The Secret Blend
Stan Toler
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2004 WaterBrook Press
ISBN: 1578567467

A Modern parable of Personal Success.

With a fine Foreword by the successful leadership trainer, John C. Maxwell, who tells us how this slim, elegant book came into being, you are in for a treat as tasty & as invigorating as any cup of joe you've ever quaffed.

The Secret Blend is a book which will take its readers on a swift, magical journey from the hollow hunger of seeking material wealth to the ineffable satisfaction of the practice of giving away of self.

Many wise men have written arcane tomes about learning to live well, discovering the source for happiness & explaining philosophies which will lead to the “good life” -- all dense with convoluted language & interminable scoldings that most of us have tuned out as the meanderings of old know-it-alls.

Then along comes simple Stan Toler with a lively, uncomplicated & engaging story (parable) about one man who knows he's missing something in his frantic & seductive scramble to get to the top of the corporate hill. He just doesn't want to stop & think about it.

It's raining as usual in Seattle & Joe Conrad's Tuesday has been both a mess & a marvel. He's about to bag a big client for his company, & he's as hollow as a gas tank on empty. Why this day of all days, when months of hard work are about to pay off? Why this sense of disconnect with his wife, his team, himself?

As most things do in Seattle, it starts with a java, in a cafe he's never been to. Dashing through the downpour, Joe pushes through the door & is greeted by the genial host with a towel to dry himself off, a free cuppa, & a coupon which asks him the one question he doesn't want to hear -- Are You As Rich As You Want To Be?

What is also free is Mac's invitation to taste a particular blend of the brew & tell him, another day, what its flavor is. With his mind still on the upcoming meeting with the new client, Joe chats with Mac, & then hurries off to the office. Except during the meeting with his team, the question on the coupon & the suggestion offered by the cafe's genial host, keep surfacing, distracting him.

Naturally, Joe has to go back to the cafe, has to ask Mac what he means, has to listen to what the old throwback has to say, & so Joe gets his answers -- seven in all -- which will, inevitably, transform the quality of his life.

I was dreading The Secret Blend would be all sappy with New Age aphorisms & soundbytes, however Stan Toler keeps his parable lean & clean, the action & the insights roll right along, swiftly & appropriately with no sleight of hand, only good writing.

The Secret Blend is delightful, & will keep on giving with each reading. It is also an engrossing & easily absorbed seminar on how to look at your life with fresh eyes, purpose & passion.

Very well done! The perfect gift for those you love!

Stan Toler is senior pastor of Trinity Church of the Nazarene in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, & hosts the television program Leadership Today. He is the author of more than 50 books including:
The Minute Motivator
The Harder I Laugh, the Deeper I Hurt: Unmask Your Pain, and Let the Healing Begin
The Buzzards Are Circling, But God's Not Finished with Me Yet.

www.StanToler.com
(05/30/04)

Rebecca