Joshua: A Parable for Today is a national bestseller. A friend loaned me a copy few years ago, and I dove in. This is an uncomplicated book with a powerful message. Girzone, a retired catholic priest, wrote this book in 1983 and had it self-published, then he sold copies from out of the trunk of his car. The book eventually became a success. People were drawn to the character, Joshua, and his acts of kindness and loving ways. The book is written simply. Its unsophisticated language is not for everybody. But I like it. Joshua is a contemporary. It is as if Jesus should appear and walk the streets, in the 1980s,  during the year  in which this modern day parable was written.  He is a woodcarver who stirs things up in the church with his unconventional views and actions. The townspeople are curious, some in the religious community are wary. It seems that Girzone, through this book, wants to awaken the church to its unbending religiosity which gets in the way of being the hands and feet of Jesus. As with any book which has a spiritual base, you will either agree with the author’s premise or not. It challenged me in some areas, and its portrayal is intriguing. The strength in this book is its look at Joshua’s love and person-hood. It has limited action but the many dialogues, sermonettes, are worth the read if you like to think about spiritual concepts. My Book Dinner ladies enjoyed reading Joshua: A Parable for Today.

YOU WERE THERE: A Table in the Presence is a gripping account from before and during the invasion that began The War In Iraq told through the eyes of a U. S. Marine chaplain. For several different reasons, I appreciate this book. Most importantly, it tells the story from on the ground as if you are there among the United States service personnel. I am not a military person. I don’t read books about past wars, and I have limited understanding of military protocol or procedure. Yet, I find this book to be poignant and personal, a well-said account of a difficult period in U S wartime history. The way Lt. Cash, a chaplain, describes the step-by-step maneuvers makes one feel that you are there with them, waiting and waiting. Then creeping with the convoy when it’s time to move out. When the invasion begins, for a chaplain not carrying a weapon, it has an added dimension of danger.  Certain scenes are touching to me: Holy communion is given by catholic and protestant chaplains and shared among the men during a tense time of uncertainty. The men know they are staring down death. The mood is sober, the eternal is close. Another scene; a few hundred Iraqi children are discovered hidden in a warehouse, held as captives to be used for manipulative purposes. The U. S. liberates them. The children’s release is one positive in the nightmare. Regardless of how you feel about the invasion and The War in Iraq, this book is interesting and informative. Some Amazon reviewers are concerned that Cash’s viewpoint is that God is on America’s side. I didn’t take it that way. I believe he is illustrating the presence of God during such times but specific to the invasion. It would be wrong for him to not state what he experiences even if we may disagree with his interpretation. After-all, it is his personal account. Not everyone makes it out alive. You feel the grief. For a parent who has a son or daughter in the military, like I do, this book has a secondary level of interest.  A Table in the Presence will hold your interest and then some.