Through the Narrow Gate: A Memoir of Spiritual Discovery Karen Armstrong 1982 |
Karen Armstrong entered a convent as a teenager in the 60's. While all the tumult of the sexual revolution, the Cold War, the Vietnam War seethed in the outside world, Karen was struggling with her difficult and almost medieval novitiate, her classes at Oxford, where her training as a nun conflicted with the scholastic world, and with her health. While Karen sought to cool the passions and desires of the world and become the perfect nun, her body rebelled and she suffered anorexia, fainting fits which were attributed to her emotions (but were diagnosed as epilepsy much later on.) Meanwhile, she achieved scholastic triumphs at Oxford, but at heavy price. How Karen adjusts to live in the convent, and then to life at Oxford is an amazing story. Her autobiography is unsentimental and honest. This is a fascinating personal story as well as a rare look into a secret world that was forever altered by Vatican II and its reforms. Reviewed by Joanne Daemann |
The Spiral Staircase: My Climb out of Darkness Karen Armstrong 2004 |
Karen Armstrong's first memoir, Through the Narrow Gate, ended not long after she acted upon her decision to leave the convent where, after seven years, she had become a skeptical nun. The Spiral Staircase pick up her intellectual and religious questing and brings her devoted readers up to date on the result of her explorations into the nature of God and his/her/? place in our world and lives. This intensely personal book is also an exceedingly solitary book. The only relationship that seems to matter for Karen Armstrong is her relationship with God, a being who, in her view, probably does not exist. This doesn't stop her from ultimately deciding (with characteristic pragmatism and without retreating from her skepticism), that leading a religious life is worth it, because "Faith is not about belief but about practice...The laws of religion are true because they are life-enhancing." Reviewed by |
Doubled Crossed: Uncovering the Catholic Churches Betrayal of American Nuns Kenneth Briggs 2007 |
This is an extraordinary history of American Sisters and should be read not only by the many Sisters who lived through these critical years of renewal and loss but also by the many women who entered religious life during these decades from the 40s through the 80s and made the painful decision to leave their communities. It will make you angry at times, but it should also be read because it is a history of visionary American women that should not be lost. Reviewed by Rita Yeasted |
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith Anne Lamott 2000 |
In "Travelling Mercies", Anne Lamott chronicles her journey of faith. From drug addiction, to alcoholism: through the deaths of her father and best friend, and the birth of her son, Ms. Lamott traces her spiritual journey in a series of moving, funny, and deeply personal anecdotes. One warning: this book is probably not for those seeking a traditionally-minded, conservative Christian memoir, as it is definitely not either traditional or conservative!
For those whose faith is less structured, this book is an incredibly funny, searingly personal and deeply moving account of one woman's transformation through faith. Ms. Lamott possesses the rare gift of translating her faith into day-to-day experiences and sharing her innermost, most difficult or stressful thoughts in a very funny, realistic, human way. Other readers have mentioned the story of the woman in bicycle shorts (Ms. Lamott's "Enemy Lite."), which is truly hilarious. Other highlights included the"celebration" of Ash Wednesday, and her encounter with another Christian whose faith seemed to be quite a different order from her own. Ms. Lamott is also wonderful when she writes about children: whether about her own son or her friends' children. This would make a wonderful gift for those who are "teetering on the edge" of Christianity, wondering, can this faith, this tradition possibly ever mean anything to me? Through these stories, Anne Lamott illustrates the miracle that is her faith, and leaves the door open for anyone who wants to follow. A wonderful, inspiring and very funny book. Reviewed by Sophia |
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith Anne Lamott 2006 |
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith contains a series of essays by Lamott from her salon.com column that she wrote during the beginning of the Iraq War. As a left wing Christian, Lamott understandably has trouble with the war and George W. Bush. As if that weren't enough, she is also turning 50 and her son is becoming a teenager. Lamott writes of all these things with great candor and humor. She is breathtakingly honest, but not in a way that makes me cringe or think "too much information." She also writes of friends and loved ones with great affection and compassion that manages to avoid sentimentality. Lamott has the ability to be very funny and very wise at the same time, which is always a pleasure.
Reviewed by Brenda Jo Mengeling |
Grace (Eventually) Thoughts on Faith Anne Lamott 2008 |
Lamott's new book, "Grace Eventually: Further Thoughts On Faith," is a collection of essays, many of which Lamott wrote as a columnist for Salon.com. The two things you should know before reading Anne Lamott is that 1) she is an incredible prose artist, quirky and profound, with a style that seems all her own. And 2) she is almost completely neurotic.
"Grace Eventually," is a special book in that Lamott's description of ordinary events make them feel sacred. She is a writer with an ability to make the reader pay attention, feel present, and tune in to the story taking place around them. Although she refers to Jesus consistently, there is little that seems orthodox about Lamott's spiritual journey, and perhaps that is one of the reasons she has such a wide readership. You'd have to be made out of granite not to find something that moves you in this unique collection of essays. You would also need to adhere to Lamott's precise and strident political positions not to find at least one portion of this book infuriating. Either way, "Grace Eventually" is a provocative and unique read, and any avid reader owes it to themselves to become familiar with one of the country's top writers. llow. A wonderful, inspiring and very funny book. Reviewed by Matthew Moran |
Standing in the Light: My Life as a Pantheist Sharman Russell 2008 |
Part memoir, part spiritual autobiography, part history of philosophy, Standing in the Light might be more aptly subtitled My Life as a Seeker Who Wonders How Pantheism Developed and How It Fits into the Quaker Faith. Given the book's structure--its weaving together of personal narrative and history, both local and global--it's sometimes hard to see exactly where Russell is going. But after following her for a while, the reader doesn't care about that anymore. Like Russell, he or she learns to wait in silence for the Light. As the Quakers say in such times of uncertainty, "Way will open."
What is most surprising--and interesting--about this extraordinary book is its focus on Quakerism. Granted, Russell explains the connection in her Introduction, writing. Reviewed by Going Deeper |
The Butterfly Mosque: A Young American Woman's Journey to Love and Islam G. Willow Wilson 2010 |
Willow's honest and uplifting memoir "Butterfly Mosque" is living proof that an individual can maintain fidelity both to one's American and Muslim roots without mutual exclusivity or an "internal" clash of civilizations. Instead, Willow's "unholy" juxtaposition of both worlds, as brilliantly told in this memoir, is in fact a successful modern marriage of fluidity, cultural awareness, and
open-mindedness that embraces--not demonizes--both Muslims and the West as critical foundations for her spiritual journey. Reviewed by W. Ali |
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress Rhoda Janzen 2009 |
Fortysomething Rhoda Janzen hasn't spent extended time with her Mennonite family in 25 years. But when her husband leaves their 15-year-marriage and she's injured in a car accident, she trades the costly sabbatical she'd planned from her midwestern college in favor of a few months back home on the west coast.
Janzen (a very likeable narrator) weaves childhood memories with anecdotes from those months spent visiting her parents (both of whom I loved: Dad is "the Mennonite equivalent of the Pope"; Mom is a pragmatic nurse and eternal optimist); her family and friends; and the Mennonite culture. But deep into the book, the story that finally emerges is her recovery (of self and roots) from her mentally ill husband and their failed marriage. Reviewed by Litaddiction |
Song in a Weary Throat: An American Pilgrimage Pauli Murray 1987 |
The Reverend Dr. Anna Pauline (Pauli) Murray (November 20, 1910 – July 1, 1985) was an American civil rights advocate, feminist, lawyer, writer, poet, teacher, and ordained priest. . Through her numerous work she demonstrated that knowledge had to be used in order to achieve justice and freedom in order to give back to society. Murray was raised in the segregated South were she learned to live as an interracial women, for she was black, white, and Cherokee Indian. Murray later on describes herself as "biologically and psychologically integrated in a world where the separation of the races was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States" (Leland, The Chapel Hill Newspaper). In 1946, Murray received recognition for her service to society, as "Woman of the Year" by the National Council of Negro Women. As well as the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from the Professional Women's Caucus in 1971 and honorary degrees from Dartmouth, Radcliffe, and Yale, as well from other colleges and universities. During her work she discovered enlightenment, for she later said, "I had never thought of white people as victims of oppression, but now I heard echoes of the black experience when I listened to white workers tell their personal stories of being evicted, starved out, beaten, and jailed.... Seeing the relationship between my personal cause and the universal cause offreedom released me from a sense of isolation, helped me to rid myself of vestiges of shame over my racial history, and gave me an unequivocal understanding that equality of treatment was my birthright and not something to be earned.
Pauli Murray died of pancreatic cancer[11] on July 1, 1985 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She had her funeral rights held on July 5 in Washington, D.D, at the National Cathedral. According to Beverly Guy-Sheftall's book "Gender Talk," Murray was a lesbian who did not disclose it to the public. ,Her autobiography Song in a Weary Throat: An American Pilgrimage was published posthumously in 1987, it was her last piece of work she wrote. Source: Wikipedia |
I Want To Be Left Behind: Finding Rapture Here on Earth Brenda Peterson 2010 |
In her memoir I Want To Be Left Behind: Finding Rapture Here On Earth novelist and nature writer Brenda Peterson explores the paradox of a family both deeply in love with nature and deeply committed to the belief that the true salvation
will only come with the earth's destruction. The lone liberal in a family of conservative Southern Baptists, Peterson writes lyrically about her early childhood in a Forest Service station--and in a world where God and Satan, and the impending Rapture are as real as the forests she loves. She traces her path away from her conservative Southern Baptist childhood, through the Civil Rights era, protests at Berkeley, a fledging career at The New Yorker, another career farming in Colorado, and then yet a third career as a nature writer in Seattle. Peterson's account of a transformative period in American history is fascinating. Equally fascinating is the more intimate journey she and her family take in finding paths through the deep religious and political schisms that divide them. The climax of the book comes in an epiphany--that fundamentalists and environmentalists butt heads not because they are so very different, but because they are flip sides of the same coin. Reviewed by Story Circle Book Reviews |
Here If You Need Me: A True Story Kate Braestrup 2008 |
Kate Braestrup's HERE IF YOU NEED ME swoons, sighs, mourns, celebrates, and etches out new patterns of thought. In twenty beautifully written chapters that could be delivered as commencement speeches or sermons, tough-minded, tender-hearted Braestrup shines an examining spotlight into various corners of her life. She suddenly became a widowed mother of four. She studied for and was ordained to the U. U. ministry. She still is the chaplain to the Maine game wardens.
Her vivid, visceral prose grapples with the physical realities of life (and death) on the one hand. On the other, it contemplates tenderly, lovingly, such spiritual subjects as whether an afterlife exists or how suicides should be treated by the church. Freely irreverent, and often funny and pithy, Braestrup arranges glimpses of her various charges: her children, her game wardens, and the public she and the wardens serve with determination and full hearts. But the author excels best when she unabashedly shares her own individuality. For instance, unease (or even revulsion) vies with admiration in the reader as Braestrup tells of bucking the modern trend of leaving the newly dead to the ministrations of funeral homes. She washed her dead husband's body herself and saw to the details of his cremation. And talk about think-for-herself theology: her perspective on miracles is unforgetably novel... "A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude." Reviewed by |
The Bread of Angels: A Journey to Love and Faith Stephanie Saldana 2010 |
Stephanie was a lonely and depressed young woman, a true tortured soul with a broken heart when she first traveled to Damascus, Syria in the summer of 2004, not exactly the safest time for an American woman to find herself in the war-torn, often violent and anti-American Middle East. A fearless world traveler with a determination to learn the Arabic language, she found herself in Damascus in order to study Islam, specifically the Muslim prophet Jesus of the Koran, on a Fullbright fellowship which was intended to foster a greater American understanding of Islam in the post 9/11 world. As a student of divinity she was eager to learn how Christians practiced their faith in an Islamic country.
With her enthralling attention to detail, her story reads like a captivating travelogue, rich with culture, the lively flavors of Damascus, the austere beauty of the desert, the soul-shaking intensity of an ancient monastery where she retreats for spiritual exercises. With touching sensitivity and affection, her narration overflows with the exuberance, courage and humanity of the remarkable and unforgettable people she met in Syria ~ those who kindly and generously took her into their homes, their mosques and churches, their shops, their hearts. She embraces with great reverence and tenderness the common themes of the Christian and Islamic faiths ~ opening up, letting go, finding peace, getting closer to God. Her mystical metaphors are beautiful and thought provoking and have left a lasting effect on me. Reviewed by Evie G |
Gift from the Sea Anne Morrow Lindbergh 1955 |
In this inimitable, beloved classic—graceful, lucid and lyrical—Anne Morrow Lindbergh shares her meditations on youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and contentment as she set them down during a brief vacation by the sea. Drawing inspiration from the shells on the shore, Lindbergh’s musings on the shape of a woman’s life bring new understanding to both men and women at any stage of life. A mother of five, an acclaimed writer and a pioneering aviator, Lindbergh casts an unsentimental eye on the trappings of modernity that threaten to overwhelm us: the time-saving gadgets that complicate rather than simplify, the multiple commitments that take us from our families. And by recording her thoughts during a brief escape from everyday demands, she helps readers find a space for contemplation and creativity within their own lives.With great wisdom and insight Lindbergh describes the shifting shapes of relationships and marriage, presenting a vision of life as it is lived in an enduring and evolving partnership.
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A Year By the Sea Joan Anderson 2000 |
This is a great little book for any woman who wonders about who they are, and where are they going from here. Are we just going in circles, are we still playful, do we love ourselves, do we love life? This book shares the authors thoughts of what happened to her over the time period of one year, alone, all alone in a small family cottage by the sea. If you want to be inspired to think of yourself first so you have something to give to others this is the book for you.
Reviewed by Nstep |
The House by the Sea Mae Sarton 1996 |
This is the book which introduced me figuratively and literally to May Sarton! I saw this title in a bookstore and looked through it. WHAT A TREASURE this book became. May Sarton has the ability to cast light across darkness in such a way that the reader is revitalized and nourished. Inner strength is rediscovered. Life is redefined - routine events reclaim their original joy. What is old becomes refreshed. What a gift May Sarton continues to give through her work: life is to be lived and used and appreciated and given for as long as one can. *The House By The Sea* celebrates life, its beauty, serenity and joy. Sarton was most alive when she created life through her work. This theme resonates in all her work and teaches by demonstration the importance of exploring the inner self to find abundance.
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A New Kind Of Countyr Dorothy Gilman 1989 |
If you want to learn more about Dorothy Gilman, this is a great book. The author of the Mrs. Pollifax series was herself a courageous woman. After her two children left the nest, she went and lived by herself in Nova Scotia for eight years, living off the land with a minimum of worldly goods. This allowed time for self-examination and clarity of the priorities of her life. It may also encourage you to reflect about your own life and all the presure that our society places on the pursuit of ever more stuff. Reviewed by Luv Mysteries |
The Irrational Season Madeline L'Engle |
In The Irrational Season, L'Engle does not give any easy spiritual answers, yet somehow a sense of comfort prevails throughout the pages. Never preachy, this is a book to savor again and again. We share L'Engle's struggle as she grapples with age-old questions. One is awed by the grace with which this woman deals with conflict, both internal and external, even as she is sharing her deepest doubts. As we read, we become a part of L'Engle's spiritual quest and we make it our own. Reviewed by Joan Shaddox Isom |
Riding in the Shadows of Saints Jana Richman 2005 |
This is a beautifully written book. In lucid and often lyrical prose the author describes her journey along the Mormon trail by motorcycle, following the route from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City taken by several of her female ancestors and, on the way, recounts brief histories of their determination and faith in spite of horrendous obstacles. In parallel, she delves into her own struggle with Mormonism and arrives at a deeper understanding, and a redefinition, of her own faith. As the daughter of a deeply believing Mormon mother and a renegade father ("a jack Mormon") she has a lot to contend with. Her motorcycle becomes the symbol as well as the carrier of her uncertainty.
There is enough Mormon history provided to satisfy the casual reader, but the most heartening aspect of her presentation is that it doesn't fall along the usual polarizing lines: Ms. Richman offers both praise and criticism of the Mormon hierarchy and its leaders. The stories of her female ancestors along the trail are often heart-stopping in the intensity of their suffering and the depth of their faith. The book is filled with good writing and acute insights into many of the people she meets along the way. Reviewed by Michael Wright |
To Heaven and Back Mary Neal 2011 |
The story of her experiences from her drowning in Chile, through the repeated revivals and her ultimate survival are the events upon which this book is anchored. But the meat and meaning of it are in the unfolding of her life as guided and protected by her God. I'm obviously no disinterested party. Skeptics can be reassured by my report that if it came from Mary's pen, it will be the truth and the whole truth. I doubt, however, that her or anyone's personal account can penetrate fully into the modern psyche. That is, into those who think that they need proof of what we call God. As an account of a brush with the Hereafter, here have been many others similar to it, and they're well enough known to be used as shorthand in bad films.
What Mary and those like her have experienced are gifts from somewhere, given not just to them. She gives it back to us disguised as a simple offering. She doesn't baffle the reader with melodrama, hyperbole, fantasy, or excessive adjectives. She tells her story in a concise & detailed way, with a voice of eloquent and unadorned sincerity. In this way, it's easy to read and difficult to put down, vividly descriptive and completely convincing, humbling and inspiring. Fortunately for us, she kept waking up in the middle of the night until she couldn't keep from writing it down for us. The reason to read this remarkable account is witness, which is one of the few ways that we have left to hack a little hole in our jungle of unbelief. Reviewed by Bruce Stubblefield |
Marriage and Other Acts of Charity Kate Braestrup 2011 |
I read Kate Braestrup's award-winning first memoir "Here If You Need Me" as background before I read this--her latest book--and I'm so glad I did, because she is someone I wanted to know more about. It was helpful, but certainly not necessary, as this memoir stands alone. Together, the two are a wonderful read. Marriage and Other Acts of Charity is about the author's experiences with not only marriage, but life, love, God, parenting, organized religion, motherhood, grief, spirituality, and creating meaning when it seems impossible. I found this a beautiful book, another stunning memoir filled with poignant stories and hard lessons learned. The author has keen insights and a fresh way of looking at the world. She also has a great sense of humor. Although the author is a minister, this is not really a religious book. No matter what you believe, you will be comfortable with this book. Rev. Braestrup works in the Unitarian Universalist church, a denomination that is known for being tolerant and inclusive; reading her memoir made me really like Unitarians. It made me feel like there is maybe even a place for me in a church that is devoid of mean theology. This is a peaceful and loving book for people of all faiths or no faiths. It is about love and where and how you find it. And about the challenges that looking for it everywhere poses. You'll find the stories unforgettable. Reviewed by O. Brown |
Mother Angelica:Story of a Nun, Her Nerve and a Network of Miracles Raymond Arroyo |
I discovered EWTN in the first months of my freshman year of college. While channel surfing through MTV and ESPN, I came across a beautiful old face swallowed by large glasses and wrapped in a white wimple.
I stopped. I'd never known a nun, let alone seen one in a traditional habit. Her simple outlook on faith kept me hooked. After watching Mother Angelica on television for the past five years, I thought I knew the simple elderly nun who'd shown me the beauty of my Catholic faith. After reading Raymond Arroyo's new biography, I realize how wrong I was. Here is the life of Rita Rizzo weaved into a wonderfully narrative story. It shows her humble and tormented early years, her first miraculous healing, and her radical conversion to live for God. It chronicles many little known facts: her many ailments and healings, her intention to build a Southern monastery for reparation for unjustice to African Americans, her charismatic experiences, her dark night of the soul. Her leap of faith in creating the largest religious communications empire in the world is given its due, but does not overshadow. Arroyo treats Mother as a human being, not a pious, holy card saint. She has doubts, a sense of humor, and a fiery temper. She struggles in her relationship with both parents, clashes with bishops and cardinals over orthodoxy and control of her network, and ultimately undergoes a Vatican investigation. Mother Angelica has lived a life of radical service through love for Her Spouse, Jesus Christ, and His Church. Anyone who knows her only through her television network knows only part of the story. This biography tells it all. And Mother will be seen as an even greater witness to God because of it. Reviewed by Seth Naser |
After the Apple: Women in the Bible:
Stories of Love, Lust, and Longing Naomi Rosenblatt 2013 |
Naomi Harris Rosenblatt is a Jewish psychotherapist who has gained much of her understanding about people from the Bible. As she states, "by portraying life as it is, with all its contradictions and complexities, the Bible has guided me along the path of compassion, empathy, and understanding of others." In "After the Apple: Women in the Bible," she uses the Jewish technique of midrash, reinterpreting Biblical narratives in light of today's circumstances, to delve into the lives of several notable women of the Hebrew Scriptures.
In Rosenblatt's capable hands, these women are three-dimensional. They struggle with decisions and with odds stacked against them. Rosenblatt analyzes their motivation and their influences. None are purely good or purely evil (although Jezebel does come close!) Most of them are simply trying to survive and insure that the Jewish faith will continue to the next generation. Several, including Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel, conceive children late in life, having faced the difficulty of infertility in a world where much of a woman's value was the children she gave her husband. Some such as Leah, Jacob's first wife, and Michal, David's first wife, are stuck in unhappy marriages. While Leah creates her own identity as mother to her children, Michal becomes a bitter woman who seals her own fate when she humiliates the king in public. Later on, another wife of David's, Bathsheba, will exert her influence in having her son Solomon named to the throne to succeed his father. Ruth and Esther are the two women for whom books of the Bible have been named. Both use seduction as a means of getting what they need. Ruth seduces Boaz so that he will take her as his wife and provide support for her and her mother-in-law Naomi. Their great-grandchild is King David. Esther is a member of the Persian king's harem. After one night with her, he decides to make her queen. Ultimately, she will use her influence to prevent the mass killing of all Jews living in Persia. Rosenblatt acknowledges that the biblical scribes (most, if not all, of whom were men) were very sympathetic to women. "The risks they took, their heroism, and their resourcefulness" was recorded in detail. Exploring the lives of the women in "After the Apple" can help us understand our own lives and difficult circumstances more clearly. Reviewed by Patrice Fagnant-Macarthur |
I was fascinated by Barbara Brown Taylor's searchingly honest story of her
struggle between wanting to serve God as an Episcopal priest and
wanting to love God as one of God's beloved children. Doesn't sound as
if the two desires conflict, does it? But in fact they do, and this is
her story of that profoundly wrenching conflict and how she has tried to
resolve it.
Taylor, who as a child fell in love with God as first revealed in the beauty of nature, became a famous preacher and famous writer in the Episcopal Church. She describes how much she loved the people both in and out of church that she served. She also describes how much she loved God, and how the busy-ness of her ministry came between her heart and God. Finally she got to a breaking point, and she chose: she ceased her "professional" ministry and became a college professor of religion. And after a dark night of the soul she found herself where she believes she needs to be -- back in "right relationship" with the Divine. But this all came at a high price. She is quite unsparing in her description of what she's lost as well as what she's gained.
She's also eloquent about the pressures on the Episcopal Church, and sounds a prophetic warning about its future if it continues in the hierarchical way it currently follows.
Reviewed by a reader in Washington DC
Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
Barbara Brown Taylor
2009
Taylor, who as a child fell in love with God as first revealed in the beauty of nature, became a famous preacher and famous writer in the Episcopal Church. She describes how much she loved the people both in and out of church that she served. She also describes how much she loved God, and how the busy-ness of her ministry came between her heart and God. Finally she got to a breaking point, and she chose: she ceased her "professional" ministry and became a college professor of religion. And after a dark night of the soul she found herself where she believes she needs to be -- back in "right relationship" with the Divine. But this all came at a high price. She is quite unsparing in her description of what she's lost as well as what she's gained.
She's also eloquent about the pressures on the Episcopal Church, and sounds a prophetic warning about its future if it continues in the hierarchical way it currently follows.
Reviewed by a reader in Washington DC
Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
Barbara Brown Taylor
2009
When Jennifer stood in a Catholic Church on
Easter 2007, preparing to become Catholic, there was hardly a more
unlikely convert. Born and raised in a skeptical home, which valued Carl
Sagan more than Jesus, Jennifer developed an ardent atheism. She
rejected God, mocked religion, promoted abortion, and chased happiness
above all through pleasure, work, money, and partying. But then
she met Joe. Joe was brilliant. He had multiple degrees from Ivy League
institutions and was rapidly climbing the corporate ladder. Yet,
strangely, he identified as a Christian. "How could such a smart man
believe something so ridiculous?" Jennifer wondered.
That led her to rigorously examine the claims of Christianity, if only to prove them wrong. She gorged on books. She frequented online comment boxes and discussion boards. She even started a blog which invited Christians to counter her atheism. This painstaking research, combined with difficult questions about meaning, death, and existence, slowly led Jennifer to believe that God existed, and even more that Jesus was God in the flesh. Though obviously troubling, she could have accepted this "mere Christianity" and moved on. But after exploring many Protestant churches, she distressingly realized that the evidence was pushing her toward a far more unsettling destination: the Catholic Church.
Smart, inspiring, and absorbing, Jennifer's book will go down as one of the best spiritual memoirs since "Mere Christianity." It will lift her to her rightful place alongside Augustine and Lewis, troubled converts, talented memoirists, and courageous intellects who each followed the truth to its beautiful and unsettling conclusion. Reviewed by B Vogt
That led her to rigorously examine the claims of Christianity, if only to prove them wrong. She gorged on books. She frequented online comment boxes and discussion boards. She even started a blog which invited Christians to counter her atheism. This painstaking research, combined with difficult questions about meaning, death, and existence, slowly led Jennifer to believe that God existed, and even more that Jesus was God in the flesh. Though obviously troubling, she could have accepted this "mere Christianity" and moved on. But after exploring many Protestant churches, she distressingly realized that the evidence was pushing her toward a far more unsettling destination: the Catholic Church.
Smart, inspiring, and absorbing, Jennifer's book will go down as one of the best spiritual memoirs since "Mere Christianity." It will lift her to her rightful place alongside Augustine and Lewis, troubled converts, talented memoirists, and courageous intellects who each followed the truth to its beautiful and unsettling conclusion. Reviewed by B Vogt
Something Other than God
Jennifer Fulviller
2014
Jennifer Fulviller
2014
Small Victories: Spotting
Improbable Moments of Grace Anne Lamott 2014 |
"Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace" is a collection of new essays and selected pieces from Anne's older books. Through these essays Anne assures us that we can prevail over the pain and suffering in our lives, and that these small victories change us--for the better--along the way. While the stories she tells are about her own life, so much of what Anne writes resonates with me. (I went through almost a whole pad of Sticky Notes marking passages I don't want to forget.) Her take on the world is so refreshing and she writes about spirituality without making you feel like you're being hit over the head with a Bible.
For example, in "Forgiven" Anne writes: "The Scripture reading came from the sixth chapter of Luke: 'Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.' Now, try as I might, I cannot find a loophole in that. It does not say, 'Forgive everyone, unless they've said something rude about your child.' And it doesn't even say, 'Just try.' It says, If you want to be forgiven, if you want to experience that kind of love, you have to forgive everyone in your life--everyone, even the very worst boyfriend you ever had--even, for God's sake, yourself." Amen, Anne. You will find yourself thinking hard about a lot of lines/passages in this book. In "Trail Ducks," I found myself reading this line over and over again: "Getting found almost always means being lost for a while." In "Dad," this one really hit home: "Addicts and alcoholics will tell you that their recovery began when they woke up in pitiful and degraded enough shape to take Step Zero, which is: 'This s*** has got to stop.'" Of all the amazing words in "Small Victories," though, I think this passage from "Mom--Part One: Noraht" might be my favorite: "Grace means suddenly you're in a different universe from the one where you were stuck, and there was absolutely no way for you to get there on your own. When it happens--when you stop hating--you really have to pinch yourself." In "Market Street," Anne describes how she feels after praying: "I don't feel so alone. I feel better." That's exactly how I feel after reading an Anne Lamott book. And "Small Victories" is no exception. Thank you, Anne Lamott. Your words heal me and your books are like little treasures. "Small Victories" is no exception. It's a little first-aid kit between two covers. Reviewed by Deanokat |
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Devotion
Dani Shapiro 2010 |
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It’s hard to imagine anyone more perfectly positioned in history than the chameleon-like Indra Devi, rightly credited in Michelle Goldberg’s exhilarating new biography, THE GODDESS POSE, with pioneering yoga as a physically, socially and spiritually acceptable discipline in the Western world.
Born at the close of the 19th century (1899), living at her famous frantic pace throughout the entire 20th century, and dying almost serenely at the dawn of the 21st (2002), Devi witnessed virtually every major conflict, cultural phenomenon and political upheaval of what arguably has been the most turbulent era in global history. And she did so on no fewer than four continents.
Born in Latvia into the Russian minor nobility and periodically reinventing herself through half-a-dozen name and career changes, as well as numerous geographical moves (she was technically a stateless person for much of her life), the complex woman who ultimately identified as Indra Devi didn’t achieve sustained success as a proponent and teacher of yoga until she was almost a senior citizen. At a
time of life when many career professionals --- especially those in the physical arts --- are gearing down into well-earned retirement, Devi was relentlessly immersed in the American celebrity lecture circuit and teaching brand-name stars like Greta Garbo and Marilyn Monroe in her Hollywood studio.
Finding your personal and public groove in late middle age is perhaps not as unusual for “zoomers,” the actively elder baby-boomer (post-1945) generation that exerts so much financial and political clout these days. But as Goldberg, an award-winning investigative journalist and initially underwhelmed yoga student, recognizes throughout THE GODDESS POSE, Devi was consistently atypical of her own era. She attracted attention in exotic and unusual (sometimes even potentially dangerous) contexts by living as an extreme definition of the pre-feminist “free spirit.”
To her credit as a diligent and meticulous author (don’t overlook the impressive volume of source notes closing her book), Goldberg does not take any easy roads through yoga history and fashion; nor does she pose, goddess-like or not, as an expert on the relative merits of yoga’s several dozen classic postures, or asanas. Instead, within the context of Devi’s own exploratory life and times, she offers readers an even-handed sampling of representative leading lights, trends and opinions through which Devi was influenced, and from which she eventually developed her own philosophy and esthetic. In other words, if you want to learn in detail about the many gurus, sources, branches, styles and practices of yoga, you want another book, not this one.
Reviewed by Bookrecorder
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I have read all of Kate Braestrup's book and up until this one, her first book, Here If You Need Me: A True Story, was my favorite. This one, however, touched me deeply. In between relating stories about the accidents and deaths she and her fellow Maine Wardens have to deal with, Braestrup intertwines her own experiences as a mother, wife, and chaplain. And all of these stories are ones that any parent, (any person, really ) who has ever cared for and worried about another human being can identify with. No one is immune from life's heartaches, but God's grace and love helps us muddle through. I have already recommended this book to friends and family.
Reviewed by Poem girl |
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Anchors and Flares
Kate Braestrup
2015
Kate Braestrup
2015
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What opened my heart—from the first paragraph---was the author’s personal story told with such a clear and honest voice. What expanded my mind was the scientific research that she brought to the table. As she moves into acceptance of her extraordinary experiences, she knocks on the doors of scientists, searching for deeper understanding. The Hand on the Mirror weaves science with the ethereal----opening the space between head and heart, between left brain and right brain, between intuition and analysis. It is a compelling read for both believers and skeptics. This is a bold, courageous book. It steps into territory not often comfortably discussed in our culture. It opens the door for those of us who may fear ridicule if we share our beyond-the-physical world experiences. It liberates us and gives us a voice. And most of all, it reminds us that love has no boundaries. Here’s my advice: Buy the book now. Stay open. Stay calm and read on. Be prepared to burn the midnight oil. Reviewed by Rosemary Cody |
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Eric Metaxas's latest book, "7 Women and the Secret of Their Greatness", is a collection of mini-biographies of seven women selected from various periods in history. He includes Joan of Arc, Susanna Wesley, Hannah More, Saint Maria of Paris, Corrie ten Boom, Rosa Parks, and Mother Teresa. Metaxas writes in an utterly captivating way and truly brings these women to life on the page. At the start of this book, the only woman I really knew much about was Corrie ten Boom, thanks to reading her book, "The Hiding Place", earlier this year. I had only a small amount of knowledge regarding the other women (including one I had never heard of before). After slowly making my way through the extraordinary stories of these ordinary women, I am blown away by how they allowed themselves to be used by God for great purposes. My personal favorites to read about were Hannah More, Saint Maria of Paris, and Corrie ten Boom. By writing about these women in this book and the men from "7 Men", Metaxas gives us a wonderful gift. In our world gone crazy, we need to learn from these figures who have done amazing and mighty things simply by being available to be used by God for His glory and good purposes. Every man and woman should read and learn from the stories captured in these two books. What wonderful stories to share with our children to give them true heroes to look up to. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Reviewed by Nomer15 |
Seven Women
Eric Metakas
2015
Eric Metakas
2015
Surprised by Oxford
Carolyn Weber 2011 |
Carolyn Weber's beautifully penned memoir of her personal faith journey is a delight to read. Her descriptions of Oxford are enough to make any Anglophile salivate. As a professor of English literature and an expert in the Romantic poets, she intersperses snippets of classic poetry throughout. Her ongoing references to the poetry of John Donne and John Milton especially captured my attention, their insights having been instrumental in my own spiritual walk. In the end, I want to dust off the Norton anthologies saved from my own college lit classes and immerse myself once more.
When the author is awarded a full scholarship to do graduate work at Oxford University's Balliol College, she hasn't an inkling of the path on which she is setting out. In the company of her colleagues and friends, and spurred on by one particular theology student who lives across the hall, she explores the deep, existential questions that have nagged her for years. For the first time in her life she reads a Bible--what she says is "the most compelling piece of creative nonfiction I had ever read. If I sat around for thousands of years, I could never come up with what it proposes, let alone with how intricately Genesis unfolds toward Revelation." Following in the footsteps of C.S. Lewis, the truth of God's Word eventually leads her first to believe in God and ultimately to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Carolyn's journey unfurls as a twofold romance: even as she is being courted by the Divine Lover, she is also courted by "TDH" (Tall, Dark, & Handsome). Conversations with this particular lover of God (and with other friends, both believers and non-believers) serve as the catalyst for her search. The questions had always been there; TDH challenges her to finally seek hard after the answers. Reviewed by Proof Rock |
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Accidental Saints is like reading a combination of David Sedaris, Anne Lamott and Jesus Calling. Bolz-Weber has an interesting, entertaining and at times inspiring voice as she writes something of a spiritual memoir here. It is does revolve around the author; she is confessional and reflective. At times, she is self-deprecating and humble; while, at other times, she is bold and assertive.
Bolz-Weber writes as a Christian pastor, so the book is inherently pastoral, theological and spiritual. She shares meaningful stories and is most appealing when being brutally honest and vulnerable in her own communications and relationships with God and others. Her interactions with people are strikingly moving in myriad ways. As she opens up her story to readers, readers are naturally led to examine themselves and their own spiritual and relational stories. As a pastor myself, I found that Bolz-Weber’s honest descriptions about thoughts, attitudes and questioning as a pastor resonated deeply with me. In her words, I could hear so many of my own struggles verbalized: “Am I doing this right?” “Should I be feeling this way?” “God help!” She ultimately expresses the deep desire shared by so many pastors to share the love of Jesus in the best way to the most people. Conversely, we don’t want to lead people astray, shut people out of the kingdom, or weigh them down with unnecessary burdens. In this line of writing, I think this is a helpful book to pastors to get a grip on our desperation to serve God and be the pastor the people need. She writes that she likes to say with her church that “we are religious and not spiritual.” I love that! Reviewed by Craig Stephans |
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"Kee tov. It is good." I opened this delicious book at 11 pm for a quick glance and didn't put it down until I got to the last page. What a beautiful exploration of family bonds, adoption, Judaism, anxiety, race and love. Adoption books are not so hard to come by and as an adoptive mom I've got most of them in the house -- It was a real joy to find a book focusing on transracial adoption from a jewish perspective -- that is very hard to come by and much appreciated. I can't recommend the book highly enough. You know the cliche "I laughed, I cried, it became part of me"? That. And the author's note on The Global State of Adoption was top notch too. The only thing I didn't like is that it kept me up until 1 am because I couldn't make myself put it down.
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Casting Lots
Susan Silverman
2016
The Prison Angel
Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan 2006 |
Mary Clarke - an Irish beauty who grew up in Beverly Hills with neighbors including William Powell, Spencer Tracy, and Dinah Shore; married at age 19; divorced twice; successfully ran her father's company as a single mom of seven - now serves a "life sentence" in Tijuana's La Mesa prison. Clarke's journey from affluence to living in a prison cell "with rats, nasty smells, and nastier graffiti" is detailed in a captivating and inspiring book, "The Prison Angel," by authors Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan.
This is no ordinary story as Clarke's "life sentence" was a choice...a choice by her to leave a comfortable world and a family to live with and serve people nobody goes near, those suffering in prison - the poor unable to afford a good defense, those serving unjust sentences, those brutally beaten by guards and other inmates. Today, still a "beauty" at age 84, Clarke is known worldwide as Mother Antonia (La Madre Antonia), "The Prison Angel," a woman who has inspired millions over 33 years with her message of forgiveness and inclusion, and "her supernatural" goodness and love. Mother Antonia felt she was at a crossroads in life while still in her forties. Her kids were just about out of the house and she was being drawn to works of charity. She inquired about becoming a nun but found that religious orders were only interested in young women. She felt that closing the door to older women who wanted to devote their lives to serving the Church just seemed wrong and later would change this. Two priests influenced her direction. Monsignor Anthony (her name Antonia honors him) Brouwers who was devoted to missionary causes told her "Mary, your love for the poor is supernatural." And Fr. Henry Vetter, a priest from Pasadena, who did missionary work in Mexico, introduced her to La Mesa in 1965. She came to believe she was meant for La Mesa, and in 1977, drove to La Mesa, walked through the prison gate carrying a blanket, a pillow, a Spanish dictionary, and a Bible. She never left. Jordan and Sullivan fill the book with stories of her befriending inmates, guards, wardens, police chiefs, DEA agents, Army generals, and even Benjamin Arellano Felix, one of Mexico's most notorious drug traffickers; of her cajoling doctors and surgeons to travel from San Diego to correct vision, fix teeth, and even perform plastic surgery: and of her establishing a "San Diego-Le Mesa caravan" to deliver truckloads of supplies (soap, shampoos, mattresses) for inmates, their families, and....the guards. Those who have met Mother Antonia say "She gets under your skin and she changes you." And "she is the happiest person I have ever met." As for Mother Antonia, "I have been upset, angry, and sad, but never depressed or regretful, because I have a reason for being...I wouldn't trade my cell for anyplace in the world." Mother Antonia learned early in life from her father and the Holocaust that no one should stand by silently in the face of suffering. Her remarkable example will serve as constant reminder and invitation to perfection, to holiness. Reviewed by T Loarie |
Threading My Prayer Rug 2016 Sabeeha Rehman |
I enjoyed her story. Learning about Islam as well as Pakastani culture was what I hoped for, and what I got. We need more Muslims in America to share their stories, so that others will get to 'know' them...to understand that we are all human beings, hoping for the best and living our lives the best we know how. Thank you for sharing your journey.
Reviewed by pgatesw |
Searching for Sunday Rachel Evans 2015 |
If you're a Christian who has loved the church, left the church, switched churches, are between churches, are unsure if you ever want to go back to church again, or if you know someone who sounds like this... this book is for you. This book is for everyone, actually - and perhaps especially those who have grown too comfortable with the status quo, slides too easily into the rote activities of church life without feeling challenged by the Holy Spirit to reach and love and grow further. Basically, this book is for everyone. Rachel Held Evans is funny, raw, and honest, and turns the microscope on herself just as often as she does on the Church. You will find here a poignantly honest book meant to embolden us to speak truth to power in our churches, and try to find our Sunday again.
Reviewed by Kat |
River of Fire Helen Prejean 2019 |
I loved this book! Sister Helen was authentic, vulnerable, generous and sometimes painfully honest in this story of her development and coming of "sage." For all her early assuredness, she was always open to learning and feeling new things. She kept an welcoming heart as well as an open mind. She let herself be raw and earthy; simple and complex. I'm so grateful for this precious and priceless sharing of lessons from a life well lived. Thank you, Sister.
Reviewed by Lukin |
To Heaven and Back Mary Neal 2012 |
At first, I was having a real hard time with this book, especially after reading several other books on near death experiences. It's a bit of a slog through the first half. She spent a lot of time talking about her family, her job, and her experiences as a Christian. It wasn't until she finally talked about her near death in South America, that things got interesting. There isn't a lot of memory for her concerning her visitation to heaven...but there is a lot about what this visit did to change her life. Dr. Neal talks about her continuing talks with either an angel or God about why things happened, and what she should do. She apparently was comforted when her own son passed away after her own accident.
This book really doesn't spend a lot of time with information about heaven, if that's what you are looking for. But if you want a book that adds to your own understanding about our relationship with God, this book is a good read. She writes well, and the last half of the book made it worth it for me. One takeaway from this book, is our Heavenly Father is very aware of us as individuals, and that He cares about us. I think right now with everything that is happening in the world people need to understand this...but you need to make the first step. Reviwed by K.L Sadler |
Kat does a beautiful job presenting deep theological concepts, woman focused exegesis, and honoring those that have come before her. The interlacing of words in Spanish throughout the book is beautiful. This book is healing and eyeopening. I don't think there was a page that I read that I didn't highlight a phrase that hit home. Kat's voice is one that we all need to be aware of to help broaden our perspective on what God is and how He works in our midst.
Reviewed by Vannia G
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Abuelita Faith
Kat Armas
2021
Wholehearted Faith Rachel Held Evans 2021 |
I was surprised to discover Rachel Held Evans had another book to share with us following her sudden death a couple of years ago. Many have lamented her tragic loss when we thought she would write so many more books and lead many more conferences and continue encouraging and edifying readers and fans for years to come. This posthumous volume is simultaneously delightful and sad, an encouraging example of what a wonderful writer she was and a heartbreaking reminder of what we have lost.
This book is further proof that Evans was among the best of us, and articulated so well what many of us in the Evolving Faith community think and feel and wish that we could find the words for. She speaks for us and and does it so thoughtfully, beautifully, and with such good humor. I’m inspired to go back and re-read her previous work to continue experiencing the joy that she shared with us. Reviewed by David Jordan 84 |