Unlikely to convert nonbelievers but thoroughly heartwarming nonetheless.
A mother recounts a series of fortunate events in this slim nonfiction debut.
Heartbroken over her son’s impending deployment to Iraq, Watson makes a solo trip from Texas to Florida to see him off. Initially certain that she won’t have the strength to say goodbye, she encounters numerous benevolent strangers, all offering her prayers and assistance. From a woman who comforts her as she cries through the flight home, to a man in uniform who prays for her son and then vanishes without a trace, the people Watson meets buoy her through the trip; she arrives home with her faith reaffirmed. “God’s grace,” she concludes, “was providing for me every step of the way and seeing me through the most difficult day of my life.” Readers of sound Christian faith will likely agree with Watson, and this earnest, well-written book succeeds as an inspirational text for those who are already believers. For skeptics, though, the author’s insistence that her resilience “had nothing to do with Leigh Watson or her own strength” can become irksome; it’s easy to view Watson’s experiences not as divine interventions but rather as examples of good people simply being nice. Regardless of whether the reader believes in genuine God-sent miracles, all but the most cynical will agree that this book is an uplifting showcase of true human kindness. The strangers who aid and console Watson behave with an uncomplicated decency that seems to be increasingly rare in everyday life. Watson’s book could be a quick spiritual pick-me-up for anyone looking for examples of love and kindness, divine or otherwise.
Unlikely to convert nonbelievers but thoroughly heartwarming nonetheless.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2011
ISBN: 978-1615077342
Page Count: 56
Publisher: CrossBooks
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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