Joshua by Joseph F. Girzone

"Each person looks at life through a different vision.  Three men can look at a tree. One man will see so many board feet of valuable lumber worth so much money. The second man will see it as so much firewood to be burned, to keep his family warm in winter. The third man will see it as a masterpiece of God's creative art, given to man as an expression of God's love and enduring strength, with a value far beyond its worth in money or firewood. What we live for determines what we see in life and gives clear focus to our inner vision."
                    -Joshua, from the novel

I am not sure of the genre of this book but I would call it Christian fiction. At first I thought I wouldn't like it because it seemed simplistic and a bit schmaltzy but the plot engaged me after all. I would rate it a 4. The subtitle is "A Parable for Today" and it is an apt description. The story reminded me of one of my favorite TV shows, "Joan of Arcadia," which sadly ended a too-short run years ago. The premise of the series was the appearance of God in many different forms to a high school girl, named Joan, who became a prophet of sorts in her town of Arcadia. The theme song contained the lyrics, "What if God was one of us? Just a stranger on the bus?" It made me wonder about where, when and how God appears to folks like me. Joshua did the same, only the book more than hinted at Jesus returning as a simple, loving man to a modern-day small town. You certainly know the story of Jesus' life from the Bible. How would it look if it happened today? Read to see the author's vision!

My followers know I begin every post with a quote. I jotted down ten possibilities before I settled on one. Any of them would have been just as poignant. Some were from scripture but many were Joshua's opinions shared with the town folk. For example, after I read, "Take the Christian denominations. It is not their following of Jesus that makes them different from one another. It is the denominational practices that you (religious leaders) have created that make them different from one another and keep them apart. This has brought ridicule on Christianity and destroyed the united influence you could have on the world." Amen, to that, I say!

I would recommend this to Christian readers, particularly, but I would hope others might read it and find it life-changing. I think the author may have had hopes of just such an impact.