Book: Have a Little Faith

Overview
Have a Little Faith follows Mitch Albom as he reconnects with two very different men of faith and, through their stories, explores what faith looks like in practice. One figure is Rabbi Albert Lewis, the gentle, lifelong spiritual guide who raised Albom in suburban Detroit and later asks Albom to deliver his eulogy. The other is Pastor Henry Covington, a former addict and convict who now runs a gritty urban ministry serving Detroit's most vulnerable. Albom alternates between their lives, their struggles, and his own reflections, building a portrait of faith that is rooted in service rather than doctrine.

Rabbi Albert Lewis
Rabbi Albert Lewis is presented as a humble, compassionate rabbi whose steady presence shaped Albom's early life. As an elder confronting his mortality, the rabbi invites Albom into extended conversations about life, legacy, and what it means to die well. Those exchanges reveal a lifetime of small acts of devotion, an emphasis on community, and a belief in the quiet power of tradition and ritual to bring meaning and comfort in the face of loss.

Pastor Henry Covington
Henry Covington stands in stark contrast: rough-edged, charismatic, and driven by a history of addiction and crime that he has transformed into ministry. He leads a small but vital mission that serves homeless men and women, addicts, and ex-offenders, fighting daily practical battles to keep the doors open. Albom's encounters with Covington expose the messy, urgent side of faith, where preaching is inseparable from feeding people, providing shelter, and navigating the bureaucracy and prejudice that threaten to shut such ministries down.

Narrative and Structure
The book moves between personal memoir, biography, and social reportage. Albom uses his position as both a former student and a public figure to document long conversations, family histories, and the practical realities of running a mission in Detroit. The narrative builds toward public moments, the rabbi's final days and funeral, the pastor's struggles to sustain his work, while also dwelling on small, telling episodes that illuminate character: bedside prayers, late-night visits, and earnest debates about belief.

Themes and Lessons
Central themes include compassion, humility, redemption, and the everyday manifestations of faith. Rather than interrogating theology, the book emphasizes faith's ethical and human consequences: how belief inspires action, fosters resilience, and knits communities together. Albom is particularly interested in the ways two traditions, Jewish and Christian, converge on similar moral imperatives, and how personal transformation can occur even amid hardship and imperfection.

Style and Reception
Albom's prose is direct, sentimental, and accessible, blending journalistic detail with memoiristic intimacy. The tone is warm and reflective, aiming to comfort as much as to provoke thought. Have a Little Faith resonated with a broad readership, becoming a bestseller and earning praise for its human-centered portrayal of religion, though some critics noted its sometimes uncritical warmth. The book invites readers to consider faith less as doctrinal certainty and more as a sustained practice of caring for others.