I remember my reaction when I read “Tuesdays With Morrie” by Mitch Albom. At the end of it, I was crying like a baby (as I’m sure a lot of readers have). I’ve read his other novels and always, the same effect. His books are always a good read (they tend to be a little winding at the start, though). Anyway, I finished “Have a Little Faith” while I was in Manila, in just one afternoon.
“Albom (Mitchel David “Mitch” Albom) writes in the introduction to this book[1] that the idea for it began with the request by Albert L. Lewis, his childhood rabbi, to write and deliver the eulogy when the time came for the rabbi’s funeral. Albom agreed, contingent on an agreement that he could begin a series of interviews and conversations, in order to get to know Lewis as a man, not just as a rabbi.
Albom writes that his conversations with Lewis — whom he refers to as the Reb, an affectionate term drawn from the Yiddish word for rabbi — eventually led to an increased interest on Albom’s part in the power and meaning of faith in a larger sense. In his hometown of Detroit, he forged a link with Pastor Henry Covington, an African-American Protestant minister at the I Am My Brother’s Keeper Church. Covington, a past drug-addict, dealer, and ex-convict, was ministering to the needs of his down-and-out parishioners, in an urban church serving a largely homeless congregation, in a church so poor that the roof leaked when it rained.
The book alternates between his conversations with Lewis, and excerpts from some of his sermons; and Life of Henry, the title of the sections describing his conversations with Covington, and stories about him.”
As always, Albom’s book provides the reader a lot of inspiration. My favorite quotes from the book:
“To these people, unhappiness was a condition, an intolerable state of affairs. If pills could help, pills were taken. But pills were not going to change the fundamental problem in the construction. Wanting what you can´t have. Looking for self-worth in the mirror. Layering work on top of work and still wondering why you weren´t satisfied – before working some more.”
“The secret to happiness…be satisfied and be grateful.”
Albom’s strength is that he tells his stories in a very simple way. And the fact that the messages come from older people, who have experienced life, so there’s a lot of credibility to it. Some people say his books are “too preachy”, as if forcing those life lessons on us.
But hey, sometimes, we do need to be reminded about what we’re doing wrong. And maybe if we hear it through people who have experienced life, it’ll resonate better in our hearts.
