Book Review
The book ‘The Applause of Heaven’ is written by a renowned author Max Lucado. In this 200 page long book, he explains the message ‘Beatitudes’ very lucidly. The limpid prose of the book makes it easy for every reader who finds it hard to read the original message. The main subject is about how to live a peaceful and contented life, and it is explained to the reader through the message that was given by the Jesus Christ, standing on the mountain. The Christ gave a sermon to his people, and it is recorded in the Gospel of Mathew. The message ‘Beatitude’ is arguably one of the most complex topics in the Bible. The language is recondite and people, including myself, find it extremely hard to read and understand. It all comes down to the genius of the author. Max Lucado breaks the message down into simple components and makes the reader understand and assimilate the ideas efficiently. The chapters in the book are short but explained succinctly. The author did not intend to make the book verbose. The points are made to the point and laconically stated everything. The book is written and explained conversationally.
This is the kind of book that should be read by everyone who finds the original message, written in the Gospel of Mathews, confusing and abstruse. I would highly recommend this simply, yet profoundly written book. The author is a pastor in Texas and people when starting to read a book, search for the author and his other books, usually would not read it assuming that this is also some Sunday sermon. The book is filled with profound sayings and steps to living a healthy life. It is not a sermon and book explains everything without the overtone of preaching. Max Lucado makes use of incredible metaphors and similes to describe the subject matter. My recommendation for this book goes out for anyone who feels they are not happy or they think there is no meaning in life or people who think they are leading a meaningless life. This book will be a blessing for them if they want to change their course of lives. This book will fill people with the attributes that make the world a peaceful and enjoyable place to live. The book takes the reader on a spiritual journey that when the book ends, the reader wants to read it all over again.
I cannot confidently say about the others, but this book evidently changed the way I understand the world and the way I perceive everything that goes around me. The Applause of Heaven hit me deeply on so many levels. It has imbued me with a sense of responsibility and courage. We come into this world and go through its process and do not stop for even a second and understand and analyze the things we do. Before reading this book, I was living my life without thinking the essential questions that we all must ask ourselves. What is our purpose? Why are we here in this world? There must be more than just going to school and getting a job and getting married and then leave this universe. We nonchalantly go through the phases of life without any deep understanding of our real purpose. With the help of this book, I was better able to understand the text and message of the Bible, in particular, the message ‘Beatitude.’ We have the responsibility to help the poor and destitute. Those of us who are privileged should always strive to help the help who are not given the blessings that are bestowed upon us. I believe if we close the doors on poor, then there will come the point when we will be in that situation.
The Sermon on the Mount has always been very confusing for me to understand. It is mainly because of the language of the text and the esoteric way it is written. The book explained it beautifully with the use of characters and in the form of conversation. The message does not elude me. This book is sufficient to understand the message given by Jesus Christ. For instance, the merciful are those who won a million dollar prize, and they share their reward with the people who are in need of help or the persecuted ones are those who have a strong belief in God, and they are enduring every suffering and calamity that befalls them (Lucado, 2008). They do not lose hope in God. The book explains everything that is confusing in the original text. After reading the book, I read the Sermon on the Mount again, but with different perceptive. The reading experience was very different than the time I read before reading the book by Max Lucado.
The book fills me with empathy and compassion for everyone around me. We would be able to understand someone if we put ourselves in some else’s shoes. This has been a very joyous journey all through the quarter. It is safe to say; this book has changed me inside out. It has been a spiritual journey for me. Through the reading of this book, I have come to realize I only have a smattering of knowledge about the teachings of the Bible. This book helped me in realizing that if I do not understand something, I need to consult other supplementary books to understand any particular subject. The applause of heaven is one of its kind.
References
Lucado, M. (2008). The applause of heaven (Vol. 3). Thomas Nelson Inc.
