Seasons of Faith: Longing For God in Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer

Tom Schaefer
BookSurge (2007)
ISBN 9781419662577
Reviewed by Samantha Wheeler for Reader Views (3/08)

Tom Schaefer has presented a book that would encourage any Christian-based person another way to get closer to God.  The 46 short essays, originally published in columns of newspapers, offer contemplation about life within a spiritual perspective. 

The book is divided into seasons: fall, winter, spring and summer, as well as special occasions of Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, and Father’s Day.  The topics cover struggles, joy, sadness, challenges, death, faith, and life in general. 

In the essay titled “No Field Goals in the Game of Life” Schaefer writes “Life is like a football game.  Between the goalposts of birth on one end and death on the other are the designed lines that mark the years each person is given. Following the kickoff, your task is to march down the field and cross the goal line.”  This comment was profound to me.  I never considered life to be like a football game, but when I read the essay, it hit me.  I took a lot of time to contemplate my life, and relate it to a football game.

I smiled when I came to the essay titled “Those Pesky Insects Can Teach Us Important Lesson.”  I have an attitude with pesky insects. Schaefer’s take on them is amusing, yet thought-provoking. For example, his thoughts on houseflies: A minor irritant can become a major nuisance…. Am I a problem maker rather than a problem solver? Have I forgotten to listen before speaking? Do I buzz about making much ado over minor matters, driving others away?

It is evident that Schaefer spent a lot of his own time contemplating life as he wrote the essays.  They are deep and profound, as well as poignant and moving.  “Seasons of Faith” is a book to have on the bedside table or by your favorite chair.  It only takes a few minutes to read an essay, but hours of contemplation of ones own life is the result.

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