As Is - by Krista Finch

I feel another one of my manic reading periods coming on.

I started reading the book As Is: Unearthing Commonplace Glory =by Krista Finch tonight.  I read about the first 50 pages and had to put it down.  Not because it was troubling or difficult to read or anything of the sort, but instead I felt like I was missing something by reading so much so quickly.  The book is a collection of 1-2 page reflections grouped into sections.  I read the first two and when I came to the end of the 2nd, I felt like I had read so much that I needed to let what I had taken in thus far begin to settle in for a while.  My sense of the book to this point is that it is an exploration of the glimpses of heaven in the midst of real life, hence the title "As Is."

As I read the first few sections, I heard about firefly chasing, children dancing before a camcorder, similarities to Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, and grace upon grace.  While I have not finished the book (I have about 150 pages more to go), I already cannot recommend it highly enough for someone looking for a book to simply refresh the spirit and nurture the soul.

As I thought of the title, I immediately went to a piece on the Lord's Prayer composed by Ennio Morricone from his soundtrack composition for The Mission.  One of the pieces (youtube link below) is entitled "As it is in Heaven."

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOCkjyKz3LA&w=425&h=344]

It is the perfect compliment to Ms. Finch's beautiful and encouraging words.  Listen to the piece a few times and I am sure you will have a bit of that commonplace glory that Ms Finch writes of.

One other note about the book - Ms Finch is donating 10% of all sales to IJM - International Justice Mission - in their work to help end modern day slavery.