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4.47 AVERAGE
4.47 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
FIELD NOTES FOR THE WILDERNESS: PRACTICES FOR AN EVOLVING FAITH by Sarah Bessy is a timely read. Bessey offers a guide for anyone who may be deconstructing their faith (both given the polarization of that term as of late and to offer what she finds as a more precise understanding, Bessey prefers to couch it in terms of an evolving faith).
Bessey is quick to state that the wilderness believers may find themselves in, often after trauma or grief, cannot be navigated in just one way; her experience need not be yours. However, she offers gentle guidance and support from one who has found herself in the wilderness.
With an emphasis on giving kindness to yourself and others, she reminds us that we need to "journey toward" and not just practice being against things. She encourages us to seek out the good fruit around us as a guide to future joy.
I found this a welcome read from one who has had to process her own sadness and loss after finding the churches and/or leaders who may have shaped your faith and beliefs have now become unrecognizable in their alignments. Instead of stepping away entirely from faith, Bessey offers an example of centering on what we know to be true and meaningful and discovering what may be ahead of us.
(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
All you need is a warm beverage and a warm blanket to cozy up and be held in the warm embrace of this book. Sarah is such a lovely, gentle and trustworthy guide. I only wish I’d had this when I first wandered into the wilderness.
Early in my journey of reconstructing my faith, I found voices in the wilderness to guide me. Rachel Held Evans. Jeff Chu. Kate Bowler. And Sarah Bessey. All spoke to the lost, confused, and floundering soul that needed to hear she wasn't alone, and somehow Sarah Bessey was the one who felt the most approachable. I have read and rejoiced in all of her work, but Field Notes for the Wilderness is something special.
Field Notes contains some of what her followers have been requesting for a long time. Do you stay or do you move on? What do you keep and what do you throw away? How exactly do you work out what you believe now? Make no mistake, Bessey doesn't have the answers, but she has processes. A self-confessed "expert at faithfully stumbling forward," Bessey shares multiple principles to use when living with an evolving faith like cultivating hope when it feels impossible, telling yourself the truth and learning to lament when you need to, going slowly on purpose cause it can be hard to wait for answers, and giving yourself permission to be happy. And most importantly, she's there to remind you that you can't escape God's love and that it is more beautiful, more expansive, and more beautiful than you ever knew.
So thankful for this book and for Sarah.
Field Notes contains some of what her followers have been requesting for a long time. Do you stay or do you move on? What do you keep and what do you throw away? How exactly do you work out what you believe now? Make no mistake, Bessey doesn't have the answers, but she has processes. A self-confessed "expert at faithfully stumbling forward," Bessey shares multiple principles to use when living with an evolving faith like cultivating hope when it feels impossible, telling yourself the truth and learning to lament when you need to, going slowly on purpose cause it can be hard to wait for answers, and giving yourself permission to be happy. And most importantly, she's there to remind you that you can't escape God's love and that it is more beautiful, more expansive, and more beautiful than you ever knew.
So thankful for this book and for Sarah.
challenging
inspiring
reflective
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Loved this, would buy a hard copy to reread