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erlenzi's review against another edition
5.0
Sarah writes with such beauty and candor and somehow manages to balance the two. She challenges you in the best way possible and invites you to embrace the unknown and the uncomfortable. This book is for anyone who has struggled with the Church and their evolving faith but still wants to live their life pursuing Jesus. It is an assurance and a balm and a benediction.
harridansstew's review against another edition
2.0
Ehh, I wanted to like this book more than I did. It was evident in the first couple of chapters that this was part of what I think is a continuing problem with blogger-written books: they simply aren't well-written.
The underlying point of this book is spot on, however, and I think it dances around it with varying degrees of deftness and awkwardness that I wish were more coherent.
The underlying point of this book is spot on, however, and I think it dances around it with varying degrees of deftness and awkwardness that I wish were more coherent.
deniser821's review against another edition
4.0
I absolutely loved this book. I feel like Sarah Bessey is my kindred spirit as she believes very similarly to me. I enjoyed reading about her faith journey and how she came to resolve her faith with her political beliefs. She is well versed in scripture and everything she write of is biblically sound and supported.
pattydsf's review
4.0
“One of the great surprises of the Church is the space to ask questions. Sure, there are some places and communities where that isn’t true; but in the Church overall, there is likely room for you—room to learn and change. And then to learn you’re not alone. We have company for the journey. There is a long legacy of troublemakers and question askers; there’s a lot more room than we think.”
I am once again grateful to Bessey for writing about things that I should already know. When I read her book Jesus Feminist, I bemoaned the fact that we have to keep revisiting ideas that we have already dealt with. Or to be more accurate, I have already dealt with in my life. Revisiting is really a necessary part of life and so I should not have been quite as hard on Bessey as I was. All of this is a reminder that learning and repeating the lessons is also how we humans work. We have to figure stuff out and then later figure it out again.
When reading this book, I was more receptive to her ideas even though I have been through similar ideas in my life. We live in a world where most people prefer black and white ideas. Unfortunately, the world is not either or. Many things evolve in our lives and hopefully faith is one of those things that grow and change. Bessey says, “If our theology doesn't shift and change over our lifetimes, then I have to wonder if we're paying attention.” I wholeheartedly agree with her.
If you are a faithful person, but not sure where that faith is taking you, you may want to find this book. Even if you are sure you know where you are headed, Bessey is a good writer and what she has to say may still be useful to you. She will give most people of faith something to think about.
I am once again grateful to Bessey for writing about things that I should already know. When I read her book Jesus Feminist, I bemoaned the fact that we have to keep revisiting ideas that we have already dealt with. Or to be more accurate, I have already dealt with in my life. Revisiting is really a necessary part of life and so I should not have been quite as hard on Bessey as I was. All of this is a reminder that learning and repeating the lessons is also how we humans work. We have to figure stuff out and then later figure it out again.
When reading this book, I was more receptive to her ideas even though I have been through similar ideas in my life. We live in a world where most people prefer black and white ideas. Unfortunately, the world is not either or. Many things evolve in our lives and hopefully faith is one of those things that grow and change. Bessey says, “If our theology doesn't shift and change over our lifetimes, then I have to wonder if we're paying attention.” I wholeheartedly agree with her.
If you are a faithful person, but not sure where that faith is taking you, you may want to find this book. Even if you are sure you know where you are headed, Bessey is a good writer and what she has to say may still be useful to you. She will give most people of faith something to think about.
itsautumntime9's review against another edition
5.0
May we be...the ones who hold our opinions loosely and yet love ferociously.
But I had to learn that taking the Bible seriously doesn’t mean taking everything literally.
Anyone who gets to the end of their life with the exact same beliefs and opinions as they had at the beginning is doing it wrong.
I believe our most sacred moments are often our most human moments.
There is a natural curiosity that is inherent to children. I think it's a bit dishonest to use, 'Have faith like a child,' an a way to shut a person down. Like, somehow, it means we're not supposed to wonder, we're just supposed to accept. Now that I have a house full of small humanity, I think I'm beginning to understand why Jesus would encourage us to have faith like a child.
They don't know. And so they ask.
We don't know. And so we ask.
I pray for bravery and guts, for honesty and discernment. I know you have a lot to lose - we all do when we lay down our certainties and our black-and-white thinking.
Jesus remains. He is worth it all. He is under the steeples and in the wilderness. He is in the megachurch and in the spiritual conversation at the bar. He inhabits our certainty and also our doubt. He is every good thing that ever was or will be, and He is still in the business of saving our lives. Really, that’s the thing. It is our hope and salvation, and everything else is just details.
Whether it's racism, patriarchy, warmongering, greed, or child trafficking, it's counter to God's Kingdom. But the people caught in those systems are rarely the enemies; often they are just as caught, as longing for a rescue as the rest of us. We don't battle against flesh and blood, not really, but against the powers and principalities that hold us all captive.
There are a lot of Jesuses running around these days. There is the Jesus who wants you to find a good parking spot at the mall. There is the Jesus invoked at music awards, and the one raised like a flag to celebrate capitalism and affluence. There is the Jesus drawing lines about who is in and who is out. And there is the Jesus on both sides of the picket lines. There is the one in the slums, and the one in suburbia, and the one in Africa, and the one in America, and the one in Calgary. There is the Jesus who told Mother Theresa to touch the lepers and love with her hands. There is the one who lead the bravest and kindest of men and women all the way to the end. And then there is the Jesus who supposedly inspired manifestos of hate, crusades, murder, and wars. And then there is the Jesus who likes everything you like, and hates everything, or everyone, you hate and is quite pleased with everything about you. I like that Jesus best sometimes.
After all, the Israelites saw God in tribal ways. How else would they experience God but within their unique place and time?
The Bible is the story of God told from the limited point of view of real people living at a certain place and time...These ancient writers had an adequate understanding of God for them in their time, but not for all of time.
I don't want to be swallowed by the darkness. Nor do I want to be blinded by the beautiful facade. No, I want to be part of a people who see the darkness, know it's real, and then, then, then, light a candle anyway. And hold that candle up against the wind and pass along our light wherever it's needed from our own homes to the halls of legislation to the church pulpit to the kitchens of the world.
Set out, pilgrim. Set out into the freedom and the wandering. Find your people. God is much bigger, wilder, more generous, and more wonderful than you imagined.
But I had to learn that taking the Bible seriously doesn’t mean taking everything literally.
Anyone who gets to the end of their life with the exact same beliefs and opinions as they had at the beginning is doing it wrong.
I believe our most sacred moments are often our most human moments.
There is a natural curiosity that is inherent to children. I think it's a bit dishonest to use, 'Have faith like a child,' an a way to shut a person down. Like, somehow, it means we're not supposed to wonder, we're just supposed to accept. Now that I have a house full of small humanity, I think I'm beginning to understand why Jesus would encourage us to have faith like a child.
They don't know. And so they ask.
We don't know. And so we ask.
I pray for bravery and guts, for honesty and discernment. I know you have a lot to lose - we all do when we lay down our certainties and our black-and-white thinking.
Jesus remains. He is worth it all. He is under the steeples and in the wilderness. He is in the megachurch and in the spiritual conversation at the bar. He inhabits our certainty and also our doubt. He is every good thing that ever was or will be, and He is still in the business of saving our lives. Really, that’s the thing. It is our hope and salvation, and everything else is just details.
Whether it's racism, patriarchy, warmongering, greed, or child trafficking, it's counter to God's Kingdom. But the people caught in those systems are rarely the enemies; often they are just as caught, as longing for a rescue as the rest of us. We don't battle against flesh and blood, not really, but against the powers and principalities that hold us all captive.
There are a lot of Jesuses running around these days. There is the Jesus who wants you to find a good parking spot at the mall. There is the Jesus invoked at music awards, and the one raised like a flag to celebrate capitalism and affluence. There is the Jesus drawing lines about who is in and who is out. And there is the Jesus on both sides of the picket lines. There is the one in the slums, and the one in suburbia, and the one in Africa, and the one in America, and the one in Calgary. There is the Jesus who told Mother Theresa to touch the lepers and love with her hands. There is the one who lead the bravest and kindest of men and women all the way to the end. And then there is the Jesus who supposedly inspired manifestos of hate, crusades, murder, and wars. And then there is the Jesus who likes everything you like, and hates everything, or everyone, you hate and is quite pleased with everything about you. I like that Jesus best sometimes.
After all, the Israelites saw God in tribal ways. How else would they experience God but within their unique place and time?
The Bible is the story of God told from the limited point of view of real people living at a certain place and time...These ancient writers had an adequate understanding of God for them in their time, but not for all of time.
I don't want to be swallowed by the darkness. Nor do I want to be blinded by the beautiful facade. No, I want to be part of a people who see the darkness, know it's real, and then, then, then, light a candle anyway. And hold that candle up against the wind and pass along our light wherever it's needed from our own homes to the halls of legislation to the church pulpit to the kitchens of the world.
Set out, pilgrim. Set out into the freedom and the wandering. Find your people. God is much bigger, wilder, more generous, and more wonderful than you imagined.
sincerelyme_dani's review
4.0
A beautiful story of wrestling and wondering.
“I pray that you would embrace your place in the body of Christ; your right to learn and test. Your right to read and explore. I know it sometimes seems as is there is more room for wonder and delight, beauty and mystery and grandeur in astrophysics than there is in religion. That’s because religion tells us that it’s all figured out. There’s nothing left to learn. Here are the answers, so let’s learn them. But instead, I pray you would be an explorer. That you would recover delight, wonder, and curiosity about your faith, about God, and about the story with which you continue to wrestle. I pray that the Bible would capture your heart again.”
“I pray that you would embrace your place in the body of Christ; your right to learn and test. Your right to read and explore. I know it sometimes seems as is there is more room for wonder and delight, beauty and mystery and grandeur in astrophysics than there is in religion. That’s because religion tells us that it’s all figured out. There’s nothing left to learn. Here are the answers, so let’s learn them. But instead, I pray you would be an explorer. That you would recover delight, wonder, and curiosity about your faith, about God, and about the story with which you continue to wrestle. I pray that the Bible would capture your heart again.”
awalker313's review against another edition
4.0
This book is one woman’s reflections on her faith that is similar to a lot of others who are disillusioned with evangelicalism or at least aspects of it. There are so many quotable lines in this book that help me articulate my own thoughts and where I am in my faith. Bessey’s experience is not exactly like mine, and there were a few sentences that I did not agree with, but these are minimal (and how much I agree with a book shouldn’t dictate my evaluation of it anyway). One idea that I especially appreciate is Bessey’s claim that while Christians may find a home in one tradition, different Christian traditions have something to learn from each other. I recommend this book to anyone uncertain about how to proceed with their faith, especially for women with evangelical backgrounds.
allisonbuzard's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
smbcoffee's review against another edition
4.0
There were so many things I related to in this book, from the author’s religious upbringing and her college years to her struggles with pregnancy loss. Overall, we have ended up in different places in our faith journeys, but I loved this book and shed some much-needed tears while reading.