Ogun Holder knew full well the Bible story of Jonah and the whale. His intellectual understanding of the tale led him to believe that running from God was futile. But because he had never run from God before, he thought he d try it anyway. Spoiler Alert: It didn't work.
Holder's journey begins with a pious but questioning childhood filled with mandatory church attendance and boisterous congregants. His road leads to a teenage rebellion, and then to a collegiate crisis of faith. He seems to hit a dead end in his 30s as a responsible grown-up until he paves a new path to Divine self. It's a path he's still walking.
Readers will relate to the honesty and humor in the mash-up of emotions, ideas and experiences Holder shares about parenting, spirituality, relationships and theology. When taken to heart, these rants might, in fact, lead you to your own revelations.
Ogun Holder is the executive director of Unity For All, a nonprofit ministry with a mission of global transformation through spiritual education, empowerment and engagement. He lives in the Washington, D.C., area with his wife and daughter. Rants To Revelations is his first book.
At some point in the book I invite readers to beware getting swept away in the lure of gurus and to discover the guru within themselves. And then I immediately follow with guru-like advice under the moniker Swami Ogunanda. Yes, it could be considered a tad hypocritical. But what other guru would tell you to eat bacon-covered flourless dark chocolate cake? Truth be told, I'm not dark chocolate's best ambassador...I was in it for the bacon. But this dessert [Chocolate-Hazelnut Torte with Sea Salt, Caramel and Crispy Bacon to be exact] from local Raleigh restaurant J.Betski's just about made my world stop. I assert that we need more world-stopping moments in our lives. To not have them is to not be fully alive. And of course we don't swing to the other extreme. My next piece of advice was to remember that balance is the key - no good can from eating too much bacon-covered flourless dark chocolate cake. I know, I know... no such thing as too much chocolate.
Book Excerpt
Rants to Revelations
Eat Food That Makes You Sigh With Pleasure. Like bacon- covered flourless dark chocolate cake. Don’t knock it until you try it. It’s the embodiment of decadence. While intended to be taken literally, it’s also about savoring all of life’s pleasures. We only get one lifetime (that we’re aware of), and it’s too short not to enjoy it.
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