Having obtained an early copy of this book, I've had time to read almost the entire book. Every time I walk away from having read about ten of these 2-page devotionals, I notice that my heart is filled with joy and my mind is saturated with great thoughts of God. I suddenly have the sense that the challenges of my life are small compared to the great God who is with me and for Whom nothing is impossible.
I can identify with the explanation that the Roman soldiers gave to the Pharisees when they returned without Jesus after being sent to capture him, "never did a man speak the way this man speaks." I have read many great books and I must say, "Never has a book spoken to me with such beauty, power, and relevance." As I began thinking about this, I said to myself, "I don't think anyone's ever written a book quite like this one. It speaks to me the same way that God does."
This book speaks to every part of the human soul. Just as God speaks to us through the beauty of creation (Psalm 19), this book is filled with the most beautiful pictures of things never seen with the naked eye. It appeals to the aesthetic part of us. Secondly, Hartnett gives us scientific information about what were looking at that utterly amazes our minds and does it in a way that's so clear and understandable that even I get it. This appeals to the intellectual part of us. Thirdly, Hartnett writes a concise meditation based on the science information he's just introduced us to that flows naturally from what we've learned. He makes a practical application about what this means about God and how it is relevant to our learning to walk by faith in a fallen world. This appeals to that part of us that needs understanding of how truth can be applied to our lives so that we can live wisely. Fourthly, he picks the perfect scripture to support the meditative reflection he's written which enhances it's power with biblical authority. This addresses that part of us that needs to be rooted in his Word. And finally, to tie it all together, he writes a compressed and easily memorized poem that sums up so much of what's been communicated in a delightful and winsome way that well crafted poems are able to do.
I find myself stunned that God would give one man the diverse set of talents to write this book - it seems like a book needing at least five people collaborating on it. But, then again, I doubt anything will surprise me after reading this book. It's the perfect gift for Christians or non-Christians and will serve as a means of grace to help many see the Kingdom of God.
