This book is the story of a young teen. BJ, as he was called, was a very unusual kid. Small for his age, he managed to capture the hearts of everyone around him. Attention gravitated to him like a magnet; he influenced large numbers of people in his short life. At age 14 he got himself invited as an underage participant on a church mission trip to Peru, returning there the next summer as well. That second summer he contracted a severe infection (posthumously diagnosed as bubonic plague) and by the end of September he died.

The book, written by his parents, Brent & Deanna Higgins, includes many writings from BJ’s journals and communications with friends. They demonstrate an unswerving devotion to God and saving others. His intense single-mindedness certainly attracted a lot of people.

The biggest problem with the book is that it is written exclusively for a Church audience. I doubt many non-Church people would be able to wade through the churchy language and pious mindset of the story. And from what I read, this goes directly against the aim and purpose of BJ’s life. His own sense of mission was to the “lost”, that is, to those who are outside the Church. But not many of his target audience will be tempted to read this book.

I can accept the blind devotion to Church teaching from one so young. He had yet to grow into the maturity where he would be able to realize that God is so much larger than mere Church theology. My criticism is to his parents and those around him, who obviously felt they could not write this story without the pious language. This book, the story of their exceptional son’s short life, could have had so much more impact if written with a larger audience in view.

Entangled: The Eater of Souls, by Graham Hancock, Disinformation, 2010. This author, who has written a number of bestselling books investigating historical mysteries, here turns his knowledge and skills to fiction. In a gripping novel of travel in the Spirit realm, time travelling, good and evil, Hancock tells a story of two young women, still in their teens, who become “entangled”, their destinies entwined over millennia in an effort to defeat an evil entity. Ria, about 24,000 years ago, and Leoni, in today’s world, slowly find themselves drawn into scenes of desperation, threat, danger and adventure. Both discover within themselves unsuspected strength and destiny. As they begin to believe in themselves and their calling they find themselves caught up in a life-and-death struggle.

Fairly well written, the story is extremely entertaining. It reveals a world becoming more real to me all the time, a world of Spirit travel, intervention, a world of beings who care for us, help us realize our destinies, a world where there is a struggle going on much beyond the mundanity of everyday life. While there may not always be complete agreement with everything I have learned thus far about the Spirit world, the author makes very good use of his life’s research in weaving an intriguing tale. It is well worth the read.

A Spiritual Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe: Travel Tips for the Spiritually Perplexed, by Paul Rademacher, Hampton Roads, 2009.

What a delightful book this turned out to be! And how synchronous that it came my way when it did. This book, in my hands, could not have been better timed!

It relates the author’s tale as he struggles with growing spiritual awareness amidst a typically mundane life. During the first stage of his journey, Rademacher moved from being a construction contractor to seminary and into church ministry. As Spirit continued to call him deeper and deeper, his spiritual questing took him into areas he knew would not be acceptable to his conservative Presbyterian congregations.

He found ways to weave some of this new learning into his ministry. But at each step of the way, he continually felt called deeper and deeper into the Spirit realm. He would just begin feeling comfortable with a certain new level of spirituality, when lo and behold, he would be shown yet another level! And he realized that each step took him closer and closer to trouble in his career.

But, as with so many of us, the realities of life kept him bound to his job in order to meet family obligations. Three growing children always had more and more pursuits costing the parents money, time and energy. How could he leave a job which was increasingly deadening in order to pursue something as fleeting and unsubstantial as the Spirit world? The person of Paul Rademacher, and his family, seems so very ordinary that it is with great delight that the reader discovers how a very ordinary person, in a very ordinary lifestyle, can be reached by Spirit and drawn out of the ordinary and natural into the extraordinary.

With refreshing style and honesty Paul Rademacher unveils the road he had to walk in order to find fulfillment. He reveals to us his growing awareness of the heavenly Father’s love and care for each and every one of us. Sometimes the lessons were painful; other times the intersections on the journey were a delight to discover. But at each stage of the journey Paul shows us how he learned to take the next step on the next leg of his journey.

While I myself am not compromised in my job by my own spiritual journey, I find myself increasingly at odds with old friends and with family who may not understand how the Source of all is leading me on my path. I encourage each of you readers, whether you have casual questions, or deep criticisms, of the way I am going, please keep talking! Do not turn your heads in silent judgement and slowly shuffle me out of your life. Read this book; ask me questions; tell me your own thoughts and opinions; keep the dialogue open. This journey is often as perplexing to us who push the boundaries as it is to you who watch us with dismay!

Keep tuned!

This little book, Whispers from the Other Shore: A Spiritual Search – East and West, by Ravi Ravindra, came my way at exactly the right time. (Of course, is there any other way?!!!) Published in 1984 by the Theosophical Society in America, it has been around a long time, but had never come to my attention till now. I probably would not have paid it much heed if it had come my way much earlier!

The author, born in India, came to Canada to study, and subsequently taught at Canadian Universities. He has a wonderful perspective, having lived in both eastern and western cultures. Some of the book is devoted to comparing and contrasting the separate traditions, but the most delightful parts of this little book (115 pages) is the wisdom gleaned from both.

A representative quote:

What are we–we who are drawn by divinity and held down by our selfish concerns, we who hear the call from the other shore and betray it? The movement from this shore to the other is the spiritual pilgrimage. Our life touches both the shores, but out of ignorance and fear we cling to this shore which we imagine we know and where we feel secure and in control. We do not know what will become of us and what we might do if we let go of our usual worldly props. Lest we make fools of ourselves, we choose to stay in the familiar prison of our little egos, trying to strike bargains with the unknown, using coins of piety, good works, and learning. However, in spite of our great need for certainty, there just cannot be any guarantee of what will be revealed when we open ourselves and become vulnerable. (p18)

That closely represents where I am in my own spiritual pilgrimage. I am in that place of trying to let go of the known, and take the risk of making a fool of myself by letting go and opening myself to spirit and becoming vulnerable. “Spiritual life is not ultimately a matter of belief in something, although this may be relevant to it at some stage of development. It is a matter of living–searching, struggling, overcoming.” (p22). My own religious background has been important to me for most of my life. Now I find myself moving away from earlier beliefs into new, exciting, yet unknown places.

This book came my way at just the right time in my own process. Thank you Spirit, for sending it my way!!!