ARA Review by Matthew Hogan of In It Together

[Matthew Hogan]

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, In It Together.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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In It Together by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes 5 stars out of 5

I thoroughly enjoy it when I have the opportunity to read a book that might be from a different theological or philosophical bent than mine, but our goals are the same. (I’m a pastoral counselor.) Hughes’ work is the second recently that I have had the good fortune of enjoying thoroughly despite some glaring differences in our worldviews.

He does an excellent job of laying out the groundwork or setting the stage so that we all know we are starting from the same understanding of the essential condition of who we are as people. Sadly, this all-important setting of the stage is necessarily in the beginning of the book but also necessarily the driest section.

Fortunately, once the reader gets past that, Hughes leads the reader on to a true understanding of what he really means by In IT Together. But he doesn’t stop with the togetherness, he goes on to create a wonderful guide on how to find true peace in one’s life.

Books like this, whatever the angle is, that seek to give the reader some handle on a better life, always depend on the reader choosing to follow the advice given. Hughes does a grand job of spreading it out in an entertaining way, looking at the truths from different angles so that they should be understandable and appealing to all.

All in all, this is a well written and well put together book that was a joy to read. As I read, I kept wondering, 'OK where is he going to go with this?' And although I implied that Hughes and I likely have different theological or philosophical beliefs, he works very hard at making the book easily approachable by those of any faith or none at all.

As I read, the quality of the writing kept me going as I wondered where he was headed. Fortunately, he did such a wonderful job of focusing on the universal experience of being a person that our differences and the times I raised an eyebrow in cautious curiosity were easily overcome. The excellent end message, the writing, and his ability to dodge my worldview-based skepticism make it clearly a 5-star read. I could give no less.

I sincerely hope that the book does the good for many people that he clearly intends.

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