Recently, I listened to someone call out those of us who read the ending of a book first, preaching that we’re ruining the story, robbing ourselves of the experience. I 100% disagree. Reading the ending first makes me more excited, more invested. If I know I like where the story is going, I want to see how it gets there. It reassures me that my time won’t be wasted.
Karl, my husband, is laughing at me right now because I was just reading Chapter 5 of The Healing Energy of Your Hands when I realized, out loud, that the chapter had nothing to do with hands. He said, “Maybe you haven’t gotten to it yet.” And then I reminded him that it was also possible I hadn’t gotten to it yet because it was in an earlier chapter.
That’s when he really started laughing—not because I read books out of order, but because I skipped the first four chapters, have no clue what’s actually in them, and yet I’m sitting here questioning why this chapter doesn’t mention hands.
I remind him, “I didn’t pick this book up randomly. I was told to turn to page 77.”
Trusting the Process (Even If It’s Backwards)
The truth is, I used to read more often when I allowed myself to start from the middle or the end. I’ve always had a hard time starting with the introduction, but over the years, because of my academic studies, I trained myself to read books “the right way.” And because of that, I read fewer books.
Thank God I’m finally getting back in touch with what works for me—what has now become part of my spiritual practice: the art of embracing serendipity, of following intuition, of listening to channeled messages from Jehovah, Spirit, and deeper parts of myself.
I purchased The Healing Energy of Your Hands this past September at a friend’s recommendation and had carried it around with me a few times, never knowing when I might actually read it. I’d look at the cover and think, This would be so relevant for me. It will probably teach me about energy work with my hands, like Reiki… And then I’d wonder, Why am I procrastinating? This is definitely going to be one of my superpowers.
And yet, I couldn’t get into it. Until tonight.
Tonight, the book was near me when I heard Jehovah tell me to turn to page 77.
Unlike the uncertainty I sometimes feel when I’m led to a specific spiritual text or Bible verse—where I find myself hoping the book actually exists in the Bible and that it has enough chapters and verses to match—I knew this book had a page 77 because of its thickness. So I turned to it.
Out of habit, I recorded the moment, as I often do, documenting the synchronicities that make up my life. I flipped to the page, only to be momentarily confused, thinking it was blank. The page numbers were missing. Then I realized: Page 77 was the beginning of Chapter 5—a chapter on pain and illness in the body, and their relationship to energy and suppressed emotions.
Not about hands.
Why start at the beginning when you can start with chapter 5.
The Book I Didn’t Read (But the Chapter I Needed)
As I started reading, I realized that, despite my expectations, this book—or at least this chapter—wasn’t immediately about healing with my hands. But it was about something I needed to hear. The words resonated deeply—so deeply that I found myself crying without realizing it. It spoke not only to me, but also to me about Karl, and about many others I know.
Later, I was reading parts of it aloud to Karl after making notes, and I told him, “If I had known this book was so good, I would’ve started reading it sooner.”
But I had tried. I had picked it up before and attempted to read it from the beginning, but I just couldn’t get into it.
Karl, still amused, lifts the book’s cover and reads the title out loud:
The Healing Energy of Your Hands.
I tell him, “Yeah, I thought it was going to be a Reiki book, something about healing energy through my hands—but there’s nothing about hands in this chapter.”
That’s when he smirks and says, “Maybe you just haven’t gotten to that part yet.”
And that’s when I realize—I have no idea if this book actually teaches anything about hands or not. Maybe I already missed that part. Maybe it’s coming later. Maybe it’s not in there at all.
Why Start at the Beginning If You Don’t Have To?
This is exactly why I don’t read books in order anymore. I let intuition—Spirit, God, or whatever force is guiding me in the moment—lead me to the parts I need.
For some people, following a book from start to finish makes sense. They enjoy the build-up, the structure, the journey as it was designed. But for me, sometimes the most important lesson isn’t in Chapter 1. Sometimes it’s buried in Chapter 5, or at the very end. And sometimes, if I had to wade through the beginning to get to it, I never would have made it that far.
We assume knowledge, stories, and growth are supposed to be linear. That learning has to follow a structured path. But what if it doesn’t?
What if some lessons are meant to be found out of order? What if the best way to experience a book—or life—is to jump around?
So no, I don’t think reading the end first ruins the journey. Sometimes, it’s the fastest way to find what you were looking for all along.
Especially when you trust that you’ll be guided to what you need when the time is right.
Spirit Journal 2.25.2025 0210
Here’s the video of me reading the beginning of chapter 5 plus a few other things I was guided to share. 😅
