I have pondered this question several times throughout my life. God created everything and thus has something to do with pain and the capacity for evil within creation. This topic came up again as I read Into the Canyon by Michael Neale.
The the main character is an old man (about as old as my parents) who tells his story to a younger man. Most of the book is made up of the old man's story of himself and a small group of people who were river guides in Colorado. Through his story, he relates to the younger man what is important in life.
The old man, Gabriel Clarke, was scarred for life when as a child of 5, his dad died saving two men from the river. His mom took him to Kansas, away from the river, where he grew up with his mom and the older couple whose farm they lived on. As the story begins, Gabriel was recently invited back to the river and is becoming a guide.
He has to work through his pain as he also directly works with one of the men his father saved. The people in his life are full of wisdom and patience as he follows the path to forgiveness and freedom.
I am not sure I completely understand the metaphor of The River, which is capitalized throughout the book. It seems almost like a god to the guides. I suppose it is supposed to be the Holy Spirit. Maybe it would have helped to read The River by the same author.
Either way, this was a pretty good book. I did not get bored by it and was in some way inspired by the story.
I have BookLook Bloggers to thank for providing this book to me for review.
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