'The Only Road North' tells of journey of faith and hope

By Cindy Schnitzler

Title: The Only Road North
Author: Erik Mirandette
Publisher: Zondervan
List Price: $12.99 (paperback)
ISBN: 9780310274353

December 18, 2007 | Erik Mirandette was a sophomore at the Air Force Academy when his story begins. He had joined intent on making a difference in the world, and had been convinced that he had chosen the best road to lead him to that end.

After realizing that he wanted more out of life than a "cookie-cutter" life and a hollow faith in a God he did not seem to know, he dropped out of the Academy and followed the voice inside him that he could not silence, the voice he could do nothing but answer. Five months later he found himself in Northern Africa, looking for something he could not describe, but knowing that he was closer to finding it the farther away he was from his comfortable previous life.

But still the voice called, and eventually he began an even greater journey: a 9,000-mile motorcycle trip from Cape Town to Cairo with his younger brother, Alex, and two of the greatest friends a traveler and adventurer could have, Kris and Mike. Together they ride through 11 of the world's most unusual -- and dangerous -- countries. They survive "two different civil wars, five different rebel factions, countless man-eating animals, hunger, breakdowns, and armed bandits."

It was not until they were in Egypt -- the country considered the safest of all they had been through -- that disaster struck. On April 7, 2005, the four men were the target of a suicide bomber in Cairo, the first in over nine years. For Erik Mirandette, this is where the hardest part of his journey begins. "Now after having completed our journey, with two leisure weeks left as regular tourists, all seems lost. I had trusted God and followed his plan -- and ended up in hell."

Erik's journey with his three closest friends is one of daring adventure and close calls -- the kind of adventure most people would avoid at all costs. The story is told boldly and colorfully, with Erik narrating the strange sights, the terrifying encounters, and the joy of being on a journey that means something. Erik tells without shame of the doubt and betrayal he felt after the loss he experienced in Cairo, and of the dark days that followed. It is an honest account of the story of a group of men who followed their faith on a journey that did not end the way they thought God would let it.

This book tells a story of seeking -- for adventure and for purpose -- and though it ends in tragedy, it does not end in regret. Erik, though he must endure a long and lonely recovery, asserts that there are some things worse than death, and despite the pain and the suffering and the doubt, he does not regret his journey with his friends. He writes: "We each have a destiny, a legend that only we can live. To embrace it is scary and dangerous, and most choose not to. Most put it off until tomorrow, until after high school, until after college, until after establishing a financial base. Can't they see? We only get one shot at this life. Tomorrow may never come."

Erik begins his story by stating very clearly that it has no end. He does not have the answers now to the questions he had at the beginning, and, if anything, has even more questions. But his story begins and ends with hope. Though he cannot tie up his story in a neat little package with a feel-good resolution, he knows that he has done his best to live the life that he was meant to. "I invite you to share my experiences, to join me on this journey, but warn that after a long and trepidant road we will finally arrive before we started, with more questions than answers, completely and totally unsettled, but ever searching, ever hopeful."

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