Hello and welcome to the first and hopefully not the last ever edition of Bookie Bites, where talk about books and the words inside them!!!!
Tonight we are joined with Mr Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith as conclusively mentioned by the title published 2009 and read by yours truly only very recently (I am so so sorry)
The story starts with a simple question posed to Mitch, where his childhood pastor, a man by the name of Albert Lewis, asks for him to write his eulogy. The story also follows the times of another pastor, a former drug dealer and convict by the name of Henry Covington, focusing more on his reformation(??) instead of the end of his life as in the former. Mitch's insight into his relationship with his religion is also covered in this book, one which I find at times very relatablez.
Now obviously, I have actually read the book, and I must say that I find it an extremely eye opening piece of literature. The story touches on themes like faith (duhhhhhhhhh) and love (epppp) (I'm 18), a bit of current affairs, basically almost everything under the sun. What has pulled me (and hopefully will pull you) to this book is basically wanting to know those answers from the point of view of religious mind. Add also the fact that there are many faiths in this world, and couple that with the extremely grey areas of the best way to live life, what comes after it, and many other cool things and you've got a pretty good read for the best of two weeks :)
If that sounds slow, then it's ok cos I savour my reads like I savour my food ;)
What comes afterwards is a few choice passages from the book I feel I should share with ally'all. Initial spoiler alert here though. This doesn't mean you read this so you don't have to read the book BUT i wish to share these things to incite lol some interest to move your butts to the library to read!!!!
Anyway.
The Great Tradition of Running Away
Adam hid in the Garden of Eden. Moses tried to substitute his brother. Jonah jumped a boat and was swallowed by a whale.
Man likes to run from God. It's a tradition. So perhaps I was only following tradition when, as soon as I could walk, I started running from Albert Lewis. He was not God, of course; but in my eyes, he was the next closest thing, a holy man, a man of the cloth, the big boss, the head rabbi. My parents joined his congregation when I was an infant. I sat on my mother's lap as he delivered his sermons.
And yet, once I realised who he was-a Man of God -I ran. If I saw him coming down the hallway, I ran. If I had to pass his study, I ran. Even as a teenager, if I spotted him approaching, I ducked down a corridor. He was tall, six foot one, and I felt tiny in his presence. When he looked down through his black-rimmed glasses, I was certain he could see all of my sins and shortcomings.
So I ran.
I ran until he couldn't see me anymore.
Why Bad Things to Good People?
When I asked the Reb, Why do bad things happen to good people?, he gave none of the standard answers. He quietly said, "No one knows." I admired that. But when I ever asked if that ever shook his belief in God, he was firm.
"I cannot waver," he said.
Well, you could, if you didn't believe in something all-powerful.
"An atheist," he said.
Yerp Yes.
"And then I could explain why my prayers were not answered."
Right.
He studied me carefully. He drew in his breath.
"I had a doctor once who was an atheist. Did I ever tell you about him?"
No.
"This doctor he liked to jab me and my beliefs. He used to schedule my appointments deliberately on Saturdays, so I would have to call the receptionist and explain why, because of my religion, that wouldn't work."
Nice guy, I said.
"Anyhow, one day, I read in the paper that his brother had died. So I made a condolence call."
After the way he treated you?
"In this job," the Reb said, "you don't retaliate."
I laughed.
"So I go to his house, and he sees me. I can tell he is upset. I tell him I am sorry for his loss. And he says, with an angry face, 'I envy you.'
"Why do you envy me?" I said.
" 'Because when you lose someone you love, you can curse God. You can yell. You can blame him. You can demand to know why. But I don't believe in God. I'm a doctor! And I couldn't help my brother!"
"He was near tears. 'Who do I blame?" he kept asking me. 'There is no God. I can only blame myself.' "
The Reb's face tightened, as if in pain.
"That," he said softly, "is a terrible self-indictment."
Worse than an unanswered prayer?
"Oh yes.It is far more comforting to think God listened and said no, than to think that nobody's out there."
Happism
Can I ask you something?
"Yes," he said.
What makes a man happy?
"Well..." He rolled his eyes around the hospital room.
"This may not be the best setting for that question."
Yeah, you're right.
"On the other hand..." He took a deep breath. "On the other hand, here in this building, we must face the real issues. Some people will get better. Some will not. So it may be a good place to define what that word means."
Happiness?
"That's right. The things society tells us we must have to be happy- a new this or that, a bigger house, a better job. I know the falsity of it. I have counseled many people who have all these things, and I can tell you they are not happy because of them.
"The number of marriages that have disintegrated when they had all the stuff in the world. The families who fought and argued all the time, when they had money and health. Having more doesn't keep you from wanting more. And if you always want more- to be richer, more beautiful, more well-known- you are missing the bigger picture, and I can tell you from experience, happiness will never come."
You're not going to tell me to stop and smell the
roses, are you?
He chuckled. "Roses would smell better than
this place."
Suddenlt, out in the hall, I heard an infant
scream, followed by a quick "shhh!" presu,ably from its mother. The
Reb heard it, too.
"Now, that child," he said.
"reminds me of something our sages taught. When a baby comes into the
world, its hands are clenched, right? Like this?"
He made a fist.
"Why? Because a baby, not knowing any
better, wants to grab everything, to sat 'The whole world is mine.'
"But when an old person dies, how does he do
so? With his hands open. Why? Because he has learned the lesson."
What lesson? I asked.
He streched open his empty fingers.
"We can take nothing with us."
___________________________
"Anyhow," he said, his voice trailing off.
I hated seeing him in that bed. I wanted him
home, with his messy desk and the mismatched clothes. I forced a smile.
So, have we solved the secret of happiness?
"I believe so," he said.
"Are you going to tell me?
"Yes. Ready?"
Ready.
"Be satisfied."
That's it?
"Be grateful."
That's it?
"For what you have. For the love you
receive. And for what God has given you."
That's it?
He looked me in the eye. Then he sighed deeply.
"That's it."
A clergy member on pastor Henry Covington
Henry never told me any of this, I said.
"That's why I'm tellingyou," Cass said.
"I moved in with his family that night. I stayed there almost a year. A
year. He let me sleep on the couch in his main room. His family is upstairs,
they got little kids, and I'n sayin' to myself, this man don't know me, he
don't know what I'm capable of. But he trusts me."
He shook his head and looked away.
"That kindness asved my life."
We sat there for a second, quiet and cold.I now
knew more than I'd ever figured to know about an elder of the I Am My Brother's
Keeper Ministry.
What I still didn't know was why.
___________
And then Cass told me:" I see the way you
watch the Pastor. You here a lot. And maybe he ain't the way you think a pastor
should be.
"But I truly believe the Lord has given me a
second chance on account of this man. When I die, Jesus will stand in the gap
for me and I will be heard and the Lord will say, 'I know you.' And I believe
it's the same for Pastor Covington."
But he's done some bad things in life, I said.
"I know it," Cass said. "I done
'em, too. But it's not me against the other guy. It's God measuring you against
you.
"Maybe all you get are chances to do good,
and what little bad you do ain't much bad at all. But because God has put you
in the position where you can always do good, when you do something bad- it's
like you let God down.
"And maybe people who only get chances to do
bad, always around bad things, like us, when they finally make something good
out of it, God's happy."
He smiled and those stray teeth poked into his
lips. And I finally realised wy he had so wanted to tell me his story,
It wasn't about him at all.
You really called Henry "Reb"? I asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
Nothing, I said.
I think this book is personally a huge eye opener
into the religious aspects of many things in life. Albeit from the aspect of
another faith in Judaism and Christianity (Albert Lewis and Henry Covington
respectively).
As a
Muslim, it's inevitable that some material found inside this book is sure to be
differently understood slash interpreted slash received in the eyes of Islam.
Religious debates have always ravaged on for centuries, and will continue for
centuries. We all have our differences, I think we can all agree to that.
But
underneath out different revelations, underneath our different religious
practices, underneath our Friday prayers and Sunday church services, there are
a few basic principles, a few virtues and teachings that are shared by all out
religions.
Principles of love, of caring for our neighbour, of contributing to a
better community, and belief in a power beyond ourselves. We should all be
convinced of what we have, but we must also be humble enough to admit that we
do not know everything.
And because of that, we have to accept that we
may all believe in different things.
And on that conclusion, it's time to end
tonight's Bookie Bites. I really appreciate all you guys sticking around till
the end.
Thank you all and until next timez n__n
