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Escapes

Since I promised Library Thing that I would review Escape Routes ~ for people who feel trapped in life's hells by Johann Christoph Arnold back in 2016, I did try to read it before I tossed the gratis copy in the donate pile. I mostly ended up skimming through the text once I realized it was a Come-to-Jesus fest.

What I probably should have read first was the tag line on the back cover copy: You name the hell . . . there is a way out. That has to be the most breathtakingly idiotic statement I have ever read. I guess we're skipping terminal cancer? Chronic incurable pain? How about diseases that result in a seriously impaired, shortened life? Sorry, but the only way out of those is death.

This book is basically a collection of interviews with people who have endured the worst abuse, physical and mental suffering, and the terminally ill (aka misery porn) interspersed with long passages of preaching by the writer, who assures the reader that he too has had a horrible time of it before he launches into yet another variation of "a deep and devoted relationship with God will get you through anything."

Unless you're an atheist, a non-Christian believer or, like me, a person who simply tries to be decent and good while avoiding all the religious fanatics, in which case I guess you're SOL.

I have nothing against having a healthy and fulfilling relationship with God -- I admire people who can, as long as they're not violating the rights of others who don't share their beliefs -- but the Almighty is not a skeleton key. You hold onto whatever you can however you can and survive your hells, or learn to live in them. Or you don't survive, and you get out of them anyway (one hopes.)

I think since reading Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture, which I think is the most helpful book out there for people who are dealing with life's worst tragedies, I have been able to let go of what really doesn't matter and focused on what does. If you want a great motivational book during dark times, i'd recommend going with Randy instead of Johann.

I'm perplexed by this book for many reasons, but in the end it's the title inaccuracy that tops the head-scratcher list. If God is the one-size-fits-all way out of any hell, then why isn't the title Escape Route?

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