Treadmill Tip: Same Kind of Different As Me

I didn't like the book at first.  Not at all.  It was depressing, and it talked about a kind of life very different than mine.  I've not lived in the South, as both writers always have, nor have I even traveled very much there.  And I haven't done much circulating with wealthy businesspeople, particularly not with people who are active in the modern art world.

I kept reading, during my mornings on the treadmill, because the book was given to my by one of my direct associates, and I felt it to be a duty.

Then suddenly, just after one of the main characters had an affair that nearly wrecked his marriage--another depressing link in the chain of depressing life circumstances described in the book--the story turned a corner.  In short succession the wife decided to stand by her man, they gave their efforts to building a relationship with each other and with God, and she felt a call to serve the homeless in their city.  It was as though her huge disappointment and sense of betrayal kicked her life into new territory and a sacred journey. This brought them into the world of Denver, the other main character who had long been living a miserable, violent, homeless life.

They had me with them now.

From there it was one divine appointment after another, with all the main characters facing themselves, each other, change, God, and the challenges those commitments demand of a person.  It's not an easy book, mainly because it's a true story and people just don't get happily-ever-afters, for the most part.  I won't say much more, since this is a book I am happy to recommend, and I don't want to spoil the story for you.  I'm just saying: if you have a similar reaction as I did to the first part of the book, stick with it.  It provides a story that, along with the circumstances of your own life, can change your thinking and open your eyes to things you wouldn't otherwise see.