Dear Reader:
I am grateful for your support and presence as I walk a difficult road. In the heart of an ongoing series of threats to my well-being, a lovely little book was born. ‘Where is God in all of this?” has now gone into production. I want to bring you in close and share the book’s Preface with you. I did the unthinkable for me—I kept it under two pages :). If nothing else, I hope that it reminds you of your own unique possibilities—and inspires you to actualize them…
PREFACE
The idea for this book arose unexpectedly in the heart of my own desperation. I was struggling with a grueling personal situation which haunted me unrelentingly for several years, turning my view of the world upside down. After a series of incredulous events, my lens on reality was forever changed. For the first time in 62 years, I couldn't find a single reason to go on.
While sitting on the bed in a state of genuine hopelessness, I said to my wife, Susan: “Where is God in all of this?” The pointed sincerity of the question struck even me by surprise. In the depths of my crisis, I had looked for my answers everywhere—but I had forgotten to ask God. It was finally time.
I had grown up in constant communion with my notions of God—I genuinely felt his presence everywhere—but then I forgot him. My forgetfulness perfectly coincided with my exposure to a world of hurt. Given that I was conditioned to believe that God was our savior, it made no sense to me that he would permit so much suffering. So, I looked away from him for answers. I looked to myself, and my willful quest for a better life. Soon enough, I began to track my soul’s journey, and focused my energies on excavating and actualizing a spectrum of personal callings. The notion of God was somewhere in the mix—a word I used to articulate beauty, meaning, and profundity, a prayer for a better world—but he and I didn’t talk much. I was mostly left to my own devices. And, that was the way I liked it.
Until things fell apart in my life, and in the world around me. It was only then I remembered him. Not merely as the source-spring of all that I am, but as a presence I turned to for answers. Soon after asking Susan my question, Where is God in all of this?, I felt compelled to ask God himself. It turns out he hadn’t gone anywhere—I had. And the following conversations were born.