God’s Bucket List : Heaven’s Surefire Way to Happiness in this Life and Beyond

Most everybody today has their own “Bucket List”, a list of things you would like to accomplish before you “kick the bucket”. Have you ever stopped to consider what accomplishments God might have for you? Teresa Tomeo broaches this idea in her new book, God’s Bucket List: Heaven’s Surefire Way to Happiness in This Life and Beyond.

Throughout this book Teresa draws heavily from her 30 years in the field of journalism to give examples of how her own life changed for the better when she turned it over to God. Frequent quotes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and writings of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict back up Teresa’s theme. God has a specific plan for each of us and the skills we have were meant to achieve that plan.

In the eight chapters of this book I found a lot of material that caused me to ponder my own spiritual journey. Topics covered included being silent and listening for God’s voice, Bible Study, discernment of vocation, dealing with the “messes” of life and studying the Catholic faith. Having a personal relationship with God, and the benefits thereof, is highlighted throughout the book. Teresa also make a great point that, though God does not expect us to suddenly quit our jobs, we should be discerning whether we are using our skill sets within our station in life to their greatest effect.

I found the books chapter involving the women’s movement to be the most interesting. The lead in to this chapter included Teresa discovery of the truth behind abortion after she (as many others) spent years believing the hype and propaganda. That propaganda includes the canned response of “its my body you can’t tell me what to do with it”. That though process was part of the movement that “liberated” women from he thought in society that women were less than equal to men. Teresa pointed out, and backed up with data, that for as many steps forward as the women’s movement took it lost just as much, if not more ground due to the sexual revolution. The following quote from the book states it best.

“While were making a lot of advances on Wall Street and Madison Avenue, the reality of the situation was in many ways taking women backward, not moving them forward. It’s not that women didn’t deserve equal pay and equal opportunity. It’s just that women were told that, for the most part, they had to deny their natural inclinations in order to get ahead……Somewhere along the path to fulfillment we were brainwashed into thinking that making bold moves in the boardroom and the bedroom would make us seen less as objects and more as men’s equals…….Did the bra burners of the 60s really want their daughters and granddaughters to believe that being bound up and called a man’s submissive, like the lead character in Fifty Shades of Grey, is the ideal existence?”

God’s Bucket List is an enlightening read that makes you pause and seriously consider your life. The overarching theme of casting aside your own desires to attain the goals God has set forth for your life is definitely a subject worthy of spending some contemplation on. Teresa Tomeo has provided a book that helps spur that thought process. In closing find some balance in your life, put aside some of your personal bucket list items and work to discover and attain those items on God’s bucket list. You will surely find the payoff is eternal with God’s and temporary with ours.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I received a copy of the book for this review from the publisher Image Books.