©1996, ProMotion, inc.
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Between the Dreaming and the Coming True is by a man who seems to have lost everything: his mind, marriage, career, finances. This book indirectly describes how he gained them back. Although most have not sunk to his depths of despair, most will relate to the fathoms of spiritual confusion which ultimately sent him plunging. More interesting than even the book is the part in each of us which will relate to the questions which lead to his return, which oddly is what the book is about. Who am I? What is my purpose?
It is a personal essay, of sorts, the kind which is a joy to read as well as a joy to write, and in which the writer as well as the reader grow. For those looking for spiritual sound bites, the God-fearing with MTV attention spans will find Paradise as early as the first page. The book is so personal that the reader will feel that he knows Robert Benson as an old friend. It is disappointing to awaken from the text and realize otherwise.
The first chapters of Between the Dreaming and the Coming True are devoted to the meaning of "self," and the middle chapters to the meaning of "work." In the end, Benson's conclusion is that they are both the same. Or should be. The latter chapters concentrate on getting to each through prayer which he describes as not necessarily getting God's attention, but being "willing to come to attention."
There are two themes which are tied together throughout: The pain of now is here to bring about the joy of tomorrow and, in God's eyes, we are all heroes in the making, or could be. "Moses was a killer on the lam before he became the man with the direct line to the Almighty É Jacob was a thief and a liar and a pretty poor hunter to boot long before he was a central figure in the choosing of a people."
One gets the impression that there is hope in the worst of times and for the worst of us, and maybe it is the worst that defines the true meaning of hope. It is in the unsavory that God can work his best. Before there were heroes such as Moses, Abraham, Samuel, David, and Jonah, there were "wanderers and wastrels, shepherds and stutterers, altar boys and mama's boys, small time business folks and clumsy parents." And us.
As we search for our purpose, Benson reminds us that we are not alone, nor should we consider ourselves to be the spiritually discarded. "I am convinced that the Voice that whispered us into being still whispers within us and all creation . . .We are closing our ears and then blaming God for the silence." Finding our purpose is as easy, it seems, as learning to listen with our hearts.
Clay Stafford is a writer living in Franklin, Tennessee.
©1996, ProMotion, inc.