William Wright, Lifestyles editor at the Cleveland Daily Banner, has released a new book, “The Little White Book of Light,” based on his weekly newspaper columns.

The book may be little in size but it’s huge in scope as Wright shares his endeavors to navigate his life and help steer the lives of others to sail toward safe harbor. He uses solid reasoning while offering heartfelt encouragement in maneuvering through life’s muddy waters and streams of joy.

Without fail, he throws the net of curiosity and experience over life events, trying to capture even small insights and observations that serve as buoys to mark out human relationships with God and each other.

One of his most recent “Wright Way” columns speaks of a twist of fate that helped him grow closer to his dad before the elder Wright passed away.

While pointing out that a stranger who stole his dad’s car paradoxically extended his dad’s life by six months, Wright also boldly stated that his dad could have lived an even longer, fuller life had he listened to his doctors’ instructions.

Still, Wright seeks to learn from experiences instead of becoming bitter or hardened by them. His writing shows deep understanding of human nature, as well as a sense of justice mixed with ample portions of mercy.

While many of Wright’s columns may seem idealistic in pointing the way toward beauty and excellence, he doesn’t consider himself an idealist.

“I consider myself a realist,” he said. “I say that because realistically most of the problems facing our planet and the life on it are beyond the reach of humans to solve. People will never stop trying to solve the problems of world hunger, poverty, sickness, disease, crime and violence, or death. There are no human solutions to earthquakes and other natural disasters but to pick up the pieces and move on.”

Wright continued, “For millenniums people have been struggling with the same problems we see today. It seems realistic to me that we will continue to struggle until the One who created all things decides to step in at His appointed time and set matters straight. To me, an idealist is one who believes humans will be able to solve these catastrophic problems without intervention from God. That’s unrealistic to me.”

In his book of collected works, Wright methodically lays out a series of life issues, then dissects them, always with hope and with the careful precision of a cartographer. Whether he’s writing about heavy subjects like the death of his father or lighter material, like how to keep romance alive, he employs his mind to reach the heart. The result shows with clarity and courage.

In further explaining the purpose of his book’s publication, Wright pointed out that many religious people believe we are currently living in the “spiritually darkened period” the Bible calls “the Last Days.”

“It seems reasonable to me to try to help shed some light on where we are in the stream of time from the Bible’s standpoint,” he commented. “My book does this by addressing a variety of topics, — like browsing the Internet — but it all comes back to a central theme.”

In his book, Wright often raises questions, presents facts as he sees them and asks readers to decide for themselves. “The Little White Book of Light” often raises the question, “What would Jesus do?” in these especially dangerous, stressful times.

“To me,” he said, “Jesus set the perfect example and it is the perfect question all Christ-like people should want to ask themselves, especially in tempting or difficult situations — as well as with practices and customs we were once in-the-dark with before we could see the light.

“This book is designed to encourage understanding, offer Scriptural insight and promote research into the Bible. Anyone who does that will gradually learn to see and love the light, I believe.”

Wright sees Jesus as a realist who had a concern for real situations and who rejected the impractical.

“Jesus saw things as they really were,” Wright said. “To me, that makes Him a realist. He taught people to pray for God’s kingdom to come and said we should seek that kingdom first. Realistically, rulership by God is the best solution to our problems. I can’t think of a more qualified candidate to be King of Kings than Jesus. Can you?”

Despite his kingship, Wright concedes that Christ was rejected by many, including those who sought a Messiah to deliver them from Roman oppression. But, Wright said, Christ at that time came to fulfill John 3:16 and “to preach about God’s coming Kingdom of the heavens.”

Wright offered, “In part, the rejection Jesus experienced was because of so many people being in spiritual darkness. He was the light of the world, but many chose not to embrace that light.”

In his writings, Wright conveys that he aspires to the excellence he speaks about, but has known failure himself. “I wrote about some of my own failures in life as object lessons on how to move forward with God’s help. But, like most people, I’ve learned more from my failures in life than my successes.”

He continued, “But really, my book is about personal growth — yours and mine. It’s about how to become a better person, a more enlightened person, a more tolerant and positive person in a world where people are being weighed down by the anxieties of life.”

Earlier, Wright noted, “I tried to write columns and later combine them into a book to bring praise to our Universal Sovereign ... the opportunity to write my column came two months before I went through the worse 10 months of my life,” referring to the sudden deaths of his mother, father and only sister.

“Everything I wrote after that was raw emotion and a result of sharing Scriptures, quotes and insights to keep a person spiritually strong, balanced, relying on Jehovah, imitating Jesus Christ and being open to help from others. That is what I needed. It is what I still need.”

Wright expressed his gratitude for being able to collect his works into a book, since several people told him they were trying to collect his columns themselves. They suggested he compile them into one book. The resulting publication, he pointed out, is “like a ‘Thank you’ to God and to the people who enjoyed my columns over the years.”

In the end, he stated, all people are accountable to God, although humans have freedom of choice.

“We are defined by the choices we make and we should have all the facts before making those choices,” he said. “My goal was to write something funny, positive, insightful and enlightening. If even one person can see life a little clearer, laugh a little longer and make wiser choices in their decisions as a result of reading this book, then I feel I accomplished what I set out to do.”

In his book, Wright seems to grip the wheel, saying “All aboard!” and sets sail over life’s rough and smooth seas, his eyes and heart always looking toward the celestial horizon.

An autographed copy of “The Little White Book of Light” is available on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and booksamillion.com.