18 December, 2015

Have A Little Faith - Book Review

Have you heard of Mitch Albom, or his popular book Tuesdays With Morrie? I read Tuesdays With Morrie earlier in the year, and really enjoyed it (I mentioned it here). So when I found out that Albom had written another true story, and that the library had it, well, I borrowed it of course. :) I had a slight hesitation about Have A Little Faith because it’s obviously a spiritual book, but I wasn’t sure if the author was a Christian, so who knew what kind of religious stuff he would be putting forward. But, I started reading, and basically devoured the whole book in a day or two.

Have a Little Faith begins when his childhood rabbi asks Mitch to take his eulogy. Mitch finds the request strange and decides he has to get to know the man before he can hope to do his eulogy when he dies. So their friendship begins. Doing business for his charities, Mitch also comes across the leader of a church in need. This pastor has a colourful past, and a passion to help others physically and spiritually. Mitch finds himself in the middle of these two stories, learning, considering, finding out more about himself, life, God, purpose, and passion. 

Have A Little Faith was a page-turning story, and had a message that made me think. It was easy to read and follow, and written in an engaging style, but it was also so much more. It’s deep, it shares knowledge, and truth, and insight. It’s satisfying, and challenging. I wish there were more books like it. It’s deeply spiritual, but it’s not preachy, it’s not in-your-face, it’s not trying to prove anything. I don’t agree with everything in there, but nothing is present as the one-and-only truth. It’s just tells the story, and you feel like a kid at grandfather’s knee, taking it all in. For example, this discussion between the author and the rabbi: 

'You know, we have a tradition. When you go to a funeral, you’re supposed to stand by the coffin and ask the deceased to forgive anything you’ve ever done.'
He made a face.
'Personally, I don’t want to wait that long.'” (page 210)

Or this one:
“How do you not get cynical?
He [the rabbi] stopped.
'There is no room for cynicism in this line of work.'
But people are so flawed. They ignore ritual, they ignore faith – they even ignore you. Don’t you get tired of trying?
He studied me sympathetically. Maybe he realized what I was really asking: Why me?
'Let me answer with a story,’ he said. ‘There’s this salesman, see? And he knocks on a door. The man who answers says, "I don’t need anything today."
'The next day, the salesman returns.'
'Stay away, he is told.
'The next day, the salesman is back.
'The man yells, You again! I warned you! He gets so angry, he spits in the salesman’s face.
'The salesman smiles, wipes the spit with a handkerchief, then looks to the sky and says, Must be raining.
'Mitch, that’s what faith is. If they spit in your face, you say it must be raining. But you still come back tomorrow.'” (page 47)

Or this excerpt from a sermon by Pastor Convington:
“'The same thing with Paul… They saw him… they couldn’t believe that this man’s from Jesus, because they looked at his past-'
‘That’s right!’
‘They just looked at his past. And when we’re still looking at ourselves through our past, we’re not seeing what God has done. What He can do! We’re not seeing the little things that happen in our lives-‘
‘Tell it now.’” (page 192)

I can't portray it accurately, or tell you exactly why it’s so amazing, but basically: Have A Little Faith is excellent; read it first chance you get! And then tell me what you think. :) In the meantime, have you read any of Mitch Albom’s books? What books have you been enjoying lately? (And can you believe 2015 is almost over?!)



9 comments:

  1. I've never heard of this author but I do like this sound of this book! I'm definitely going to add it to my 'Too Read" list and try to find it at the library. Thanks for the enjoyable review!

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    1. Yes, do see if you can find it, I'm sure you'll enjoy Have A Little Faith! I'll be eager to see what you think of it too. :) Thanks for commenting!

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  2. Sounds good. I think I will have to read it.

    I am in the middle of two books, "Angela's Ashes" and "The Residue Years", neither of which I am finding extremely fascinating, but I have a stack of other books to be read, so I will finish these two one day an move on. It just seems I don't have any time these days!

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    1. I think you'll like it. :)

      Oh, I've heard of Angela's Ashes. So it's not that brilliant? I'm reading a few books at the moment, and I just need to find time to finish them too. It's annoying how life gets busy, and it gets harder and harder to find time. I guess that's when people start talking about retirement. :)

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  3. Sounds like a wonderful book!
    ~Anna
    the3musketeerssite.wordpress.com

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  5. I don't usually read books like this, but it sounds good. *nods* You did a lovely job with your review. :)

    AND I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT 2015 IS ALMOST OVER! *freaks out* Seriously. Why did it have to go by so fast? I'm just getting used to writing 2015 instead 2014 on school papers and journal entries! (Only partially kidding... ha, ha. xD)

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    1. Thank you! I was a bit skeptical to start with too, as I mentioned, but this book far exceeded my expectations, so maybe you'd find it the same!

      I totally get that - writing the wrong year on papers. At the moment I'm having a hard time remembering it's actually December not November still! :P

      Thanks for your comment, Katie. :)

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