of heaven and pi

Since I have been trying to get back to a more relaxed state of mind, which is where I feel I do my best work and best thinking, a friend of ours lent me a couple books to read. Consequently, this happens to be the same person I have been lending books to concerning some faith struggles and questions, so I guess we are starting our own book exchange now. Anyway, knowing the kind of books that I have been reading and recommending to her, she tossed me Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven and Yann Martel's Life of Pi.

Since work was still keeping me busy, I decided to start on the shorter of the two books, The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Not to give a book report or review, but I really liked this book overall. The concept was very intriguing, since we all at some point wrestle with what will happen to us when we die and if you believe in it, what the afterlife will be like. Rather than concentrating on a joyous reunion celebration version of heaven, Albom truly gets down to what we all really want to know - why did my life turn out the way it did, did I serve a purpose, did I make an impact on anyone? By highlighting some of the smallest details of the main character's life (Eddie), the story comes full circle and enlightens him about his own life through the story of others. Personally, I think that would be the greatest treasure that could be bestowed on someone after they have entered the presence of God, to be shown how one's life fit into God's eternal story.

After finishing the first book, I took a short break before starting Life of Pi. However, when I finally jumped into it, I went in with the warning ahead of time that the book starts out slowly but gets very good if you are patient. I was not disappointed, since the later part of the book is a lot of great internal struggles and philosophical reflection. I would say, however, that while the beginning of the book is slower, it contains very good background information that comes into play. I don't think I can do justice to the book with any summary or explanation of the book, so I won't. To pique your interest though, it is about a teenage Hindu-Christian-Muslim who ends up as the lone survivor after the cargo ship he is on sinks in the Pacific Ocean. And by lone survivor, I mean the lone human aboard a life boat with a zebra, hyena, orangutan, and Bengal tiger. I had been curious about the book in the past, having seen it on the shelf at bookstores, and I am truly glad that I read it.

Both books have been very popular in the online bookstore rankings at various times, and they are well deserved. However, I liked them not only for their excellent storytelling, but also for the way that I well spiritually refreshed while reading them. These books I felt provided some interesting tidbits to chew on from a spiritual and faith side of things. While one book confronts you head on with the conclusion that heaven exists and then fills in how the little and big things affect us, the other brings up some interesting situations and background information to put a bug in your head, and then plays out a moral struggle - subconsciously daring you to question the rightness or wrongness of the character's faith.

While I am not sure that either book was intended to inspire the faith of people, I think they both do an excellent job at it. They both challenged me to think, question, understand, and in the end both inspired me to continue loving God and all people (though that still doesn't mean I have to like all people)...