Much of my summer is spent reading. Popular authors plan their latest works for summer just as do the summer movies. Most of the bestsellers are easy reads. The novels in my library are basically escapist in nature. If you look close, you will be able to see who my favorite writers are by the amount of books in place. One problem of mine is that of being a fast reader by nature. Even my earliest test scores in school give evidence to an unusual ability to read as well as retain a lot of information in a short amount of time. My average time to read a novel is about two days. Even longer books do not take me much longer than that. What usually happens is a fast reading then moving on to another book. Last night changed that in a big way.

Cormac McCarthy is a powerful writer whose books are constanly praised even if he remains unknown and reclusive. Last year on my trip to Minnesota his book, No Country for Old Men was on my reading list. Last night his newest book became my newest read. The Road is one of those books that reaches out to grab you and refuses to let go. It is the story of a father and son on a journey in the years after nuclear war laid waste to this planet. The characters are never named. The country of their journey is never really given though you know it is the United States. My reading began early in the evening. After a break for exercise and work it continued until early this morning. My intent was to stop on several occasions but the story would not allow it.

My mind wanders today to just how far men will go to get what they want. We live under a cloud of nuclear weapons hidden in underground caves around the world. Terrorists of all types are determined to rid this planet of life as we know it. If that isn't enough, we live in a real world day by day where evil people roam. James, the half-brother of Jesus tells us of evil's unending quest to dominate the lives of those who are godly. The father and son in this book often speak of being the "good guys." It is their love and devotion to each other that keeps them alive. Their world exists as if God does not. McCarthy seems to know better than that. It is as if he knows the phrase, "God is love, where there is love, there is God."

One of my thoughts in the afterglow of that dreary postapocalyptic world is to do as the father and son even before bombs fall. How often we can do just a small act of kindness for another to lift their spirits? We can refuse to let the evil around us determine the heart within us. The book ends in an oddly uplifting moment. Without spoiling the ending let me suggest the idea that the good we do for others is our reward but it also opens up goodness from others. Reminds me of another wise saying, "Do unto others..."

Bro. Trey