In this brief, readable time

Bayuk (Coping and Prevailing, 1986, etc.) recounts a lifetime of pulling away from and moving closer to God, before finally setting out to motivate others to do His will. In the prologue, the author tackles America's current ambivalence about the church's role in society. This section contains provocative statements and stories that take aim at the current trend toward political correctness, with its strict separation of God from government. In his points to ponder, Bayuk notes meaningfully that a statue of Moses holding the Ten Commandments stares down from the top of the Supreme Court building. On the whole, however, the author focuses on his vacillating relationship with God. Bayuk, who has written two books about coping with his multiple sclerosis, turns his struggles into warmhearted stories. He recalls in detail his long and happy relationship with his wife, his glory days of welling commercial real estate, the ups and downs of owning a deli and a diner and of having learned to live with his disease.

Throughout, the author recounts being torn between following his free will and following what he perceived as God's instructions. However, his major defiance of God's will seems to have been his reluctance to attend church. Bayuk recalls that he refused to go to mass for years, feeling frustrated when he spent hours at Pentecostal services and guilty when he did not. Readers may not view these moments as the powerful conflicts of God that Bayuk presents them as. The author later describes miracles that have occurred since he has become more spiritually involved. Here again, the reader may see his helpful daughter, a reconciliation between parents and children, and the brother who raises some cash in a time of need, not as miracles but simply as blessings. Also, while the author is an engaging storyteller, he's also a bit repetitious. Nevertheless, Bayuk writes convincingly about the satisfactions of a faith-based life. A handy nightstand book for those seeking spiritual affirmation.