas using accessible language to explain how we ended up here and what we’re really looking for as human beings.
As one example of the author's powerful insight, on page one, Noble states that “often, the very techniques that improve our material lives are the ones that alienate us from each other or from creation.” He goes on to elaborate on this theme throughout the book, but when I first read it, it struck me immediately as truth. There are countless instances in everyday life of actions and habits that drive us toward efficiency and away from intimate knowledge of God’s world. Obtaining food at the grocery store rather than growing it behind my house is a representative case. At some point in history, we shifted away from that particular bond with creation and toward a “smarter, better, faster” way of feeding our families. There is less risk of suffering the effects of drought, famine or bad soil, but we’ve also lost the chance to connect with God in nature and probably even some beneficial communal ties inherent in a shared working of the land to produce sustenance. This is but one example, and I’m sure you can think of many others.
And speaking of efficiency, one of the repeated themes in this work is the idolization of efficiency. Once Noble pointed this out, I couldn't help but see it everywhere. How many headlines do you see on a given day offering you the secret to optimizing your life? “How to Maximize Small Closet Space,” “Ten Ways to Improve Your Relationships,” or “Make the Most of Your Free Time.” I invented those off the top of my head, but I can almost guarantee you’ve already seen them somewhere. And what is the assumption embedded in those headlines? That constant improvement must be sought and achieved in order for your life to have any meaning. That there is always something else in your life to optimize, that there is always some activity you can squeeze a bit more productivity and purpose out of. He exposes the results-orientedness of our society and the strain we feel to be enough, to do enough or to have enough.
But Noble makes the convincing case that humans weren’t designed primarily for efficiency (that’s for machines, he says), and that living that way prevents us from the type of prodigality of soul that would foster contentment, joy and peace. One of my favorite quotes from the book is from T.S. Eliot, who said, “For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.” In other words, humans weren’t intended to be results-oriented creatures. It is our limits and our finitude that make us human. When we’re distracted by the need to optimize everything, we can almost be sure to neglect (or simply not recognize) the opportunities around us to do good right where we are.
Noble demonstrates that we were created to be dependent, to know (as the title of the book makes clear), that we are not our own. Our only hope in life and death is that truth - that we are not our own, but belong to God. And this belonging frees us from the need to secure the right outcomes. As a therapist of mine used to tell me, “it is not all on you.” And boy, what a relief that is when you really let it sink in. We are free to live before God in the security of belonging and the hope of His goodness, participating with Him to the extent our feeble efforts will allow, but knowing that in His capable hands, our feeble efforts will become what He wills.