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Green Bananas: The Wisdom of Father Bill Atkinson
Bill Atkinson was the front rider on a toboggan racing down a snow-covered hill in New York state. Four young men were enjoying an exhilarating ride in the crisp air when, suddenly, they careened into a tree.
The devastating collision broke Bill's neck. Coming out of a coma, Bill found himself in a hospital bed, unable to feel his body. Trapped, helpless and totally dependent on friends and family, he was to begin a 40-year saga that would include his becoming the first quadriplegic ordained as a priest in the 2000-year history of the Catholic Church. He would go on to teach for many years at Monsignor Bonner High School in Upper Darby, PA and provide counsel and inspiration to thousands of students. and he does so again in this wonderful book.
Some had thought that Bill might become an athlete and that his brother, Al, might one day join the priesthood. A few years later, as Bill watched from his wheelchair, Al Atkinson, a superb linebacker, walked off the field of Super Bowl III having helped the New York Jets beat the mighty Baltimore Colts.
Steve McWilliams volunteered to help Bill Atkinson. He thought that this good deed would give him cred with God if God existed and Steve was also too nice a guy to say No when a friend asked him to help out with the care of a Father Bill.
After 18 years of visiting and helping, two days a week, with hardly a deep word spoken between them, Steve and Bill slowly began a conversation that would change both of their lives. They broke through a wall of silence that lack of deep communication which typifies the relationships between so many men and developed a true, nurturing friendship. It began with Bill's sharing of his poetry and ended with Steve's commitment to share his conversations with and love of this remarkable and inspiring Augustinian priest. This is not just a story for Catholics, although many will find their faith strengthened by the humility and wisdom of Father Bill. Others, who have doubted and felt that churchmen have strayed from the path of Christ, will find renewed hope and belief in their fellow man all of us will be inspired by a man who endured and accepted crushing adversity with rare courage and who said: Love God by loving your neighbor... Give and Receive Love is the big Christian message the rest is just buildings and ceremonies.
Love is our pipeline to the divine and God's waiting for us to get that one of these days and in the meantime, he's being very patient with us! On dealing with an awful co-worker, he advised Steve to Love him no matter what he did and you'll find peace; that's God's way. All of your anger is just going to make you sick. Give in to God's love, you'll be surprised what appears in your life. That was Father Bill: Love & Acceptance personified.
The devastating collision broke Bill's neck. Coming out of a coma, Bill found himself in a hospital bed, unable to feel his body. Trapped, helpless and totally dependent on friends and family, he was to begin a 40-year saga that would include his becoming the first quadriplegic ordained as a priest in the 2000-year history of the Catholic Church. He would go on to teach for many years at Monsignor Bonner High School in Upper Darby, PA and provide counsel and inspiration to thousands of students. and he does so again in this wonderful book.
Some had thought that Bill might become an athlete and that his brother, Al, might one day join the priesthood. A few years later, as Bill watched from his wheelchair, Al Atkinson, a superb linebacker, walked off the field of Super Bowl III having helped the New York Jets beat the mighty Baltimore Colts.
Steve McWilliams volunteered to help Bill Atkinson. He thought that this good deed would give him cred with God if God existed and Steve was also too nice a guy to say No when a friend asked him to help out with the care of a Father Bill.
After 18 years of visiting and helping, two days a week, with hardly a deep word spoken between them, Steve and Bill slowly began a conversation that would change both of their lives. They broke through a wall of silence that lack of deep communication which typifies the relationships between so many men and developed a true, nurturing friendship. It began with Bill's sharing of his poetry and ended with Steve's commitment to share his conversations with and love of this remarkable and inspiring Augustinian priest. This is not just a story for Catholics, although many will find their faith strengthened by the humility and wisdom of Father Bill. Others, who have doubted and felt that churchmen have strayed from the path of Christ, will find renewed hope and belief in their fellow man all of us will be inspired by a man who endured and accepted crushing adversity with rare courage and who said: Love God by loving your neighbor... Give and Receive Love is the big Christian message the rest is just buildings and ceremonies.
Love is our pipeline to the divine and God's waiting for us to get that one of these days and in the meantime, he's being very patient with us! On dealing with an awful co-worker, he advised Steve to Love him no matter what he did and you'll find peace; that's God's way. All of your anger is just going to make you sick. Give in to God's love, you'll be surprised what appears in your life. That was Father Bill: Love & Acceptance personified.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published December 17, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 16, 2024
I read this book to learn more about Fr. Bill Atkinson, a local priest on the path to being recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. In the end I learned a lot about the author also, but I wasn't impressed with his awkward writing style. Still, we can be grateful for the fact that he recorded and shared so many of his conversations with this remarkable quadraplegic Augustinian!
May 30, 2014
A good read that presents the spirituality of a priest and the interaction with one of his caregivers that spent his entire priesthood as a quadriplegic. A sign to all of us that paralysis of any kind can be encountered by God's grace to bear fruit. He did not choose his paralysis. Some of mine I don;t choose - some of mine I create - but all of them are matched by God's grace if I choose to accept it. The book was originally to be a presentation of the wisdom of Fr. Atkinson. I would have liked it to have more of the stories of things he did rather than so much focus on the "talks". That said it is a wonderful choice.
April 18, 2023
Embarrassingly poor writing, unedited with so many grammar mistakes, crazy font changes for no reason, but saddest of all, the self indulgence of the annoying narrator who thinks that we all need to hear every aspect of his writing process. So, so amateurish and poorly written, but worst of all is the boring, not anything new answers that Fr Bill reluctantly gives to every question he's asked. Annoying interviewer, tired and bored interviewee, and the front cover has an endorsement saying he'd compare it to "St Augustine's Confessions and Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life" ?!! WHAT A JOKE. McWilliams keeps insisting that this priest is a living saint, so wise, etc etc, but he barely ever wants to answer a question... he's always snarky or condescending! And his "poetry" that the author thinks is beautiful enough to even print anywhere rather than just keep hidden away because it's so bad?! Omg so embarrassing. This was simply an awful awful sad book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews