Reviewed by Diana Arnold
Grant Lock’s book I’d Rather Be Blind is a riveting sequel to his first book Shoot Me First. It contains a collection of short well written anecdotes spliced with evocative poetry and several Biblical stories told in contemporary language. The anecdotes recall his experiences garnered during twenty four years of missionary service in Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as before and after those years. They offer an honest description of what life is really like in an Islamic culture, especially for the poor and for women, and the challenges and frustrations these brought to Grant Quarterly Newsletter Volume 12 Issue 2, June 2017 Page 3 and his wife Janna seeking to serve them with compassion and integrity. Grant Lock shares frankly the tragic irony of his blindness after having been director of Afghanistan’s biggest eye-care program and the lasting effects of PTSD experienced by Janna. The book also includes his answers to Australians quizzing him about Muslims’ beliefs, way of life and political ideology and his comments on the killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, a city he often visited, and on Islamic terrorism and kidnapping.
His use of beautiful poetry that he himself has composed and frequent use of Afghani proverbs reveal the author’s passionate identification with the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan and his deep devotion to Christ. The book is a fascinating record of incarnational mission.