Title: My Road to Paradise – A Progression That Leads from Life to Everlasting Life
Author: Frank Phillips
Publisher: WestBow Press
ISBN: 978-1973662891
Pages: 131
Genre: Memoir / Nonfiction / Spiritual
Reviewer: Susan Brown

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The path to embracing a spiritual life is not always a straight one. In fact, quite often it creates a journey filled with detours, digressions and diversions. This memoir is an account of the author’s own circuitous religious pilgrimage in which he acknowledges to himself that “… first and foremost, I had to learn to travel by faith.” That recognition is the principle at the center of author Frank Phillips’ narrative, one in which he is searching for what the title of this book identifies, My Road to Paradise.

Early on in his life, his parents created a family structure built on the tenets of the Bible. They taught the author “godly principles” which would help pave the way to “paradise.” But, as often happens, youthful impudence sidetracked young Frank, acknowledging that as a result he “…walked further and further away from my loving family circle.”  Those footsteps took him far away from home and his family’s influence, as well as from his relationship with God. Much of this memoir is an account of Frank Phillips’ successful efforts to find his way back to that connection.

He uses the table of contents to introduce chapters which illustrate the building blocks to what a path back, for him, looked like. “It travels from the concept of the family circle, and then engages in a way of life that leads to eternal life with Jesus Christ.” He uses analogies like a table, which as a gathering place for meals is the heart of the home; a blender to demonstrate that “He (God) laid a totally new foundation by blending my weaknesses with His strengths.” The chapter on the Bible calls us to understand that its purpose is “to guide the design of the entire spectrum of humanity.” The Father, Son and Holy Spirit chapters show how each, in unique ways, shepherds us along the road of life. And the Last Mile is where “life meets eternity.”

The author has a keen grasp of scripture, which he has been both a student and teacher of for much of his life. Each chapter highlights scriptural passages that complement the heavy dose of spiritual self-reflection the author shares. He writes, “…from Christ comes life, and I hadn’t yet fully given Him complete control of mine.” As he reorients himself to the assurance “that my heavenly Father holds the plans for the road to paradise” he comes to truly know that, “God took all the broken pieces of my life, and from them He created something wonderful, something good.”

Something good. That’s what this book is. It will fill you up with the love the author has for God. And if you are questioning or struggling with your faith or looking for a new path, this inspirational memoir will help guide you to follow My Road to Paradise.