This One's a Keeper

I don’t read novels. I never have, never will. Oh sure, I can curl up and devour an atlas for hours, or maybe a great autobiography. But fiction doesn’t interest me. Most of my family loves reading. They read entire series of books by authors like J. R. R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and J. K. Rowling.

​Norilee told me about Louise Penney, an author whose Inspector 

Kent Kimball

Gamache series she recently binge-read. Gamache is smart, humble, ethical, and most of all kind. He lives by a code: in all of his interactions he asks himself: “Is it true? Is it kind? Does it need to be said?” And he teaches his new recruits there are four things that lead to wisdom, four sentences we learn to say, and mean: “I don’t know. I need help. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

The Bible gives us similar advice. Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” First Corinthians 13:4 says, “Love is patient, love is kind,” and in Galatians 5:22 we read, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness.” Kindness was the whole point of Pastor Neal’s recent seven-week course. If you missed the course, read the book he co-authored with Nicole Phillips: Workplace Positivity. I really don’t read books, but this one is a keeper. . . and so is the Word of God.

In His Name, Kent​