God in Sandals
When Jesus Walked Among Us
By Margaret Montreuil

     To get the most out of this book, read Margaret Montreuil's companion interactive journal GOD WITH US: A WALK THROUGH THE GOSPELS.

     But this isn't a commandment to be followed with the great show and flamboyance of the Jewish religious hypocrite leaders brought to fictional life in Margaret Montreuil's portrait of Jesus Christ. All you need to do is believe and allow the spirit of this book, the spirit of Montreuil's Jesus that she takes from the Bible and makes new in her vivid portrayal of Biblical times.

     Like Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, this book takes a fresh, original approach, focusing not just on Jesus' ministry and miracles, but on his drama as a human being with his own disappointments and fears, his own joys and sorrows, and his awesome destiny that he surrenders to: to suffer and be crucified, to have soldiers gamble for his clothes (an evocative image of our materialistic culture), and be reborn to save mankind from sin. Along the way we meet Mary Magdalene, Jesus' loving mother and unforgiving brothers, as well as characters such as Roman soldiers and even Pontius Pilate, who believes in Jesus more than his own people. This unfolds against the backdrop of the war between Satan, God, and heavenly angels.

     Hollywood secularists, repent: The Jewish religious leaders, channeling Jim Bakker, as well as the Reverend Fred Phelps who erected a monument against murdered Matthew Shepard (who Montreuil's loving, fiery Jesus would not have damned) in Wyoming, condemned Jesus because of their own arrogance. Oh wait, that sounds more like the Hollywood secularists trying to block Mel Gibson's "Passion." In the Jewish leaders' denial of Jesus we see grim specters of the ACLU and the liberal left (which Michael Moore, channeling new wine in an old wineskin, denounces as having a "hoity-toity" view of religion) banning Nativity scenes, prayer at public events, and at high school football games. Has Bill O'Reilly read Montreuil's book? Someone send him a copy as a belated Christmas gift. Then, give yourself the experience of knowing the Jesus that Montreuil evokes in her love letter.