Everyday Faith by Terry Pluto | Cleveland Books | Gray & Company, Publishers | Guide and Gift Books about Cleveland, Northeast Ohio, and Ohio.

Description

“Writing about religion can kill your career,” a friend told sportswriter Terry Pluto.

“Don't do it,” advised media colleagues.

Pluto followed his conscience anyway and began writing a new column for the “Your Faith” section of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Turns out it was a good decision: now, thousands of loyal readers turn to his column each week for a regular dose of down-to-earth spiritual inspiration.

This book collects the best from the first three years of that popular column.

Really, though, Pluto doesn't write about religion. He does write about church and about God. But mostly he writes about the important issues we all confront in everyday life. Like getting along with our siblings. Setting a better example for our children. Listening better to our spouses. How money makes us do silly things. The lure of gossip. Feeling lonely. Giving in to anger. How we feel when our prayers go unanswered.

Pluto writes from a very personal perspective, as when he discusses the vanity of his own approach to baldness, or reveals white lies he has used to make himself feel better, or describes the temptation to tell off his boss at work. It's this honestly humble approach to finding the spiritual in the ordinary that gives Pluto's writing such broad appeal.

“I don't care if you are a Jew, a Christian, a Muslim, or a skeptic; there is a spiritual thirst in most of us,” Pluto says. “I try to write about God and us and what that means for our lives.”

For a sportswriter who never thought he'd write about faith, Pluto has brought a great deal of meaning to the lives of his readers. This collection will serve as a great way for Pluto fans to revisit the many inspirations found in his writing—and to share them with a new audience.

Book Excerpt:

Dads: When Your Kids Look At You, They See God

Hey, dads, when your kids look at you, they see God.

Kind of scary, isn't it?

For many people, their first image of God comes from their father.

People who have trouble trusting God often had fathers who let them down, who lied to them. I've heard more than one story of children waiting for a divorced dad to show up on visitation day, only he didn't make it. Didn't even call.

Many of those people struggle with God, especially when they hear the prayer, “ Our Father, who art in heaven . . .”

“ If God is like my father, I better be careful and not expect much,” they think.

There are some people who see God as The IRS Agent In The Sky just waiting for them to mess up. Their harsh, demanding, overly critical fathers often make them believe they can never please God. After a while, they tend to say, “ Why even bother to try?”

People from families where the father was loving, where the father both disciplined and lifted them up tend to have a healthier image of God. When they read Paul saying in the Bible that we should call God “ Abba,” as in Daddy, they immediately embrace the idea.

There is a God in heaven who wants the best for them, a God who is not too busy to talk, a God who gives good advice through Scripture and other people of faith.

Then there are people whose fathers just disappeared. They sometimes see God as distant, too busy with the universe to care about them.

Don't think it's true?

Close your eyes and remember how you first saw God. Now, think of your father. Do they match?

For many, they do.

That's why Father's Day is so important.

This is not just a celebration of a . . . [ Read More Free Samples ]

Reviews

Combines practical points and pious paths for people to ponder. — Scene Magazine

For those who prefer their religious reading with a lighter touch. — Cuyahoga Falls News Press

About Terry Pluto

Terry Pluto is a sports columnist for the Plain Dealer. He has twice been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the nation's top sports columnist for medium-sized newspapers. He is a nine-time winner of the Ohio Sports Writer of the Year award and has received more than 50 state and local writing awards. In 2005 he was inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame. He is the author of 23 books, including The Curse of Rocky Colavito (selected by the New York Times as one of the five notable sports books of 1989), and Loose Balls, which was ranked number 13 on Sports Illustrated's list of the top 100 sports books of all time. He was called “Perhaps the best American writer of sports books,” by the Chicago Tribune in 1997. He lives with his wife, Roberta, in Akron, Ohio. More About Terry Pluto

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