It’s always seemed kind of presumptuous to tell folks I’m working on a book.  I’ve gotten a little more comfortable with it lately  Partly that’s because I’ve felt more entitled  since I’ve started needing three digits to write the page numbers; partly I just need to let folks know I’m doing something besides taking naps on my Sabbatical. (Karen has posted two pictures on Facebook of me napping.)

A couple of evenings ago, I told someone I had  just met I was working on a book called Too Smart for God.  He said that sounded interesting and asked me what it was about.  I started to tell him but he stopped me and asked, “What’s it about in one sentence?  Something simple and short enough you could put it on a bumper sticker.”

That was one of the most helpful things anyone could have said to me.  With the word count growing by the 10,000’s, I can feel this thing becoming unwieldy.  I can theoretically use stuff from any part of my life for this memoir about how I rejected God and Jesus and the church, and about how God brought me back.  That’s 51 years.  How do I pick and choose?  How do I keep it semi-coherent?

So I bought into the bumper sticker idea.  It seemed like a helpful exercise.  Here’s what I came up with:

 I had all the answers, but I didn’t know The Answer

I admit, it’s not something you’d want to slap on the bumper of your Mercedes (or your Hyundai), but it does hold things together pretty well for me.

So if you want to know what my book, Too Smart for God, is about, there it is.  In one sentence.

We’ll see if  it helps keep me on track as I write a bunch more sentences.

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The bumper sticker idea is potentially helpful not just for books.  What would be your “bumper sticker” for all or part of your life story, or your most important life lesson?

You can also use the comments to tell me what you think of my “bumper sticker,” and to suggest a better one if you’d like.