BOBBI SALCIDO | staff writer
Did missing the trolley today make you late for class? It may not have crossed your mind, but God may have intended for you to not to be on that exact trolley. Does that make your tardiness any less frustrating?
The God Cookie, by Geoffrey Wood, hopes to tackle this topic in a novel that students may be able to relate with.
This is not a story of a young man coming to find God. Rather, it is a story about a young Christian’s decision to take the time to listen and truly trust God.
The God Cookie will make you laugh, but better yet, it will make you question. How practical is faith? What do we risk for God? If God actually talks to us, why don’t we always obey?
“I think God does still speaks, and in my experience, most often He gives us something simple to do, something in the moment, without the benefit of the grander scheme [which is] the grandness we sometimes see, usually in retrospect, if at all,” Wood said. “But in the moment, relationship is all, an opportunity to trust, where abiding leads to one step in the unknown adventure.”
Sometimes all we need is a push or an example to emulate exactly what The God Cookie provides. The main character, Parish, and his friends are just like us.
The witty and insightful conversations they have in Parish’s coffee shop could probably be heard on Cougar Walk too. They joke around, give each other a hard time, share secret jokes and make mistakes. But at the end of the day, they support and encourage each other on their individual paths of faith.
Parish is a twenty-something coffee shop owner who has decided to make a subtle, but meaningful life change.
In the solitude of a large, sterile Chinese restaurant washroom, Parish makes an important decision. Whatever God puts in his path or tells him to do, he’s taking the hint. As Parish quickly discovers it will not be that easy.
“Take the corner,” is all the tiny slip in a fortune cookie says. Those three words present Parish with a corner bus stop, a lost letter and the responsibility to find the letter’s owner.
On his mission to return it, Parish crosses paths with interesting people from all walks of life, including Audra, a young nursing student who is strong in her cynical convictions and intrigued by Parish’s objective.
Together, the pair experiences the kindness, hope, thoughtfulness, appreciation and sometimes insolence of strangers, all the while demonstrating how many people just yearn for a friend to listen and care.
So is every person we meet, bump into, smile at and befriend purposely placed by God to impact our life, even in the slightest way? Or are we meant to be that impacting element for others?
As Parish and Audra realize in their budding friendship and romance, the answer is yes.
Wood’s characters are quirky and witty and easy to relate to in one way or another. The blustery setting is well depicted, as are the stories of every person that enters the coffee shop or takes a seat at the bus stop. The character’s emotions are real and raw.
Readers can understand the frustration and empathize with the insecurity of a young man and young woman risking their hearts to give into God’s will. But even more so, when Parish and Audra succeed, readers can also sense the joy and hope a truly God-driven life is filled with.
The book, The God Cookie, is an easy and enjoyable read for anyone looking for evidence that Christianity is meant to comfort, not to be comfortable. As Parish says, you “pay to play.”
“Not to dismiss the serious, suffering side to discipleship, but every time Christ drops that ‘follow me’ on someone, there’s something adventurous there—a mirthful tinge, the friendly dare,” Wood said. “No matter what ordinary situation you’re in, stop and listen and you can hear God’s activity like a surprising counterpoint. Turns out that counterpoint is the melody, the main theme.”
The book can be purchased on www.amazon.com.
