‘Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well’ by ‘Billy Graham’ is his thirtieth book and his most recent. He begins by writing -- “I never thought I would live to be this old.” And continues --“I will soon celebrate my ninety-third birthday, and I know it won’t be long before God calls me home to Heaven.”
To me, Billy has penned this book with the repertoire of his experience along the life journey. We will be never the same after reading this book. It made me understand the intricacies of old age problems and ageing. Billy teaches us how to face the future with hope instead of despair. He also emphasizes the importance of growing older with grace and the finishing well our race in this world.
The book is divided into ten little chapters and spans over 180 pages. It’s a quick read and offers great perspective as we keep reading it. True to Billy’s style, the book is spiritually grounded in the Biblical principles from the beginning till the end.Some of great insights from the book--
-- “Even at ninety-two, my desire is to learn to be content. We should never get too old to learn or too old to smile.” (pp 19)
-- “The decision to step aside from my life’s work of preaching was not an easy one for me.” (pp26)
-- “Are we producing fruit that replenishes others, or do we complain about our circumstances and drain others who look forward to living full lives?” (pp34)
-- “We should all be diligent to prepare for the last years of life.” (pp56)
-- “Adults don’t like to be told what to do by their parents - and parents don’t like to be told what to do by their children. (pp 67)
Billy offers Word-centered advice on the retirement in one’s life, planning for retirement, managing the finances, taking proper care of legalities, countering age-old perils of fear, depression, anger, loneliness. Moreover, he offers great solutions to how to cope with grief over our losses and importance of leaving a legacy. In the end, he gives a briefing about the Heaven and its look-alike.
No wonder, this book is currently on the New York Times bestsellers list. It’s absolutely worth reading. I give this one five out of five stars.
