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brandifox's review
Poetic and at times painful. A beautiful meditation on a world and faith tradition that is not my own but that is full of wisdom and goodness we all need to wrestle with. You don’t have to agree, but it is good to listen.
pattydsf's review
5.0
Written August 2022, edited Janary 4, 2023
“What I have witnessed in small, aging, and even declining churches across the nation is that true worship distills the power of death and restores life. Healing and joy and catharsis and fellowship and music and laughter and singing are all life-giving. On Sunday mornings, in thousands of unassuming places across this country, there are moments of true worship in which spirit and truth restore the breath of life to those who far too often live on the edges of death. True worship begins first with us showing up and being fully present in the moment. As noisy and chaotic as that small church may seemed, sitting there is worship with the was the first time that week I had felt connected and seen – not just in my role as the preacher for the morning but as a beloved daughter of God.”
I know that I will never remember to write down where I get my book suggestions. I keep lamenting this failure of mine, but I don’t fix it. This book was such a good read, I would like to thank someone for the recommendation.
Instead, I will thank Dr. Pierce for giving me a glimpse of a world I will never enter. My grandmothers were religious, but not like Dr. Pierce’s. She had someone I can only read about.
Books that teach me about others’ lives and experiences are vital to my learning. This book taught me so much about my faith and about G!d. I would like to have some friends read it so that I could talk about the way Dr. Pierce and her grandmother understand Christianity. This is a life affirming, blest book.
I am grateful that Dr. Pierce shared so much of herself.
“What I have witnessed in small, aging, and even declining churches across the nation is that true worship distills the power of death and restores life. Healing and joy and catharsis and fellowship and music and laughter and singing are all life-giving. On Sunday mornings, in thousands of unassuming places across this country, there are moments of true worship in which spirit and truth restore the breath of life to those who far too often live on the edges of death. True worship begins first with us showing up and being fully present in the moment. As noisy and chaotic as that small church may seemed, sitting there is worship with the was the first time that week I had felt connected and seen – not just in my role as the preacher for the morning but as a beloved daughter of God.”
I know that I will never remember to write down where I get my book suggestions. I keep lamenting this failure of mine, but I don’t fix it. This book was such a good read, I would like to thank someone for the recommendation.
Instead, I will thank Dr. Pierce for giving me a glimpse of a world I will never enter. My grandmothers were religious, but not like Dr. Pierce’s. She had someone I can only read about.
Books that teach me about others’ lives and experiences are vital to my learning. This book taught me so much about my faith and about G!d. I would like to have some friends read it so that I could talk about the way Dr. Pierce and her grandmother understand Christianity. This is a life affirming, blest book.
I am grateful that Dr. Pierce shared so much of herself.
soundslikeashley's review
5.0
So far, this is my favorite book I've read in 2021. I grew up in the Holiness-Pentecostal church and this is the first time I've read a contemporary book from a Black woman about the experience.
Dr. Pierce gives a beautiful glimpse into her world growing up in the faith, the women like her grandmother who helped to guide her, and the epiphanies she's had about her faith and personal theology.
I was especially struck by how deftly Dr. Pierce described sacraments and symbolism - separating tradition from worthiness of God's love and grace. I was also moved by the way in which she honors her ancestors by speaking their names in a world that would just as soon forget and bury them.
Her description of foot washing services at church hit home with me because I, too, REALLY disliked them growing up. Reading her later interpretation of the ritual gave me a whole new outlook.
In all, this book, has been incredibly helpful to me as someone who identifies simply as Christian as opposed to the Pentecostalism of my upbringing because it empowered me to continue building out my personal theology. It introduced the mere IDEA of a personal theology. This book helped to loosen some of the shackles of legalism that had been holding me down and it is helping me to further embrace the roots and Blackness of my faith as part of my relationship with God.
I recommend this book to any Black women who grew up in stricter denominations of Christianity who are searching for God in a new way. I recommend this book to any Black women who are struggling with what meat to eat, what bones to throw away of their childhood religion and what new meals they can make for themselves with a new personal faith.
Thank you so much, Dr. Pierce.
Dr. Pierce gives a beautiful glimpse into her world growing up in the faith, the women like her grandmother who helped to guide her, and the epiphanies she's had about her faith and personal theology.
I was especially struck by how deftly Dr. Pierce described sacraments and symbolism - separating tradition from worthiness of God's love and grace. I was also moved by the way in which she honors her ancestors by speaking their names in a world that would just as soon forget and bury them.
Her description of foot washing services at church hit home with me because I, too, REALLY disliked them growing up. Reading her later interpretation of the ritual gave me a whole new outlook.
In all, this book, has been incredibly helpful to me as someone who identifies simply as Christian as opposed to the Pentecostalism of my upbringing because it empowered me to continue building out my personal theology. It introduced the mere IDEA of a personal theology. This book helped to loosen some of the shackles of legalism that had been holding me down and it is helping me to further embrace the roots and Blackness of my faith as part of my relationship with God.
I recommend this book to any Black women who grew up in stricter denominations of Christianity who are searching for God in a new way. I recommend this book to any Black women who are struggling with what meat to eat, what bones to throw away of their childhood religion and what new meals they can make for themselves with a new personal faith.
Thank you so much, Dr. Pierce.
scrow1022's review
5.0
Beautiful and moving, wrenching often. Powerful explication of womanist theology.
stephanieridiculous's review
5.0
What a gift. Pierce shares such a tender, vulnerable, and touching reflection of her upbringing. I cried several times I was so moved by her conviction and love. What a beautiful and powerful faith & I am glad she chose to share it with us all. 💕
lmwanak's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
5.0
A gorgeous read. Pierce reflects on what it means to walk in the tension of being a Black womanist Christian by giving honor to the women who helped raise her in the church and the reasons for their strictness. My takeaway is that it is all right to both love and critique the church and that God's holiness appears in that tension.