Take the Reins: A Father Teaches His Son About Life, Commitment and Spirituality
Take the Reinscollects a father's lessons to his son about  "life, commitment, and spirituality." Author John L. Moore (best known for his  fiction, includingThe Breaking  of Ezra Riley) is a rancher  who lives north of Miles City, Montana.Take the Reinsconsists of short  meditations on experiences that he and his son Jess have shared on the ranch,  where bad luck, drought, disease, and other dangers constantly shatter any  illusions that this world is a safe place to live. The book's basic lesson is  that only God offers security. Admirably, Moore manages to convey this lesson  without denigrating the physical world. The book has more than its share of  excitement and suspense--runaway horses, hunting trips, long hours lost on the  plains--and it is equally adept at poignant understatement. (Describing his care  for a sick calf, Moore writes that "We carried the calf to the bathroom and  lowered the cold body into the warm water. The smell of afterbirth came alive in  the heat.")Take the Reinsis a fine book whose lessons regarding  paternal love have a quiet, universal appeal.