I was given this book as a Christmas gift from a good friend. When I first looked at the summary on the back cover, I was intrigued, yet reluctant. I normally wouldn't read missionary Christian literature, but I felt that my friend had given me this book for a reason and that I was obligated to give it a chance.
Bruce Wilkinson is a Christian author who writes self-help books and is a dedicated missionary. He is a firm believer in God and encourages his readers to join him in his belief. So as I began the book, I was resistant to being patronized. Yet as I got further into the book, I began to see how his ideas of opening oneself to performing miracles for others could be applied by any person of faith, regardless of one's particular religious creed. In fact, I found it to have a very similar message to the Dalai Lama's book, How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life.
Wilkinson presents a series of "keys" to involving oneself in miracles. Essentially, his message is that if you devote yourself to partnering with God (Master Key), genuinely show compassion for others (People Key), allow the spirit to guide you (Spirit Key), and take risks to do what God intends for you (Risk Key), you can unlock others' hearts and reveal to them God's presence and His good intentions for them.
Wilkinson also outlines three "keys" for common types of miracles. These are the money key, dream key, and forgiveness key. Each of these issues can drive people into cyclical negativity if they don't open their hearts and address them honestly.
The key which really struck me was the dream key. Wilkinson explains that God creates each of us as unique beings, each with a unique purpose. When we are pursuing that purpose, we are following God's intentions. When we do not pursue our dreams, we quickly lose our vigor and grow steadily more negative.
As kids, we all have big dreams. Nothing is impossible and we know exactly what we want to do when we grow up, be it a firefighter, doctor, or the President. Yet when we do grow up, many of us give up on our dreams and make excuses for why we were unable to achieve them. As our dreams drift farther away from the foreground of our lives, we become bitter, cynical, and negative towards others who are pursuing and achieving their dreams. This is no way to live. The truth is that each of us has the power to do whatever we choose with every second of every day of our lives. When you are pursuing your dream, every moment you spend doing so is exciting and you will have no regrets. I can strongly relate to the truth of this through my own experiences.
In summary, although this book was heavy with a Christian missionary vibe, I very much agreed with Wilkinson in his assessment of the human condition. We need more people to take the message of this book to heart, genuinely devote themselves to helping others, and thereby help themselves. His guidelines for how to deliver miracles are very real and effective and I would recommend this book to readers of any faith.