Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom; 2009; 254 pages; Hyperion Books, New York, NY; 978-0-7868-6872-8; 9/15-9/17

Mitch Alboms’ newest book returns to what made his first book “Tuesdays with Morrie” so well received, listening.  Mitch is asked to give the eulogy for the Rabbi of his youth, whom he knew as “reb” and over the next eight years he listens to the Rabbi and discovers many truths that he shares with us.  At the same time a foundation that Mitch started is considering helping a church in Detroit with some repairs and programs.  As Mitch checks out the church he meets the Pastor and listens to his story and those of his congregation. He finds out that the people in the church called their pastor “reb”  This is the story of two men called Reb, one is short for Rabbi and one is short for Reverend.   Here are two men who came to faith in two different ways, the Rabbi knew what he wanted to be and did it, the pastor came to faith in desperation from a life of crime and deprivation.  Both are good at what they do for two reasons, they have faith and they listen to God and their congregations.  Mitch Albom skillfully gives us the story of these two men and lets us listen in on his conversations with them and distills those conversations down to their essences so that we might also learn from these men.  This a moving story of faith and how faith affects lives, and not necessarily of just those with the faith.  RRRR