Under the Overpass
By Mike Yankoski
By his own choice, Mike’s life went from upper-middle class plush to scum-of-the-earth repulsive overnight. With only a backpack, a sleeping bag and a guitar, Mike and his traveling companion, Sam, set out to experience life on the streets in six different cities. They wanted to find out if their faith was real, if they could actually be the Christians they said they were apart from the comforts they’d always known. Mike and Sam’s story is gritty, challenging, and utterly captivating. What you encounter in these pages will radically alter how you see your world—and may even change your life.
I had a feeling that Under the Overpass was going to be good read. Boy, was I wrong.
It was a wonderful, amazing, powerful read.
Under the Overpass is moving, emotional, provocative, overwhelming. It will make you look at life differently, as well as the world around you, the people you come across in your daily life, your faith (or lack of), and, most important, yourself.
Under the Overpass will teach you a valuable lesson about faith (or, at the very least, about humanity) that goes way beyond lip service. It even transcends “walking the walk.” This is about changing your whole attitude, a transformation that will overcome you from the inside out.
Take this passage, for example, when Mike and his companion are sleeping under a bridge during a rainstorm. He awoke to…
“a disgusting mass of water-born cigarette butts, cans, leaves, pigeon feathers, and other trash. I was soaked through, and a heavy sludge now caked my face and arms and the outside of my bag. The stench made me gag.”
This made me gag, but I continued reading and, much to my surprise (and delight), Mike (yet again) turned this into a life lesson.
“Maybe the reason so many people, Christians included, are so discontent is that we hold too elevated an idea of comfort, too grandiose a notion of pleasure. That sets us up to get frustrated by every passing circumstance.”
I cannot recommend Under the Overpass enough. Accompany Mike and Sam as they travel through four different cities and meet unique, fascinating individuals who lead them to examine — and reevaluate — their perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes. It will likely lead you to do the same.
You can get a sneak peek into the book and access the first chapter here. Check out the Under the Overpass Action Plan, which was intended as a Christmas action plan, but in my opinion could (and should) be an everyday action plan.
You can find Under the Overpass at Amazon, Borders, and Barnes and Noble.
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.
Sound interesting but I think i would certainly have to be in the right mood to read it.
I would like to read this. You know, you see people living under bridges, tent communities every where and we don’t know what they really go through. Sounds like a great book!