The Masters and the Spiritual Path Book

Think back to a time when someone's encouraging words had a strong impact on your life. Was it a trusted teacher saying you were going to do great things someday? A parent telling you they loved you? A boss' "job well done"? Positive words reach into our very souls and can be remembered years down the road.

Simple Little Words is a collection of insightful stories by the likes of Karen Kingsbury, Brandon Heath, Mary E. DeMuth, Ron DiCianni and Ken Wales (40 in all). Through these vignettes Perrodin & Cox bring home the Biblical truth of word power. What we say to others makes an impact, often in life-changing ways. And we need to choose our words wisely, because even without saying so, Simple Little Words reminds us that negative words can impact us forever, too.

It's not often a book makes me tear up, but you'd have to be a mannequin not to be moved by these examples of Christianity in action. Michelle Cox's "You Look Like A Princess" is particularly poignant, the story of how one woman's act of kindness to a child changed the girl's life in ways the woman could have never known at the time.

Other stories bring home the fact that sometimes adverse situations can be exactly God's plan. For example, speaker and author Edna Ellison's story of her daughter's almost disastrous wedding led her down a path which gave purpose to a lonely old man. Hollywood producer Ken Wales (Amazing Grace) shares words of advice he never forgot from actor Glenn Ford. "If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. If you're late, you're fired."

The vignettes are categorized by subjects like Joy, Marriage, Grace, Divorce, Dreams, and Children, a way to know going in what sort of take-away to expect. Ranging from several pages to a few paragraphs, all are easily readable. The whole book could be consumed in one sitting but is better in small chunks so you can digest the individual messages. Each story concludes with a short prayer and quote to further bring things home for readers.

Simple Little Words is indeed a simple little book with a big message--our words are powerful. As James shares in the New Testament, the tongue is like a rudder. Small and seemingly insignificant, yet able to change the course of our world. What you say truly can change a life. That's a statement every person would do well to assimilate. As best-selling author Jerry B. Jenkins advises in the book's Foreword, "Be the one who speaks those simple little words."