First of all I need to thank Matt Coley for telling me about this book that I have enjoyed to the I could not put it down.
I found myself reading a Jewish Agnostic trying to live a year Biblically for the primary reason of wanting to raise his son with some moral foundations. The first hurdle that A.J. has to jump over is prayer. He is a self proclaimed agnostic, so the whole idea of praying is just something inconceivable for him. In his extended family there are two relatives that are practicing Jews, who are of little help to him, but do not ease any of the problems he comes across. He splits his year of living Biblically much of how the Bible is split, the first 9 months devoted to the Old Testament, wearing the tassels and arm band, searching his clothes for mixed fibers, to even buying a folding chair because his wife defiled all the seating areas in the house (he explains why they sleep on two twin beds and that she did not defile his bed), even to his Seder during Passover (he did not celebrate any of the December holidays because there is no mention of how to celebrate them in the Bible...something to think about).
When he finally did get to the New Testament, it seemed stale compared with the rest of the book. I was upset with the people who had the opportunities to share the gospel with A.J. and at best just prayed a pray of thanksgiving for a time of conversation. In the end, this book had me hopeful it still does as if we where to ever cross paths and I could ask him if he is still searching for God since he now does have a reverence for the sacred. Or more importantly what makes something (life, sabbath, prayer, etc.) sacred?
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