Retrospective Wednesday...God Went to Beauty School

Retrospective Wednesday is a feature at My Head is Full of Books designed to give bloggers a chance to highlight a book that was published in previous years, in the hope that it will cause others to go back and read it. The featured book must have been published one or more years ago. 

What if God was able to experience everything from a human point of view?  Would he get a dog? Climb a mountain? Watch TV?  What would amaze him the most about our world? Hands? Elephants? Riding in a boat?

"God Went to Beauty School" celebrates the simple things in life while taking a long, hard look at what it means to be human. Rylant's soft, reflective, and often humorous verse glimpses everyday life through wide and wondering eyes and blends the familiar with the profoundly spiritual. -from Goodreads

Each and every poem causes me to stop, to reflect, to smile, or to cry.  I love this little book. I love the idea of God experiencing life on earth as a human, which relates to me and my experiences. Published in 2003 this book is timeless and is a go-to-book when I need a little pick-me-up.  Here are a few lines just to get you started:

GOD WENT TO INDIA
To see the elephants.
God adores elephants.
He thinks they are
the best thing
He ever made.
They do everything
He hoped for:
They love their children,
they don't kill,
they mourn their dead.
This last thing is important
to God...
_______________________
GOD CLIMBED A MOUNTAIN
...it was so still.
"Should've put everybody
on top of Mount Everest,"
God thought.
Nobody'd want to hit
the guy next to him
on top of Mount Everest.
"Next time," thought God.
Next time.