"Will you do my eulogy?" That unexpected request from an old, ailing rabbi set Mitch Albom on a spiritual journey he never counted on.

Now Albom, the author of "Have a Little Faith: A True Story," cannot imagine what life would be like if Rabbi Albert Lewis had not given him an offer he could not refuse.

"You know that song 'Losing My Religion'? Writing this book was more like losing my cynicism about religion," Albom told CTV.ca.

Born and raised in the Jewish faith, Albom had known this plucky rabbi with a penchant for singing for many years.

The rabbi of 60 years also knew that Albom, like many of his younger congregants, had slipped away from synagogue services and his faith for many reasons.

"I had become a 'service once a year' kind of person. That's when our sessions began," says Albom, the author of such New York Times bestsellers as "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "The Five People You Meet in Heaven."

The sports writer and columnist for the Detroit Free Press never understood why Rabbi Lewis chose him to deliver this eulogy. He could have easily picked a family member or a fellow clergyman to do the job.

"The Reb wanted someone from the cheap seats," says Albom. "He wanted them to say 'Here's what I learned from this man.' I was just the stand-in."

"Have a Little Faith" makes no attempt to sell religion. Instead, Albom uses his time with Rabbi Lewis and Pastor Henry Covington, a drug dealer-turned-inner city pastor, to examine why faith is essential to the human experience.

"In this society, the quick fix is everything," says Albom. "We don't want a true spiritual journey. We want the end of the journey. Finding real, deep faith doesn't work that way."

Albom discovers that life's crooked, winding paths yield faith's true meaning.

"My experiences with these two men taught me that it's okay to ask 'Why me?' It's okay to curse at God and question things," says Albom.

"Faith isn't necessarily about religion. It's about discovering humanity. When you see that and see all the amazing little, day-to-day acts of kindness that faith can spawn you realize you're part of something and so is everyone else."

That realization sounds simple. But, it is one Albom would never have grasped a decade ago.

"I like to think I'm smarter now than I was 10 years ago," laughs the 51-year-old author.

"Back then, I didn't want to talk about religion. Not mine. Not anyone else's for that matter," says Albom. "I only saw church scandals. Priests raping kids. These things made me believe that organized religion brought out the worst in people."

Albom's opinions, however, changed dramatically thanks to the Jewish rabbi and the Christian pastor.

Nowhere is that shift more evident than when Albom's eulogy for Lewis is finally read.

"When I look back, I think the Reb wanted to say 'Let me show you this faith I have and how it gives me comfort in these closing days of my life.' He wanted me to see past his decay and the dying and realize that he was okay with it -- and that I should be, too. That's very inspiring to see," says Albom.

"That's why when people ask me 'Why do you write all these books about people who die?' I tell them I'm not writing about death. My books are about life," says Albom.

"The only way you appreciate life is when you expose yourself to what happens at the end. When you see what's coming, you can apply what you've learned and go on living."