Acts of Faith by Philip Caputo
One of the most impressive books that I have read in the past 5 years is a novel called Acts of Faith, (2005) by Philip Caputo, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist. The book is about present day Sudan and although it is fiction, it carries a sense of realism that can only come from a person who actually experienced what they are writing about.
The theme of this book is that things done for all the right reasons sometimes have unintended consequences and that maybe seeing our good deeds as acts of faith might help us be more realistic and humble about the impact we might have in any given situation. The book follows a rebel leader, a Kenyan aid worker who questions the work he is doing, an evangelical missionary who falls in love with one of the people she is working with and a pilot who starts out flying food and medicine but is soon seduced into using his plane for smuggling. As we follow each of these characters we see the consequences of their choices and the inter connection of these various characters and their moral dilemmas as they face the enormous need and challenges in the war ravaged country of Sudan.
This book stayed with me for a long time after I read it. The idea that just because we have good intentions or that we are doing things for all the right reasons does not guarantee a good outcome is not a new one, but it was interesting to see it play out in the culture and historical context of the Sudan. Caputo is not judgmental, this is especially true in the way he wrote about the missionary work that is being done, or the rebel fighter who is fighting for a voice and to help those who have no voice and yet as the novel unfolds you can see where the attempt to do right gets corrupted or bent as compromises are made and the end consequences are far from what they were striving for. The idea that each of our actions are actions of faith- faith that these actions will create the good we have in mind but held humbly enough to let them go and to have faith that in the end there is redemption for each choice and each deed was both sobering and empowering. It still resonates with me even though I read it quite a while ago. And that may be the best recommendation you can ever have for a book- that you still carry its message with you and that it has become ingrained in you!
Brenda’s Rating ***** (five stars)
Recommended for: Keith, Sharon, Ken
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