Book Review: here. now.

here. now. a catholic guide to the good life is by Amy Welborn whose Open Book weblog is one of the heavy hitters in the Catholic Blogosphere. Amy is a former high school teacher who is married to another Catholic author, Michael Debruil. They live in Indiana. She has three kids from her first marriage and two young ones from her current marriage. This book was written for young adults, basically to tell them that the way to a good life is through the Catholic church. The title is indicative of the writing style--choppy. saving on words, but getting the message across. She addresses the need for the institutional church, the sacraments, and talks about developing a prayer life. Like most books like this, I think everyone can find something that sets off a lightbulb. For me, in this book, that moment was when she discussed suffering. She said "In fact, most of our sins--most of our many steps backward, away from God--come about because we'd rather not suffer, thanks." She goes on to talk about suffering in scripture and then finishes the chapter by saying "Yes, suffering is a part of a disciple's life, and its presnce demands a question. Just be careful that you ask the right one. Be careful that you're not asking , 'will this choice help me avoid suffering?' but rather: 'Will this choice bring me closer to the good life that God calls me to--no matter if I suffer on the way or not?'".
The book is on my Bookmooch list and my Swaptree list.