Life and death seems to be a common
topic in books, TV shows and movies these days. People seem to love it too. The books Heaven is for Real, Beach Road and Joni: An Unforgettable Story all have this common thread of life
and death.
Joni: An Unforgettable Story is the
story of Joni Eareckson's life changing experience. A diving accident in 1967
left Joni Eareckson, then 17, a quadriplegic in a wheelchair, without the use
of her hands. After two years of rehabilitation, she emerged with new skills
and a fresh determination to help others in similar situations. During her
rehabilitation, Joni spent long months learning how to paint with a brush
between her teeth. When Eareckson writes, "Who, or What, is God? Certainly not a personal Being who cares for
individuals, I reasoned. What's the
use of believing when your prayers fall on deaf ears?" (Eareckson 93),
it is clear that she is questioning her faith. Then she begins thinking about
the meaning of life. She asks, "If there isn't a personal God who cares
about me, then what's the use? Why not just commit suicide? In fact, why
doesn't the whole human race commit suicide if life has no meaning?"
(Eareckson 94, 95). At that point we know just how the accident has affected
her view on life. There is more evidence of her questioning life when she
states, “Life without eternal forces, without God, led to despair. I could see
this but didn’t know what else to believe. Had not God, if there was a God,
turned His back on me?” (Eareckson 96). A little over a week later Joni prays:
“God
I have just two choices: either You exist or You don’t. If You don’t exist,
then I don’t see any logical reason for living. If people who believe are only
going through motions that means nothing, I want to know. Why should we go on
fooling ourselves? Life is absurd most of the time. And it seems man’s only end
is despair. What can I do, Lord? I want to believe, but I have nothing to hang
on to. God, You’ve got to prove Your existence to me!” (97)
We
now learn that she wants to believe and has hope that there is a God, but she
wants God to prove he exists to her. Joni Eareckson gains her faith back and is
now a well-known Christian author, radio host, speaker, and founder of Joni and
Friends.
Todd Burpo’s Heaven is for Real is the story of his son Colton’s extraordinary
trip to heaven and back. When Colton was not yet four years old he told his
parents he had left his body during the emergency appendectomy surgery. He told
them an authenticated claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing
while he was being operated on. He talked of visiting heaven and relayed
stories that were told to him by people he met there whom he had never met in
life. He also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details
about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, though he had not yet learned to
read. Todd realizes that his son has been to heaven when he states,
“Suddenly
I realized that up until that point, I’d been toying with the idea that maybe
Colton had had some sort of divine visitation. Maybe Jesus and the angels had
appeared to him in the hospital. I’d heard of similar phenomena many times when
people were as near death as Colton had been. Now it was dawning on me that not
only was my son saying he had left his body; he was saying he had left the hospital!” (Burpo 63, 64)
Colton
had this incredible experience and found answers to questions lots of people
have about heaven.
The Beach Road by James Patterson is centered
on life and death. This book is about Tom Dunleavy an attorney in
East Hampton. He is defending his childhood friend Dante Halleyville who is
arrested for a triple murder of three local teens. We learn about the triple
murder when it states, "Then, almost immediately, another shock. The
bodies aren't lying side by side. They're stacked, one on top of the other, in
a heap. Feif is in the middle on his back. Robert Walco is lying on top of him
facedown, and Rochie is on the bottom turned on his side" (Patterson 43).
That lets the reader know just how bad the murder was. Dante hires Tom to defend him. He states, “Clarence,
I haven’t been in a courtroom in over a year. Even then I was nothing special. That’s
because you never tried, Tom. Not like you did playing ball. Put your mind to
it, I believe you can do anything well. Folks like you. They listen to you”
(Patterson 127). Tom decides to accept Dante’s offer. Tom hires Kate, a
well-known Manhattan lawyer, to help him with the case. Kate replies, “I want
to help you defend Dante Halleyville” (Patterson 175). Tom and Kate win the court
case. If you don’t want to know the ending skip to the last paragraph. In the
end the real murderer is Tom. Tom gets sent to prison where he is later murdered
by other inmates who know that Tom was Dante’s attorney.
Life and death were in
the middle of all three books and of many more books too. people seem to be loving
the life and death theme since books, TV shows and movies keep coming out with
that topic.
