Elizabeth Dean: Correlation Between Class Material and "Finding Peace," by Derek Stanley

"Finding Peace," by Charles Stanley is a book I originally read in high school, that I feel holds a close correlation to topics discussed in this class. A religious book I recieved from a youth leader at my church, "Finding Peace," talks about God's promise of a life free from regret, anxiety, and fear. I knew right away this book held a correlation to this class, because the very first chapter in the book is an anecdote of a trip the author took in search of peace, and in search of God. He talks all about this trip, and how he took it to experience peace, and experience God, and His divine presence, and how he encounters difficulty in doing both of those. He experiences all of these different encounters that put a damper on his trip in the beginning, including running out of gas, and losing hsi keys, and being stuck in various jams while on his journey. He then describes that in the midst of his bad situations, and seemingly trip-ruining occuranes, he holds a strong faith to God, and promises to put his own life in God's hands, and He will handle the rest. This whole story I think runs closely to Lane's axioms specifically the fourth, and the first. The first axiom being sacred place is nto chosen, it chooses is made apparent through Stanley's annoying jams he finds himself in. While in the midst of these situation, he continues with his faith and everytime a quasi-miracle occurs. God makes his presence known at these locations, and it was His will, to show himself to Stanley when he wasn't in search of a sacred spot, or wasn't expecting to experience a divine encounter. Stanleys trials and tribulations also are related to the fourth axiom in the sense that sacred place is both local and universal. Later in the story, Stanley tells us of a beautiful location he finds where he does, in fact feel God's presence, but it is made apparent that that is not the first time on that trip he felt it. Although he felt the strong presence at that particular location, we see that God was omnipresent throughout the whole trip, while helping Stanley through his various obstacles he encountered.