Sailing Between the Stars
(Musings on the Mysteries of Faith)
by Steven James
Reviewed by Pat Beaty (patbeaty.blogspot.com)
Once again, I am having an extremely difficult time finding
an adjective best suited to describe what, to me, is a beautifully written book
by an unusually innovative member of God’s family. To say it is unusual does not even begin to do it justice. Entertaining, thought provoking, and
filled with a variety of topics that will gain any reader’s interest; my vote
is; “joyful” and you will find it to be just that. This pleasing collection of thoughts from a believer about
the mysteries, paradoxes, and other fascinating aspects of Christianity and the
Holy Bible will catch you off guard.
You will find that the intermixing of the points he makes with experiences
and utterances of his small children will charm you to a happy remembrance of
your own children at an early age.
The author brings self-denigration to its highest degree as
he describes his own failures and inabilities; and he discusses the identify of
God, who God is, in a manner you will find disturbing at first, then absolutely
wonderful. A friend of my daughter’s read this book and then bought several copies
to give to others. It’s “delightful”
– take my word for it.
“Our God is a God of joy, and he wants to pour that joy into
your life. Psalm 30:11 says God
clothes us with joy. Psalm 45:7 says he anoints our heads with the oil of joy –
he clothes us with oil, he drenches us with joy! Psalm 126:3 says he fills us
with joy. Isaiah 35:10 says he overwhelms us with joy and crowns our heads with
it. How would you like to be
clothed, drenched, filled, overwhelmed, and crowned with joy?”
“No one is old who sees the world through a child’s
God-shaped eyes.” The author’s delightful stories give you a glimpse into the
way that he gets to view God through his daughters’ eyes.
o “My
daughter Ariel told her hamster that he needed to believe in Jesus, and she
prayed with him so that he would be able to go to heaven.”
o “Great.
I’ve managed to raise a three-year-old suicidal q-tip-eating stripper!” (You
have to read the book to find out the full implication of this statement.)
o My
daughter likes to pray, “God, I love you so, so, so, so much!” and “I can’t
wait until I die, because then I get to be with Jesus.”
This delightful describer feels “she’s not only my child –
but his daughter, too, tugging on the pants leg of the divine.
This is not a book you cannot put down until you finish it,
however, it is one you will not WANT to put down until you finish it.
You may learn a few things along the way, like crux is cross
in Latin. I bet you don’t know what agathokakological means? Surprise your
pastor and tell him that it means consisting of both good and evil.
