awakening

I don’t think this will come to a surprise to any of you, but I love photography. A few weeks ago, my dear friend Will Nash surprised me with a gift. While attending Passion 2010 in Atlanta, he picked up a copy of Awakening by Louie Giglio and Jeremy Cowart. It was the most thoughtful and spot on gift of inspiration that I could have received. It is a compilation of photographs from the Passion World Tour narrated by blog entries by Passion leader Louie Giglio and personal accounts from others who were involved. Knowing little about Passion, I sat enthralled in the stunning images and uplifting message that it held. By capturing the culture of each city and raw emotion of each gathering, Awakening tells a beautiful story to which words would not do justice. 

What I love most about the book are the vivid images from each stop along the tour. It is obvious that Jeremy Cowart went above and beyond to get to the heart of each city. In places like Stockholm, Sao Paulo, Paris, Johannesburg, Hong Kong and Seoul, there are breathtaking images of the people and places who live there. The book masterfully threads lifestyle, architecture and human emotion together in such a powerful way. Here are a few of my favorites:

The Passion World Tour is the common thread that ties each city together. The gatherings attracted some 100,000 university students all over the world. Each time I flip through the pages, I am amazed at the pure emotion coming from these images. It is honestly inspiring.

The cool thing about Awakening is that it is not narrated with a “this is where we were, this is what we did” tone. It is a diary in the form of blog entries that really capture what Louie Giglio was feeling during each stop along the tour.

Powerful images combined with powerful words make this book what it is. “I’m more convinced than ever. Life is not about us. It is about leveraging all we have in this life toward the goal of making Jesus famous. That’s not a one-liner… that’s my mission statement.”  – Shelley Giglio.