According to author Dr. Kent M. Keith, he wrote the Paradoxical Commandments 30 years ago when he was 19. Somehow, they got around, and were quoted (without attribution) in devotional books and posters, even ending up in Calcutta with Mother Teresa. Keith didn’t see a penny for his work, and claims not to mind.
Now, Keith has packaged and expanded his earlier work with “Jesus Did It Anyway.” I’m sympathetic with the plight of a person whose one great contribution ends up being exploited by others, but I found the book disappointing. The best parts of it were the sayings themselves, which took the form, “The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.” But Keith’s expansions are not terribly inspiring. They consist mainly of lightly paraphrased scriptural stories plus a few personal stories. Aside from the paradoxical commandments themselves, Keith’s insights are clichéd and dull. It was easy to skip large sections of the book without missing anything. Hence, the disappointment.
Though this book is inspiring in its own way, if you’re looking for something deep or original, you ought to look elsewhere.
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