Good Works, a book review

Good Works by Keith Wasserman and Christine D. Pohl

Eerdmans Publishing, 2021

This book has been out for 9 months now and I apologize it has taken so long. It was a labor of love.

You see, I have been friends with the author Keith Wasserman for nearly 50 years.

There is so much in that sentence above that I love: using the words Keith Wasserman in tandem with author.

When I first met Keith as a fifteen-year old sophomore at Centerville High School he was more the author of chaos. No one would have ever dreamed he’d write something let alone his own name. He was sort of an eesh guy. But, then  . . . .

We got saved.

He changed, my attitude changed. We belonged to the same church. Keith baptized me in a dammed up gully behind his house, Me and my friends sent him cassette tapes when he went off to England to assist an evangelize one summer.

He’s helped me through MANY crisis of faith and personal struggles.

And never once have we stopped being friends. But this is about his book: Good Works.

Also the name of his shelter for those seeking refuge / housing in southeastern Ohio, in the foothills of Appalachia. You see Keith, has not only been a faithful friend, but faithful to a calling of serving others. What started as finding beds for transients while in college, housing them in his basement, building bunks and offering resources and time—turned into a lifetime pursuit.

Good Works has grown to encompass the entire Athens town and Athens County community. For Keith, as outlined in his book written with Christine D. Pohl a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary. The two have tried to delineate the history and process of Good Works—what it means to render hospitality and resources to the least of these.

Which might sound a bit hierarchal or condescending, except that Good Works is a model of how friends help friends.

I know a bit about this.

In this day and age of institutional racism, and institutional bureaucratic everything, of political double-speak, to pastors and other leaders apologizing for truly crass behavior—there is something to be said for simple Good Works and Good Words.

“Four commitments, rooted in our philosophy of ministry guide Good Works’ efforts in shaping contexts for healing and wholeness. First, we emphasize building relationships rather than programs. Every program and structure is designed to support and facilitate the deepening of relationships. Second, building and maintaining trust is the focus of these relationships, and in every context, we ask: What are we doing here that builds or diminishes trust? Third, each context meets a “felt need.” It might be shelter, food, a car, companionship, or the need to be needed, And fourth, in every context, we are looking for ways a recipient can move toward being a participant. This means we are looking for an identity change: the person is no longer “that homeless guy”, but he is Bill with gifts that can contribute to the community.”

This kind of community-building is time consuming, requires living amongst the community, and is often without bells and whistles and recognition. It also happens so slowly that one can easily get discouraged or give up. But, Keith has been in it for the long haul.

I am proud to call him my friend—and heartily recommend this book to all those who seek leadership or leadership responsibility and those who are curious about volunteering, or wishing to simply do Good Works.