I always give a reasoning of why I chose this book and this book deals specifically with life and thats my struggle now, is trying to deal with life especially as I get older and see how life is passing me by and I can't control it but thats my issue, you can't control time but you can control what you make of your time. My pastor told me what a good read it was and I told him I especially needed a book so I could get my blogs done. : ). Not that I don't have the enjoyment of flipping open a book on my own but getting a good grade helps.(off topic) But what stood out to me was the title. " Living a Life that Matters". I questioned the title even before I had read a single sentence from the book because I thought well, who's life doesn't matter, I mean we all matter in some way shape or form, but in the very first chapter, which is usually what I read to determine if I like a book, it showed me lots of people feel their life doesn't matter and that in many ways we all feel insignificant at some point and that was the hook. Something that could relate to me. If it relates to me, or a book can give me advice and answers, I WILL read it. As I get older I am also growing much deeper in my faith and this book definitely goes into detail about that because as I understand my faith, the more questions I have about it. Many of his remarks and claims are open to interpretation but the book definitely leads you in the right direction of finding the answers to common unanswered questions about your "life" whether your religious or non- religious .

What Kind of Person do you want to be? Is the title of one of the chapters. The first line of this chapter is, " Why do good people do bad things?" Kushner uses an example of a married couple that came to him many years ago and said they needed counseling. He had known the family for many years and thought it was no other but the main, either marital problems or problems with their teenagers. When the family came he asked what the issue was and it was none of the above. It was about their business, they had signed with a religious Jew, as business partners and he stole lots of money from the them and the business. So they came to find the answer to the question, " Why do good people do bad things?" The wife constantly kept going on about how involved in the church the Jew was and how flabbergasted she was at the incident. Another story in the chapter was the preacher who was more active and giving than anyone in their town and had to move far away because he had been caught having inappropriate relations with the young girls in the youth group. Kushner says, " I tried to tell the married couple and the preacher I had eaten lunch with that organized religion attracts all sorts of people, good and bad, strong and weak, for all sorts of reasons. I quoted a line I had once written, that a church or synagogue that only admitted saints would be like a hospital that only admitted healthy people. It would be a more pleasant place and easier to run, but that's not what we're in business for." This is my favorite chapter because we see cruelty every SINGLE day on the news. Some stole something, a person was murdered, a child was kidnapped, and every time I hear these stories with my mom, We always have that disgusted look on our faces and say, " What kind of human being would do such a thing?" But while I sit and judge the murderer, which is a sin, am I much better by lying to a person to their face or judging a fellow classmate that has a style that I don't agree with? What differentiates the two? Am I so much better? Kushner sums up the chapter by saying that we don't really understand the definition of good because someone can do bad things but still do good for some else, but we tend to look more at what a person lacks than what a person gains.

Not to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but he also talks about religion, God specifically. He says that Christians tend to make the mistake that we feel that God should forgive us because we deserve it. " But as my audiences taught me, and as a moment's reflection might teach us all, sometimes we want to hear the father's message that we are loved because we deserve it, not only because the other person is so generous and tolerant." Christians need to realize that we are not forgiven because we deserve it, but because God is generous enough to forgive us. Even in everyday life. A friend tells you a secret, " Please, don't tell anyone", she says. But you can't help but to tell someone else and it gets around school and guess what, your friend hates you. Now when you approach her and tell her how sorry you are, don't say, and I mean DON'T say, Well... you should forgive me because I DERSERVE it. If that happens you might want to go friend shopping. That friendship is no longer. But you plead for forgiveness because you know she doesn't have to forgive if she doesn't want to. Hopefully she does. " People need to hear the same message from God that children need to hear from their earthly parents. Just as it is an unforgettably comforting and necessary experience for a child caught doing something wrong to be forgiven and to learn that parental love is a gift that will not be arbitrarily withdrawn, a lesson no child should grow up without absorbing, so it is a vital part of everyone's religious upbringing to learn that God's love is not tentative, that our failures do not alienate us from God."

Living A Life That Matters

Living a life that matters deals with the one of the issues that humans are so consumed with the idea of being insignificant. The author, Harold S. Kushner, uses an example of when he was 10 years old. He felt like he wasn't receiving any attention at home so he faked sick from school, and when he got back all his classmates were laughing and giggling and telling him what a good time they had yesterday when the teacher threw a surprise party. That's when Kushner had a sudden epiphany and realized that just because he was sick the world wasn't going to stop for him. "Life moves on with or witout you." By Kushner, it is your job to make yourself significant by understanding that the world doesn't stop for you and that you have to PROVE yourself. I just wanted to through in here that this part of the book kind of reminds me of the skii documentary we watched. How all those professional skiiers had the need or want to be significant or well-known to man kind. Just a thought. But back on the subject.... Kushner doesn't want to just damper your party by telling you your insignificant but by saying that we think we're insignificant when really all of us matter to the world. All you need is the right stepping stones to make a difference not only for the world but for yourself.