It has taken me longer to read this book, a mere 173 pages, than books twice, even three times, its size. All I can say, is that quite like the main character of The Road to Grace, recently, I have found myself on a journey and it has taken me some time to get back to where I know I need to be. But, here I sit once again, in front of my home computer, typing my reaction to a book. I am now exactly where I need to be.
In The Road to Grace, Alan Christofferson continues his trek from Seattle, Washington, to Key West Florida. While the first two volumes in the series kept me enthralled, this third book was a slow start for me and a slow read until the last 50 pages or so. However, looking back, this one must might be my favorite of the three. The characters Alan meets as he walks this time through South Dakota, Iowa, and Missouri have the most to teach him about forgiveness and the genuine good nature and hearts of people. There are certainly bends and twists along his path, literally and figuratively, and there's a moment in the last chapter that made me cry tears of fear and pain for Alan, while shaking my head and wondering exactly how much more this man would be subjected to. As it was last year, it's going to be a very long 365 days before I can find out what happens next and if The Walk will even continue for Alan.
I have always known in my heart that books mean more to a person when they can relate, when the book speaks to their soul, or teaches them a lesson that can't be taught in any other way. Books often force us to take a long hard look at ourselves, turning the mirror back onto us, forcing us to often see what we really don't want to look at. Or, as for me this time, books can often make clear what reality makes muddy.
I said at the beginning of my blog that lately I have been on my own walk. Not literally, but I have been on a journey that has taught me so much about myself, what I value in life, and how I want to live out the next 50 years. The truth is, the cause of the journey is irrelevant and what I was walking for matters to no one but myself and my family, but I find the timeliness of reading The Road to Grace rather meaningful. Was I not supposed to read the book quickly? What if I had finished it within days of buying it? Would it have left a mark on my soul as it did now, knowing that the events of the past week, the events that sparked my personal walk, opened my heart and mind to the possibilities of The Road to Grace? I doubt it. I think I was supposed to carry this book with me on my journey, reading as I found time, pondering when I had a moment or two, and then wrapping it all up tonight, on a night when I had time to reflect and to truly understand the book's meaning and it's meaning to my life in particular.
As I sometimes do when I read, I have highlighted several passages that have particular meaning for me. The first is, "We chain ourselves to what we do not forgive." Lately I have been chained and I am ready to be set free. Holding resentment in your heart is a true burden. It is debilitating and I am so ready to move on. Yet, I can't quite bring myself to forgive. It's like Alan said in my next favorite passage, "Desire. It is not the ability to walk that pleases God, it is the desire to walk." I have the desire to forgive, but am not quite ready to make the leap. But at least I am headed in the right direction. The reverse of this is also true...I am hoping in my heart that those who I have asked to forgive me will consider letting their burden be released. Because, for all of us, "He who does not forgive is guilty of the greater sin." I only wish that was true--that not forgiving was the greatest sin.
My walk, my journey, brought me home, back to the people who love me most, and I would not have it any other way. Alan's walk might end, but it might continue on, as he searches for meaning in his life. He will never return home, but he just might discover what I have learned over the past few weeks. Home can sometimes be a place, but sometimes "home" is found where ever the ones you love happen to be. My "home"goes to work and school each day and we meet back at 5225 Chappell Ridge Place almost every evening. But, if one day those three people, who matter more to me than anything in the world, didn't come home at the end of the day, then my home wouldn't be home any more. It's no wonder to me, then, that Alan began his walk when his "home" disappeared. I think I would have done exactly the same thing.
I leave this series for another year and begin my search for a new book to read. I think I need something lighter. Between The Road to Grace and the Fifty Shades Trilogy, I have been reading a lot of heavy words lately. Time to load up the beach bag for a little fluff. I wonder if I have any cowboy books left?
Happy Reading, everyone!
:) Dodie
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