Have a Little Faith, by Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom got his start as a sports writer, but he's better known to the general reader as the author of the inspirational books Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, both of which were made into TV movies.  Have a Little Faith is in the same genre as Tuesdays With Morrie. 

Albom grew up in suburban New Jersey, where his family is actively involved in a local synagogue.  Since leaving home, Albom has not actively practiced his faith, but the rabbi, Albert Lewis, asked Albom to do his eulogy.  That led Albom to spend hours and hours with Lewis over the next several years.  As their friendship grows, so does Albom's appreciation for the rabbi he knew as a child but never really knew.

Lewis served this congregation for generations; it's the only placed he ever served.  Albom's reports of their time spent together bring out Lewis's wisdom and teaching in such a way that make the reader long to sit at his feet and listen to stories.  Their conversations range widely, encompassing questions big and little.  As a Jewish man married to a Christian, Albom is especially interested in the question of inter-religious relations.  Lewis tells the story of an early episode in his tenure.  After an ugly encounter between a priest from the parish next door and one of the synagogue members, the priest (at the insistence of his superior) and Rabbi Lewis walked arm in arm around the parish schoolyard, during recess, in a demonstration of the fact that the two faiths can coexist.  Albom asked Lewis, "But what if someone from another faith won't recognize yours?  Or wants you dead for it?"  Lewis sagely replied, "That is not faith.  That is hate."

Lewis always had a ready answer, or at least a question to make the questioner reflect.  Full of wit, always singing, and loved by all, Lewis left a deep impression on Albom and everyone with whom he came into contact.  Lewis did not hold back when Albom asked him the secret to his happiness: "Be satisfied.  Be grateful.  For what you have.  For the love you receive.  And for what God has given you.  That's it."

During the time Albom was meeting with Lewis, he also met Henry Covington, pastor of Pilgrim Church and director of I am My Brother's Keeper in Detroit.  This inner city ministry, a church and homeless outreach, was struggling, poor, and small, but full of faith.  Covington's story, though very different from Lewis's, inspired Albom in different ways.  Covington had been in and out of prison, immersed in drugs and crime, when he became a Christian and began serving others.  Albom initially met Covington to investigate the ministry, to determine whether his foundation would give them a grant.  He got to know Covington, visiting him on several occasions and attending services at the church.  He eventually wrote a newspaper column about their having the heat turned off because of their failure to pay the gas bill.  It didn't help that the roof of the old church had a gaping hole.  That little bit of publicity brought interest and money to the ministry, and now the church has a solid roof! (Read about that here.)

Albom's storytelling skill and sensitive portrayals of Lewis and Covington draw the reader into a rare circle of friendship and shared faith.  Have a Little Faith reminds us of the treasures that can be found talking with the regular people around us.  We might be inspired by the biographies of great leaders or historical figures, but these two clergymen, common men by the standards of history, possess and convey the kind of greatness that really matters, impacting the lives of people around them.  There are volumes to be written about our neighbors, the family in the pew behind us in church, the family who runs the dry cleaners I go to, the bus driver who picks up my daughter every day.  I know those books will never be written, but Albom reminds me that if I take time to listen, I might hear some stories worth remembering and will likely learn a few things about living life.