The Spirit Made Me Do It

About the Book

The Spirit Made Me Do It

Difficult life lessons learned the hard way made simpler via God's way

Would have, could have, should have were all I could come up with after I finally got around to reading the Bible midway through my fifty-eighth year of life. Being a retired English teacher, I have read my share of fine novels, short stories, plays, poems and letters over the years, each with its premise, lesson or moral. But the Bible, the most important literary work of all. I had deliberately avoided. I reasoned that "not knowing" would somehow diminish my accountability for the flaws of my imperfect existence. Ignorance was almost bliss for a while.

This cop out was working just fine for me until life threw me a succession of 140 mph fast and curve balls. I got beamed something fierce, but it knocked some much needed sense into me. Yes, there was a weighty price for my knowledgeable ignorance, but I believe I know that I'm better for it. So, look at me now....spreading the "good news" in the only humble way I know how. Who would have ever thought? The Holy Spirit? Only God knows.

I do hope that you enjoy reading these verses and consider them heaven sent as I certainly do. It's the only way I can account for something or someone, God Almighty. The Spirit Made Me Do It.

About the Author

I, a baby boomer, was born in Brooklyn, NY. I lived and worked there most of my life before retiring from the New York City Department of Education in 2004. After more than three decades of loyal service, it was a relationship that I loved but which ended unexpectedly, as did the break up of my equally long marriage. The separation in both regards was equally traumatic and painful for me, to say the least. The psychological and emotional pain of losing two things I held most dearly was the catalyst for this, and other creative endeavors which lay dormant for years. I am not sure they would have ever come into existence if it had not been for the personal loss, pain, and suffering. Before these occurrences, I lived pretty much on the edge of success and disaster, always tempting fate, pushing my luck, my body, and my family to the extreme. Daring disaster, compromising, and/or negotiating with God and the devil is pretty pompous behavior, and I confess it. It was not until I came to realize that one’s life, circumstance, and the people you love are not to be taken for granted, did I wise up. Especially when it is “you” who would ultimately be taken advantage of and summarily disposed. Everything you cherish can be gone, stripped and ripped from you, in an instant. Leaving you alone, forlorn, and forsaken. Simply tossed aside, you find yourself clicking your heels like some poor child repeating, “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” Too bad you’ve no home to go to now, and you can trust no one. That’s when God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who were always with me anyhow, said to me, Telly Savales aka Kojak style, “Donnie my boy, who loves you baby?” And just like a kid with a lollipop, I’ve been a sucker for the power of God and His merciful grace because it is what it is and I am what I am. If He can deliver me, and He did, hey, I’ve got to believe that we all have a shot at redemption and a second chance in life. But, only if you really want it. Step out in faith, believe it, and take it. Don’t look back. Look forward; look up.