Faith and You Volume 1: Essays on Faith in Everyday Life

"Sometimes I wish my minister would read his column instead of the sermon!" That's the kind of response Plain Dealer columnist Terry Pluto draws from devoted readers of his faith column. Although best known as an award-winning sportswriter, Pluto has also earned a reputation and a growing audience for his down-to-earth musings on more spiritual subjects. This followup to his first collection, "Everyday Faith," offers 28 all-new thoughtful essays on faith in everyday life practical topics such as choosing a church, lending money to friends, dealing with jerks, sharing your faith, visiting the sick, even planning a funeral. Perhaps it's because Pluto doesn't claim to have the answers that so many readers are drawn to his writing. "Real faith writing should be about real life," Pluto says. "I write as much about my failures as my triumphs, because that is what a life of faith is about. It's often as much suffering as celebration, with lots of mundane, everyday stuff in between. I write for people who may have been hurt by someone in church, people who have been discouraged by one who claimed to speak for God . . . I write for people who have found contentment in their faith but want a deeper relationship with God."