Almighty

If you are looking for an easy-to-read book about Heavenly Father and your relationship to Him, look no further than the book Almighty by David Butler. This book, written primarily to a teen audience, is simple to read, but full of an engaging writing style. Fun doodles fill the book, giving the reader the feeling that this is meant to be read as a friendly conversation.

The author talks about lessons he has learned. For example, once while serving as a missionary a man he was teaching asked why God sent us to earth. If our whole purpose is to make it back to live with Him someday again, why did He ever make us leave in the first place? This stumped the author. He imagined a parent driving his young children to a park in another state, dropping them off, and then telling them he'll be waiting back at home for them. This doesn't sound like a loving father!

After a lot of study and reflection, he realized this isn't the way it was at all. It is more similar to someone being sent off to a prestigious university. The parents cheer for the student. They know it will be hard, full of stressful days and sleepless nights, living on hardly anything, dealing with tough assignments and professors and more. But the parents know how much the experience will enrich their child's life. That is more how Heavenly Father thinks of our mortal journey.

There is a lot about the book I could talk about, but I will just touch on one more thing. The author relabels the parable of the Prodigal Son to be the parable of the Prodigal Father (he also points out Jesus didn't give most of His parables titles--other people did). I always thought the word "prodigal" meant wasteful, but it literally means "spending money or resources freely and recklessly" or "having or giving something on a lavish scale."

Yes, the son in the parable is prodigal. He demands his inheritance early (something that would have been highly offensive), and then wastes it all rapidly in riotous living. That is why we always think he is the prodigal. But then notice what the father does when the son returns home.

The father is watching for him. He runs up to him, falls on his neck and kisses him--all before the son even tries to make an apology. When the son does try to apologize, the father calls for his servants to put a robe upon him and put a ring on his finger. He kills the fatted calf--something that would have only been done on the most special of occasions (a daughter's engagement party didn't even necessarily warrant the fatted calf). He throws a party. Doesn't this treatment of the wayward son seem prodigal?

But that is how our Heavenly Father is. He is just. He expects a lot from us. But He is so merciful and so eager to shower blessings upon us. We deserve so little because we are all so imperfect in our obedience to Him. But He loves us so much that He blesses us with far more than what we could ever deserve, or ever hope to earn.

This book is great for people working on building their testimony of God, but really, it's a great book for anybody.