“Did you see that?” I look around trying to catch a glimpse of what I missed. “No, no I didn’t,” I reply, “What was it that I missed?” I don’t know why, but it appears that I miss a lot of things in life. I just don’t notice them unless I’m intentionally watching for something. From conversations that I’ve had, I’m not the only one to whom this happens.
The book, Flecks of God on a Path of Stone, by Craig Lounsbrough is a book that encourages its readers to stay alert and to look at life not only more intentionally, but with a slightly different perspective. Lounsbrough advises that doing this will enable people to see the richness of life—even in difficult times—and experience elements of life such as time and relationships in a deeper more fulfilling manner. Discovering the flecks of gold along the stony path of life will enable people to grow as individuals.
I liked this book. It offers simple suggestions to its readers for how they can discover the flecks of gold in the everyday circumstances of their lives. It is a practical book. The book invites the reader to be more intentional than it challenges the reader to make demanding changes in his or her life. Lounsbrough has also filled his book with wisdom—wisdom that the reader can mull over as he or she walks along the Stony Path.
I recommend this book if you want a book that is refreshing, comforting, yet at the same time honest.
There are times that I anticipate a book being a good read only to be sorely disappointed. This was the case when I read Heaven’s Muscle, by Bren Hughes. The book was billed as a reflection of the author’s journey from a conservative Christian faith to atheism and then to a Christian faith that was refreshing and more free. I thought the author would open up and let the reader observe his struggle with faith and doubt and perhaps allow the reader to catch a glimpse of his angst at leaving his core beliefs in life behind him. Hughes did not do this.
Hughes does record his journey, but in a way that I do not believe is helpful to the reader—it certainly wasn’t helpful to me. He begins by writing a critical assessment of the conservative evangelical Christianity in which he was raised. He rebelled against its strict confines and also the religiosity and hypocrisy that many of that persuasion practice. Hughes takes refuge in atheism. He doesn’t remain in a life without God for long. He soon feels himself drawn back to the Christian faith, but one that is more suitable to him. His new faith is more spirit filled and he believes more real and more genuine.
I didn’t find any good news of God’s love and grace in this book. I thought the writer went from one religion of “got to’s” to another faith that had a lot of “got to’s”. I didn’t see the writer’s journey as helpful or freeing.
Perhaps this book will click for you, but I wouldn’t recommend that you spend your money or your time finding out.
I received these books free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.