AGAINST ALL ODDS

Colbert tells of how God helped him survive a lifetime of close calls in this spiritual debut memoir.

In 1960, at the age of 8, the author was hit by a car as he ran across Baltimore’s 25th Street, but he survived after three surgeries. When he was a teenager, one of his friends fired a handgun at him from a distance of 50 feet, but the bullet miraculously hit a nearby clothesline pole instead. When the diabetic author was in his 60s, he was rushed to the hospital with a near-fatal blood-sugar level, but he was released only 11 days later. All in all, Colbert says that he’s survived 12 different brushes with death. He pulled through, time and again, he says, “primarily because of the Love, Grace, Mercy, Power and Providence of all mighty God.” In this book, he details his various trials and tribulations, from alcoholism and heroin addiction to clinical depression and an enlarged prostate; in each case, he writes about how his religious beliefs sustained him and delivered him to safety. He also details the many blessings in his life, which he says illustrates God’s love for the faithful. Overall, the author writes in an enthusiastic, conversational prose style that captures Colbert’s gratitude for life: “I was one happy kid living in poverty. I believe that real poverty is found in the lives of the rich and famous. Poverty of mind and soul.” This is a short work—fewer than 80 pages long—and as a result, Colbert doesn’t delve deeply into the details of his biography; instead, he concentrates on the relevant anecdotes that support his argument. Readers may not interpret all of the author’s close calls as life-or-death situations, but they may find that he’s surmounted enough difficulty to lend his theological leanings some weight.

A short, sweet, inspirational work for Christian readers.