Here’s my take on Dave Gable’s LifeTakes memoirs

Looking for a good memoir? One with unique style and voice? How about some short, light takes you can pick up wherever you are? I recommend LifeTakes, Dave Gable’s 4 thin volumes on 80 years of classy living.

Gable is one of those people who flows into your life at serendipitous moments, forever leaving an indelible impression. Positive, that is, definitely positive. “Flow” is certainly how he goes. He’s tall, gangly, hard to miss in a crowd. He has a way of catching your eye and smiling at you, whoever you are, as if to say, “Ah, here is a significant human being!”

The last encounter I had with him and Millie, they rolled into town in their RV and parked in a Safeway lot down the street from where we lived. Kim and I enjoyed a meal with them across the street at one of the quintessential Portland McMenamins restaurants. Though I hadn’t talked with Dave in maybe a couple decades, he slid into conversation as if we connected regularly.

Slide is the operative word. Dave is a mix of down-to-earth Pennsylvania Dutch rootedness, Ozark no-nonsense, and West Coast casual; all places where he’s lived and made his mark in life. A wealth of stories flows through his conversations – as in his writings.

Now in his retirement years (retirement being a relative term), he’s been putting those stories into print. First came his two-volume commentary on the gospel of Luke (thoroughly infused with illustrations from his own life). And now he has just published volume 4 of this delightful series, LifeTakes.

I referenced the first volume a few months back in Connecting the dots when I read and pray: Dave Gable and the Boltons. In Life Takes – Book 1: Felton and the Farm, I discovered a connection between two of my friends that spanned continents and heaven, too.

Each of the four volumes in the series is made up of hundreds of stories – some just a line or two, others covering a couple of pages – all reflections from his own life. As I began Book 1, I asked myself, should I do just one story a day or a whole section of stories at a time? I started with the story-a-day approach, but wound up reading to page 33 that first night before I put the book down to get some sleep.

Given the semi-randomness of each book’s stories, you can start and stop or jump into just about anywhere. But there is method to this seeming randomness. The books contain sections of stories with common focus, and each book has its own theme. Something builds as you read through in order. You realize the wise sayings are couched in wise living.

At times, his stories are profound, moving. Other times they’re just amusing, downright crack-up funny, just like he is in person. Often there seems to be no point to the story other than that it has come to his mind. But then along comes something that grabs you by the shoulders and says, “Listen up!” And you walk away thinking about it for days.

Whatever the point of each story, he draws you in with cumulative effect. Like bite-sized snacks, small and delightful, you feel you must always have just one more. After a while, you almost imagine yourself by a campfire with Dave sitting on a stump across the way as he spins a memory into a yarn on a starlit night.

Book 1 is filled with stories from his years growing up on a farm in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

The theme for Book 2 is “Places” – where he’s explored (national parks, Gettysburg), where he’s visited (England, Vermont, Germany), where he’s retired (Southern California), where he’s served (Yellowstone).

Book 3 is all about “People and Places”. Dave was playing a seminal role as national director of Chi Alpha college ministries when I met him. He and Millie later worked with a ministry called Marriage Encounter. Then there are stories about him and Millie, their three girls and their families, and a section on the COVID pandemic that made that crazy era come vividly alive again.

Then (finally?) there is Book 4: “Matters Theological.” He starts out with reflections on holidays before devoting a huge section to “Ministry Matters.” Tucked in towards the end of that section are some worthwhile takes on ecumenical conversations between Pentecostals, evangelicals, and Roman Catholics. I did a lot of dog-earing of pages in this theological section, stuff to come back to and chew on later.

There in the midst of all things theological, I found Dave talking about a reference I made of him in a book I wrote. You can read more about that conversation that stretched for decades in my post of last week, How Dave Gable and I spent 40 years talking about the Spirit.

The final section in Book 4 is all about preparing for death, something he’s given much thought to since being diagnosed with a heart condition and given only months to live. I love how he sets about processing his life’s final chapter – as only Dave can do. It’s worth a read even if you think you are far from death.

I love how he wrestles with some of the tough questions. Like how he reconciles his belief in divine healing and the inevitability of death. How he approaches stories of near-death experiences. How he speaks about every fiber in our beings resisting “being ended.” And how he finds himself more curious than fearful of his own impending death. And so, he invites us to witness with him what he believes to be his final chapter this side of eternity.

Book 4 came out a few weeks ago. I understand Dave has now turned that final section into its own book: Live Life Prepare for Death: When healing doesn’t happen. The last I heard, Dave is still among us, prepared to live, prepared to die. Prepared to experience all that lies beyond.

When I met Dave, it must have been in late ‘76 or early ’77. At a classic (not fancy) old hotel in Jefferson, Texas, Dave was facilitating scruffy campus pastors in planning a regional student training event called SALT. Before he moved on a couple years later, he and his successor Dennis Gaylor connected with my team in Texas to brainstorm a new high school ministry that eventually was named “Youth Alive.”

In the early ‘80s, he invited me to speak at a missions convention at the church he was pastoring in Fresno. I was running a Chi Alpha ministry called “Campus 80s” and he was intrigued by the strategy and philosophy behind it. So I wound up sharing the pulpit with such missionary legends as John & Lois Bueno.

Other than brief encounters elsewhere in the ‘90s and aught years, I didn’t see much of him until he and Millie rolled into town in their RV. But Dave is not someone who fades away. Even now in his 80s, he keeps popping up in conversations and social media posts.

After Fresno, he moved into the Southern California network office for the Assemblies of God as a denominational leader. That is one of the fascinating things about Dave. He doesn’t strike you as an institutional man, being something of a nonconformist in organizational structures.

And yet, he has an abiding commitment to social structure and relationships. Which is perhaps why structured networks of people are always looking to him for wisdom. He has his ear tuned to a higher power and a way of communicating the big picture that just makes good, wholesome sense.

Dave’s definitely an “in,” but not necessarily “of” kind of a guy when it comes to the world around him. This counter-cultural edge comes out in his writings, as in this line from Book 2: “Every now and then I get my nose rubbed in how different I am from my culture.” Though he’s referring to his own generation in this context, he’s used to being caught marching to the beat of a different drummer wherever he is.

I’m curious to see how this different drummer bit plays out for him in his next assignment. By which I mean life beyond the grave. A man of profound faith, he will have no trouble hanging out with the likes of Jesus forever. But I’ll bet he’ll savor the experience in a very Dave sort of way.

His fresh take on eternity comes out in Book 3. He and Millie have gone to visit longtime friends, Dick & Joy Schroeder. Dicks health is failing. Many of us have fond memories of this intense, humble campus pastor from Montana. “Failing” health is not one of them. But now Dick is very weak and so can only afford a half hour with the Gables. They pack precious minutes with remembrances, affirmations, and prayer.

Afterward, Dave reflects on how they all shared the deep bonds of faith in the One who is prepared and waiting for them all in the life to come. You can trust Jesus when it comes to the future, Dave is saying. “The things [Jesus] said about Life Here fit so astonishingly well that we take his word about Life There.”

Dave loves the fellowship of those who get Jesus. But he also enjoys connecting with people alien to that world of faith, finding ways to bridge the gap.

Even as he has great respect and attachment to the traditional statements we use to define faith, he’s always wanting to parse all that religious vocabulary out in plain English for the outsiders. Just like he parses out New Testament Greek for the fun of it. He’s what I approvingly call a border agent, one who finds ways to connect disparate cultures for the good of the Kingdom.

For many of us, Dave’s been like an elder – as in a spiritual leader – for years, even long before he’d reached the suitable age. Now that he’s legitimately achieved elder status, he combs through all of life’s experiences and imparts insights and wisdom like confetti at a party – sending it everywhere and letting it fall willy-nilly. And he doesn’t mind repeating a story or two. It’s as if he’s earned the right.

In Book 4, he dives into this “elder” concept, sharing a story about Dave Irwin. I wrote about that Dave’s role in my life in this post from last year – Border Agents I have known: David Irwin.

The two Daves got connected while living and working near each other in Missouri back in the ‘70s. When Irwin was killed in a car accident in ‘84, Gable flew out from California to speak at his funeral. I wound up hosting him while I was housesitting for mutual friends Dennis and Barb Gaylor, away on vacation.

At some point, Gable went to Irwin for advice. In the context of that conversation, Irwin said he hoped that by the age of 60 he’d be “an elder in the Body of Christ, whose words are taken seriously because of the life I’ve lived.” Irwin only made it to 54 – but as Gable said at the funeral service, he’d reached elder status long before.

Care to hang out with a real elder statesman? Order these books and enjoy as Gable reflects on the past 80-plus years. As he flows between the profound and the common, note how wisdom flows out of both kinds of stories. For Dave, the profound and the common are of one cloth. They are both sacred gifts from our Creator.

I can’t help but hear Dave’s voice on every page. It makes me long for that imaginary seat by the campfire.

You can find LifeTakes on Amazon: Felton and the Farm, Places, People and Projects, and Matters THEOLOGICAL.

If you enjoyed this review, check out my previous recommendations. Besides my reviews, I tackle a variety of subjects, including faith and politics, justice and compassion, the life of faith, ethics, and leadership. Sign up for free to receive notice of my weekly blog posts at Contact Us!