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Author's Note
Just north of Tulane University is a three-story apartment building on Fontainebleau Drive. Like many homes in New Orleans, the building looks charming from the outside. Inside it just looks old. The hall lights seldom work; doors are hard to open; and nameless creatures scurry through the walls. When I teach at Tulane University, I stay in a second floor apartment of this building. Although the place isn’t much, I love it deeply because it’s the spot I began writing this book. After years of writing academic research papers, I set my evenings in New Orleans aside for this new endeavor, an endeavor that allowed me to reflect on the great sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us. When Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans in August of 2005, I had not yet finished the book. The storm flooded the apartment building. Mold spread throughout and contractors had to strip the entire first floor of the building to its studs. Therefore, I had to finish the book in retreat back home in Connecticut.The theme of the book is the journey to know Christ is the journey to know the deepest, best element of ourselves. When we embrace this divine element within us by geniuinely believing in Christ, we experience the wonder of being born of God, and we discover that Christ’s power to heal is deeper than our deepest pain.My sole intent is to prompt readers to look within themselves to find the light and peace of Jesus Christ, the only name under heaven through which we can be saved. To do so, I share personal anecdotes, observations, and reflections that reveal momentary glimpses into the power of Christ’s redeeming grace – the foundation for all our joy. My memory isn’t what it used to be, so I’m not sure all of these experiences occurred exactly as I’ve described them. However, I described them as accurately as I could. There is no error in the central message I convey, which is that God is there, he hears our prayers, and he loves us.
