Give me one wild word* ...

Have a Little Faith, Mitch Albom
Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames, Thich Nhat Hanh
Finding Beauty in a Broken World, Terry Tempest Williams

Recently I’ve engaged myself in a book free-for-all. I read whenever I can squeeze in a moment, an hour, a day …

I’m reminded of my childhood when—after carrying armloads of books out of the library—I realized that there were so many good books in the world there was absolutely no way I could read them all. A literary variation on the theme: “So many women, so little time….”

Last week I finished Mitch Albom’s Have a Little Faith. Albom’s earlier book, Tuesdays with Morrie, was the bestselling memoir of all time. I loved Morrie. And … I have to say that I loved this book too. Albom is an inspiring writer. He chooses topics—people—that he comes to know in an intimate and endearing way. He then renders his conversations and interactions with these people in words that create lasting, poignant, and powerful pictures.

Faith is the story of Albom’s journey to learn more about the Jewish faith of his boyhood as he comes to understand the faith of two men of God: Albert Lewis and Henry Covington. Lewis, the rabbi of the synagogue Albom attended in his youth, asks Albom to give the eulogy at his funeral. Thus begins an eight year friendship between the two men though, at first, Albom thought that he was merely getting to know his rabbi better in order to write his eulogy.

Albom juxtaposes this friendship with his growing connection with Covington, an African-American pastor in Detroit. Covington formed I am My Brother’s Keeper Ministry following his personal struggles with drug dealing, drug addiction, and, finally, prison.

Initially Albom distrusted Covington’s morals and motivations. As he wrote articles about Covington’s work feeding and housing the homeless and spent more time at Covington’s church, Albom discovered that Covington was as faithful and faith-filled as his own rabbi. Both men were immensely generous and compassionate. Both men built their lives based on trust and faith in a higher power beyond their comprehension.

Miraculously—and perhaps because Albom is also forthcoming about his own struggles with religion and faith—Albom’s book builds a community of readers on their own individual journeys of faith. Albom’s personal faith in the power of good in the world grows as his own heart opens and his preconceptions and misapprehensions fade.

Albom's book shows that faith dwells in all of us regardless of our religion, race, background, or experience. Have a Little Faith is a small book with a large message about the importance of faith, hope, love, and compassion. Albom's profiles of Lewis and Covington—along with Albom’s honest portrayal of his own struggles with faith—teach us about the power of compassion, acceptance, and loving service to others.

I’m currently reading Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, Anger. This Buddhist monk and Vietnamese refugee writes with amazing simplicity about Buddhist principles and practices designed to bring more compassion into our lives. Hanh believes we can all become kinder, gentler, more compassionate people using a few simple tools such as slowing down, breathing, mindfully walking and eating, deep listening, and loving communication.

Hanh’s teachings on how to handle anger are simple and—perhaps for some—simply weird. Still, I find his words comforting and encouraging. We can become kinder, more open human beings if we’re willing to examine some of the most fundamental aspects of our lives: the food we eat, the liquids we drink, the breath we breathe, and the time we take to chew our food and contemplate our inner suffering.

Our anger, Hanh writes, is like our own baby who we must care for with compassion and love. When we become better acquainted with our suffering, we are more able to heal it.

Just begun … Terry Tempest Williams’ book, Finding Beauty in a Broken World. This book is composed of three essay-topics: learning how to create mosaics in Ravenna, Italy; observing prairie dogs on the brink of extinction; and building a war memorial in a small village in Rwanda. Though different in theme and intent, in each essay and the book as a whole, Williams works to create a better, more beautiful world out of the broken pieces she finds.

*From Terry Tempest Williams' introduction to her book, Finding Beauty in a Broken World