For those who love learning and growth, an open mind finds a new viewpoint interesting, whether one agrees with it or not. Simply being aware of the details of the viewpoint expands the mind and is a payoff in itself. Many of us have to be reminded that almost everything worthwhile in our lives is hard at first. Learning to walk was hard, but gradually we learned and now it is effortless. In fact, it is amazing to see a tiny person try and try and try, and eventually walk around confidently.

The same holds true for our more advanced skills such as sports, music, art, learning etc. We forget these past struggles to learn and take them for granted now. In my teaching of English to recently naturalized citizens from places like Haiti or Eritrea, I see very intelligent people struggling with a language that never was their primary language. It takes so much effort, repetition and training. It takes focus, and commitment to master and coordinate the three legs of the stool: vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. What amazing things our minds are.

That is my vision with this little book. Mary was a person, like me. She skinned her knee, she feared for her life, she empathized with others. Regardless of one’s personal faith, all people, from intelligent non-believers to “People of the Book,” will find it interesting to look in on Mary on her personal journey.