The Raven: Walking from East to West

"SOME BOOKS ARE DIFFICULT TO WRITE; OTHERS BORDER ON THE ALMOST impossible. This one is in the latter category... The difficulty lies on many fronts. First is that of accurate recall. How does one piece together all of the past? How does one be truly objective when one's own feelings are locked in to the situation?

Then arises a very personal matter. How do you tell a story of such intimate issues and not at the same time make someone else look unduly bad or good? That was the toughest challenge of all. It is one thing for an individual to disclose his or her own heart, but to do so for someone else runs an unfortunate risk. If I have erred here, I sincerely hope it is not because of any personal ill will but only because

I know the story did not end as it had begun...

The goal was simple: 'Tell us your story in the simplest terms with your heart on your sleeve.' I suppose being accustomed to writing on philosophical themes, this was a reminder to me as 'a word to the wise.'

So that has been the approach...

As I retraced steps and memories, some of them were hard to relive, while others brought a renewed sense of happiness; some memories brought the depth of tears to the surface, and yet others brought to mind cherished moments long forgotten... It is an exercise that is well undertaken by everybody...

I remember the time an older man asked me when I was young, 'Do you know what you are doing now?' I thought it was some kind of trick question.

'Tell me,' I said.

'You are building your memories,' he replied, 'so make them good ones.'

...

There is something greater here, and it is this: as life progresses, you wish there were some safeguards you had taken along the way, and even some different decisions you had made... I nevertheless come away with the absolute certainty that God has ordered my steps and that God was there, even in the darkest moments of my life. I know this as surely as I know I exist. He never abandoned me and has brought me by His grace and mercy this far. This is the most certain truth I possess, and it is truly liberating... I sincerely hope and pray that as you read these pages, you will feel Him near to you and that you will be guided by His wisdom and kept by His grace.

Without Him, this story would not be worth telling or reading."