CROSS ROADS

If you liked THE SHACK by Paul Young, you will love his second book, CROSS ROADS. I've only just finished chapter 5, but I love it.

Barnes & Noble's description is:

Anthony Spencer is egotistical, proud of being a self-made business success at the peak of his game, even though the cost of winning was painfully high. A cerebral hemorrhage leaves Tony comatose in a hospital ICU. He 'awakens' to find himself in a surreal world, a 'living' landscape that mirrors dimensions of his earthly life, from the beautiful to the corrupt. It is here that he has vivid interactions with others he assumes are projections of his own subconscious, but whose directions he follows nonetheless with the possibility that they might lead to authenticity and perhaps, redemption. The adventure draws Tony into deep relational entanglements where he is able to 'see' through the literal eyes and experiences of others, but is "blind" to the consequences of hiding his personal agenda and loss that emerge to war against the processes of healing and trust. Will this unexpected coalescing of events cause Tony to examine his life and realize he built a house of cards on the poisoned grounds of a broken heart? Will he also have the courage to make a critical choice that can undo a major injustice he set in motion before falling into a coma?

My favorite quotes so far, follow:

Referring to the broken down soul of Tony...."This is real and breathing, not a fabrication that can be bullied into being. When you choose technique over relationship and process, when you try and shortcut the speed of growing awareness and force understanding and maturity before its time, this is what you become." p. 60

"We are only able," Jesus continued, "to move at the speed and in the direction that land itself allows. One must relate to it with honor and reverence and let the land speak its own heart. Then, out of respect we must choose to submit to its idea of 'real' and still remain ones who love it toward the true, without faltering, regardless of the cost. To not live for the land in this way is to join its aggressors, ravagers, users, and benefactors, and then all hope for its healing would be lost."

"Transformation without work and pain, without suffering, without a sense of loss is just an illusion of true change." p. 65

"Believer is an activity, not a category." p. 71

"God's very being is relational, three distinct persons who are so wonderfully close we are oneness." p. 72

....God cares for you with relentless affection....p. 79