false 457928 1 Spiritual environmentalist Thom Hartman ventures into the genre of parables with this story about a jaded, unemployed newspaper reporter named Paul Abler. The same day that he's fired for being "too driven" as a reporter, Abler has a spontaneous debate with a street corner religious zealot. Moments later Paul risks his life to rescue a 5-year-old girl who is about to be hit by a Mack truck in a crosswalk. These two chance encounters set off a chain of mystical events that change his life.<p> Like in any great parable, we see an ordinary skeptic wandering in a land of spiritual teachers disguised as misfits and vagrants. More so, we have a straightforward storyteller, able to keep the dialog moving at a clip while giving a strong sense of scene and action. As Paul heads toward the frightened girl in the crosswalk, Hartmann writes, "Three steps out, the voice inside his head was now shouting, <I>you're gonna die</I>, but he didn't stop. Just five more steps and he could shove the little girl--now frozen in horror staring at the truck, whose brakes were screeching--hard enough to knock her out of the way.... If he succeeded he would then, himself, be in front of the truck that he knew would take his life. But even if he wanted to turn back he'd already gone too fast and too far." Even if readers wanted to turn back from this fast-moving parable they will find themselves, like Paul, mysteriously committed to a magnetic journey through underground tunnels, distant lands, back in time, and into the greatest spiritual secret of the century. <I>--Gail Hudson</I> 446434 2000 The Greatest Spiritual Secret of the Century total:15|5:6|4:4|3:3|2:2| 15 59 19 1 4 0 false false Mon Aug 14 00:00:00 -0700 2000 Sat Jan 10 20:09:36 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 23:24:45 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Oct 31 15:14:10 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 31 15:14:10 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Oct 06 03:43:19 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 03:43:19 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Oct 02 13:55:08 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 13:55:08 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Aug 16 09:57:50 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 09:57:50 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Jul 31 18:56:43 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 31 18:56:43 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat May 02 12:47:54 -0700 2009 Sat May 02 12:47:54 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Feb 20 19:02:13 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 19:02:13 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Feb 07 19:37:03 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 07 22:55:31 -0800 2009 2 0 false false Thu Jun 19 18:07:28 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 19 18:07:28 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Thu May 29 09:05:16 -0700 2008 Thu May 29 09:05:16 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sat Apr 26 22:47:06 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 26 22:47:06 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Fri Apr 25 02:02:21 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 25 02:02:21 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Fri Apr 18 12:09:50 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 18 12:09:50 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Mon Mar 10 00:46:37 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 10 00:46:37 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Sat Jan 26 19:14:40 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 26 19:14:54 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Tue Jan 22 11:54:22 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 22 11:54:22 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Thu Aug 16 16:48:39 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 16 16:48:39 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Fri Jul 20 20:39:27 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 20 20:39:27 -0700 2007