Michele Farnsworth

God Never Blinks
Regina Brett
Hachette Book Group
Publish date: 2010-04-13
$21.99
978-0-446-5652-1
Hardcover
Review date: 03/05/10

“Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.”

In her first book, God Never Blinks, newspaper columnist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Regina Brett gives us a compilation of 50 truisms, observations if you will, about life and love and the common experiences that shape our lives.

Born into a family of 11 children, Regina Brett felt that at the moment she was born, God must have blinked. “He missed the occasion and didn’t know I had arrived,” she stated. Many days, she felt “lost in the litter” and as her life progressed, she experienced a series of events that to her, reaffirmed her feeling of being left without guidance.

When she turned 50, Brett wrote a newspaper column on the 50 lessons life had taught her. She reflected on all she had learned through being a single parent, looking for love, trying to build a relationship with God, battling breast cancer and making peace with a difficult childhood. While her editors hated the column, Brett convinced them to publish it anyway and it became one of the most popular pieces ever published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Brett has now taken the 50 lessons and expands upon them in essays that are deeply personal. From “life is too short to waste time hating anyone” to “no matter how good or bad a situation is, it will change”, Regina Brett’s observations will strike a chord with anyone who has gone through tough times—and really, who among us hasn’t?

Lest I leave you thinking this book is overtly religious in theme, allow me a moment to set things straight. While Regina Brett is a spiritual woman, her essays come from experience, observation and heart. She is faithful, and in one chapter, encourages us all to “read the Psalms” because “no matter what your faith, they cover every human emotion”. However, she also advises us to pay off our credit cards every month and shares that “the most important sex organ is the brain”.

My very favorite though, and the one I’ve been quoting to friends and family all week is captured in the essay “When in doubt, just take the next right step”.  After Brett became pregnant and dropped out of college, she spent an inordinate amount of time worrying about her long term future. What would she major in if she went back? What kind of career did she want? Could she still be a good mother? A friend in recovery suggested to Brett that she just do the next right thing. Unsure of what that would be, Brett still struggled. That is until her mother gave her the very simple answer. Go pick up a course catalog. That’s it. Just get the darn catalog.

Sometimes, we’re so focused on the BIG DEAL that we neglect to see the often simple next step that’s right in front of us. Brett’s analogy, the one I’ve been repeating all week, is this:

 “The headlights on my car shine350 feet, but even with that much light, I can travel all the way to California. I need to see only enough light to get going.”

I have to share that I stumbled across the advance reading copy of this book quite by accident just this week, and it happened at a time I desperately needed some affirmation and comfort. I read God Never Blinks in four days and then read it again…dog-earing the pages and highlighting passages I wanted to remember. I’ve written myself notes like “get up, dress up, show up” and taped them to my bedside lamp.

Now, I understand that ideas like “life is too short to waste time hating anyone” or “when it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer” are concepts that I should know. It’s just common sense, right? Right.

But when life gets tough, it’s easy to forget. We need to be reminded of things we may already know in our hearts, but have forgotten. And I thank Regina Brett for doing that for me this week.