The Search of God and Guinness

Thomas Nelson, the publisher of the book The Search for God and Guinness sent me a copy of the book for my review on my blog. This book, by Stephen Mansfield, tells the almost unbelievable story of Arthur Guinness and his family. Arthur Guinness founded the Guinness brewery in 1759. While the story of the growth and success of Guinness Brewery is amazing enough, what was a real surprise was the story of his family and descendants and how the simple brewing of, what is in my opinion, a wonderful beer truly changed the face of Ireland and possibly the world for the better.

Let me first say, this book will make you extremely thirsty. As Mr. Mansfield described the brewing process and even touched on the health benefits of beer, I found it difficult to resist cracking open a cold Guinness myself. Gladly, I succumbed to the temptation and from then on enjoyed the book even more.

With what appears to be little information on Arthur Guinness himself, Mr. Mansfield's story is one of the Guinness family tree and how they used their fame and wealth to help so many people. I was amazed at the collection of stories of those associated with the Guinness Brewery and all the good they did. While any one of the stories of the family rebuilding St. Patrick's Cathedral Church or one becoming one of the best known preachers in the world or being a pioneer of the concept that a company should care for the health and well-being of its employees, is inspiring, it is the weight of each story on top of the other that made this story truly remarkable and almost unbelievable.

There is a lesson regarding how individuals and organizations should use wealth and influence in making the world a better place, and given the current environment of much suffering due to the greed of those in power, this is something to be heeded. However, what God laid upon my heart was how the family passed down these values from generation to generation. All of us who, wether we are wealth or powerful, should, like Arthur Guinness, pass down eternal values to the next generation. If I can so deeply imprint the principles of God into the hearts of the next generation that those principles are passed on and on, then I have left this world a very rich man.

Amazon here