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 Reflections from a Gentle Man’s Soul, September 2, 2009 Reflections from a Gentle Man’s Soul
A Review by Robert Chandler
of
The Woodcarver – Author: William Kevin Stoos
William Kevin Stoos offers the reader a peek into what is to come in the pages to follow in his acknowledgements of those helped him in his writing of The Woodcarver. He includes his family, the Carmelite Nuns, the Holy Spirit, and “Coincidence,” which he defines as “the name God uses when He wishes to remain anonymous.”
The Woodcarver is not a series of short stories or tall tales. Rather, one finds in these pages an enchanting packet of reflections from the author’s soul. The images cast by Mr. Stoos are suitable for everyone, from children to grandparents. While his reflections of life are not religious per se, they do take the reader by the hand on a quiet voyage that that tugs on one’s heart-strings about the visit of a butterfly, the loneliness but independence of the disabled, why our stereotypes of others always seem to fail when tested, the beauty of bittersweet woods, and other images that underline about the meaning of love and faith in our troubled world.
In the very first reflection, Mr. Stoos reminds us “. . . that God gives us opportunities in life to act on His Word.” Stoos paints a painful image of a disabled man living on the streets who could barely walk, even with two metal canes: “. . . his face was cruelly distorted by a terrible palsy that made his face terrible as he talked out of the side of his mouth.” This is the kind of person many cannot bear to look at–”but by the grace of God there go I” might be our thought when we have a chance encounter. But Mr. Stoos was not deterred and extended his hand. The fiercely independent man rejected Stoos offer of assistance. Instead of simple walking away and forgetting about it, the author went home, pulled from his closet a rarely worn heavy down-filled winter coat and, in the middle of a “brutal Iowa winter,” took the coat to the shivering man of the streets and insisted that he accept the coat or face the prospect of death by exposure. Grudgingly, the disabled man complied . . . asking “Are you a minister?” “No,” Mr. Stoos told him quietly. For reasons unknown, Mr. Stoos could never find the man again.
In The Woodcarver William Kevin Stoos reflects on this experience, asking “Who was this man of the streets?” Is it possible, he mused, that the deformed man was “an angel sent here to test us?” Reflecting deeply about the man’s question of whether he was a “minister,” Mr. Stoos discovered that his response to the man had been wrong . . . if we do something in His name to help one of His people, then we are, in fact, ministers–though imperfect, we are ministers nonetheless.
Each of the twenty-four reflections by William Kevin Stoos are presented in a similar way. He first describes the event, whether it is about a beautiful butterfly, the shimmering delight of the leaves of cottonwood trees, or his grandfather on his knees. The author carries the reader through a quiet soul-searching for the meaning the event or the presence of God in a common scene. Then, with great patience, like a father speaking to his child, William Kevin Stoos shares with the reader his spiritual understanding. He leaves his readers crying, “more, more, I don’t want it to be over,” for his reflections touch our very souls.
Among the most beautiful of Mr. Stoos reflections are those about God’s hand in nature, in living creatures, plants and natural panoramas that soothe and soften our harried souls. His description of cottonwood leaves rustling in the wind, shimmering “like three-sided jewels magically reflecting three colors as the sun illuminates them,” for instance, relaxes the reader to the point that one can almost feel drops of tension dripping from his or her fingertips. His descriptions relax the reader while invigorating our delight of life; his words push us deeper into the cushions of the sofa and the touch of a loved one.
William Kevin Stoos uses a visit by a butterfly, “a small, molted, orange-black-and-white Painted Lady,” that perched on his table to rest as a way to teach us that “measured in God’s time, our lives are simply a Butterfly visit.” A butterfly, he shares with us, can teach us of things eternal, “she goes through life–as many of us do–with no apparent flight plan.” And, after a time flying from place to place, touching people and things, the butterfly dies.
Among the subjects Mr. Stoos reflects upon is “the woodcarver” that explains why a Nazi soldier came to love American black people, overcoming the harshest of stereotypes; a business lacking a moral compass; false prophets who predict the end of time; sanity found in the delight of Children’s Mass; protecting eagles from conception to the end of life; finding that sometimes a leap of faith is necessary; and the tension between the spiritual and secular worlds and between those who worship profit and those who worship Him. Through all of these reflections from his soul, Stoos insists that “I am an accomplished sinner.”
Perhaps William Kevin Stoos’s most profound reflection is “Spirit-Filled,” the second to last, which sets up the final selection, “The Divine Prosecution.” He explains the Spirit fills him and lifts him “beyond this life.” In only a few sentences Stoos explains how Jesus left us “. . . the Spirit of God, “who passes understanding from generation to generation, inspires believers to spread the faith in word and deed, binds us to God.” Mr. Stoos discovered a key of Christian faith is the power to spread the Word “from believer to believer, and age to age.” In a humble manner, Stoos teaches us “. . . that if you invite the Spirit in and ask Him to use your life in some way to spread the faith, He will intervene in your life and bless you in ways that you cannot imagine.”
Finally, the author asks: If Christianity were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you? He takes us into the “Court of the Divine Jurisdiction” and helps us assemble the evidence that might convict us.
The Woodcarver triggers the reader’s inner reflections of our own spiritual life and conduct with others. The book becomes a personal treasure. One that helps us find delight and confirmation that we are “believers,” which makes all of the difference in who we are and how we conduct our own “flight plan” toward the day we will again touch the hand of God.
The reviewer, Robert Chandler, is author of the Amazon.com bestseller Shadow World: Resurgent Russia, the Global New Left, and Radical Islam.
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September 24th, 2009 at 11:54 pm