{"id":2919,"date":"2019-12-10T17:34:35","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T17:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thomascreedy.co.uk\/?p=2919"},"modified":"2019-12-17T17:35:36","modified_gmt":"2019-12-17T17:35:36","slug":"book-review-the-creaking-on-the-stairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomascreedy.co.uk\/book-review-the-creaking-on-the-stairs\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Creaking on the Stairs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

Rosaria Butterfield writes of this book in her commendation that this is “the most disturbing book that I have ever read. I cannot recommend it highly enough<\/em>“. While I might disagree with her first sentence, the second is one I thoroughly endorse. Mez McConnell has done a marvellous service to the church in writing\u00a0The Creaking on the Stairs: Finding Faith Through\u00a0Childhood Abuse<\/i>. Christian Focus kindly provided me with a review copy of the book, but I hope that doesn’t shade my review too much.<\/p>\n

There are two things that make this book so good. Firstly, Mez is honest. He shares – in what must be painful detail – the extent of the abuse he suffered from as a child and the effects that it has had on him and his family. That said, this isn’t not horror fiction or so-called ‘poverty-porn’ – Mez writes in a calm, honest way that demonstrates the evil that happened, without making that the main focus of the book. This is a difficult tension – on the one hand it is important to shine a light fully on evil, on the other we do not want to put a spotlight on it. I think Mez navigates this well.<\/p>\n

The second thing that makes this book so good in my opinion is Mez’s unflinching and deep faith. This is not an easy book to read – but in amongst the evil there are clear signs of light. This is a book written by a man clearly enamoured with Jesus, deeply marinated in the Scriptures, and excited about God and His kingdom. One of the short chapters begins like this, echoing the honesty of the book:<\/p>\n

“The more I understand about how God works in the world, the more I understand that He uses\u00a0whomever He likes, however He likes, whenever He likes<\/strong>. If God wants to use unbelievers to fulfil His plans for the world, then\u00a0He will, and He does.<\/strong> Some of the people God has used greatly throughout history have been total idiots. Noah used to get off his nut on wine. Moses was a killer with no faith, and a bad stutter. Rahab was a prostitute. Jonah was a bottle merchant. Matthew was a scumbag loan shark. The Apostle Paul was a stone-cold killer.<\/em>“<\/p>\n

Mez’s trust in this God, and his acknowledgement of bewilderment, is inspiring. It is the skeleton of this book – that, despite the evidence in front of our eyes, God is up to something. This makes\u00a0The Creaking on the Stairs<\/em> more than just a very good book about childhood abuse. This is a superb piece of\u00a0biblical<\/em> ‘practical’ theology – taking the impossible question of pain and suffering\u00a0in the life of children<\/em> and meeting it head on with scripture, honesty, and challenge. This, along with the short, punchy chapters, makes this book a painful pleasure to read.<\/p>\n

I recommend this book warmly – with the caveat that it is quite harrowing. For pastors and those seeking to care for victims, this book is essential. For anyone wondering about the problem of evil, this book is not about that but has something very profound to say. This book is not an easy read, but it is important, well written, and deeply thoughtful. Thanks, Mez, for sharing your story and not staying in it.<\/p>\n

Practically speaking, it is worth noting that there are a series appendices at the back of the book which make this a really useful tool:<\/p>\n