Book Review: The Principle of The Path

Title: The Principle of The Path
Author: Andy Stanley
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Rating: ***** (5 Stars)

Self-help books are a dime a dozen. I’m sure this isn’t news to anyone, so wading through the useless, over-obvious or the more dangerous, complete fallacies, is a skill in and of itself. I can’t believe how often I hear about well meaning Christian friends who get caught up in the Eckhart Tolles or and take those concepts as an addendum to their Christian walk or completely disregard the faith of their childhood for a new more fashionable and less “restricting” faith fad.

This book will probably not become Oprah’s book-club pick, nor will it likely gain the worldwide attention that Eckhart Tolle’s books have, but it should. Andy Stanley has captured a principle so important and vital to our lives that it can’t be ignored and if you read this book, I’m pretty sure you’ll agree.

The thing about principles is this, a principle is a principle whether you know it (and how to apply it’s rules) or not. You don’t need to know a principle exists in order for it to work or to benefit or be affected by the outcome. The principle applies it’s rules to the situation regardless of how you respond. The best example of this in the book is when Andy refers to Archimedes’ principle that “…any object, wholly or partially immersed in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object.” This principle exists whether you know it or not, just ask any child who saw a pool full of people swimming, decided it looked like fun, jumped in and immediately sank to the bottom! The child hadn’t been taught the principle of buoyancy, but if he/she had learned what Archimedes knew about floatation AND (the most important part) applied it to his/her situation, their outcome would be much different and more enjoyable!

So, what if we could know the outcome of every situation and how to apply the principle of the path to every aspect of our lives. According to Stanley, we have already fallen victim or conquered situations in our lives by inadvertently applying the rules of the principle of the path or ignoring them. Andy Stanley’s conversational approach to this concept affords an easy (but no less informational) read about improving every aspect of our life by understanding that no matter what decision we make, we are on a path and our decision has the potential to alter that path for the good or the not-so-good.

Take the time, read the book and enjoy Andy’s relaxed and matter-of-fact writing style. You’ll learn a lot about yourself and I know you’ll be the better for it. A very highly recommended book.