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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
Not a book I would ordinarily pick up but a Book Rioter raved about it. Too much religion for me and I really need to read something that isn't about grief.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Lots of interesting reflections on life and death from a woman who became a Unitarian minister after her husband, a police officer, who was also training to be a Unitarian minister was killed in an accident. A mother of four and a chaplain to the game wardens in Maine (her job is to support wardens in the line of duty, families of people missing in the woods, etc), Braestrup has interesting stories and thoughts to share here. The book is well-written, though a little dated in some ways, since it came out in 2007, and lacks nuanced perspectives on topics like white supremacy and colonialism in discussions on policing and land.
Witty, wry, and wise, Kate Braestrup's memoir about how the death of her beloved husband eventually led to her becoming a minister. She does not preach at the reader. She just talks about her own experiences, human, detailed, utterly compassionate, infinitely generous, and funny when acknowledging the total horror of her family when they discovered that she'd come to believe in God.
I got a little dizzy at the switchbacks between present and past, but other readers might not mind that. The writing itself is just exquisite. I even made it through grim details of search and rescue and finding bodies, subjects that are usually total turnoffs to me. (Search and rescue makes me anxious, and I am too squeamish for forensics.)
Here's a key graph from an e-mail to her brother, who wrote to ask an important question:
It doesn't matter how educated, moneyed, or smart you are: when your child's footprints end at the river's edge, when the one you love has gone into the woods with a bleak outlook and a loaded gun, when the chaplain is walking toward you with bad news in her mouth, then only the cliches are true, and you will repeat them, unashamed. Your life, too, will swing suddenly and cruelly in a new direction with breathtaking speed, and if you are really wise--and it's surprising and wondrous, Brother, how many people have this wondrous wisdom in them--you will know enough to look around for love. It will be there, standing right on the hinge, holding out its arms to you. If you are wise, whoever you are, you will let go, fall against that love, and be held.
I got a little dizzy at the switchbacks between present and past, but other readers might not mind that. The writing itself is just exquisite. I even made it through grim details of search and rescue and finding bodies, subjects that are usually total turnoffs to me. (Search and rescue makes me anxious, and I am too squeamish for forensics.)
Here's a key graph from an e-mail to her brother, who wrote to ask an important question:
It doesn't matter how educated, moneyed, or smart you are: when your child's footprints end at the river's edge, when the one you love has gone into the woods with a bleak outlook and a loaded gun, when the chaplain is walking toward you with bad news in her mouth, then only the cliches are true, and you will repeat them, unashamed. Your life, too, will swing suddenly and cruelly in a new direction with breathtaking speed, and if you are really wise--and it's surprising and wondrous, Brother, how many people have this wondrous wisdom in them--you will know enough to look around for love. It will be there, standing right on the hinge, holding out its arms to you. If you are wise, whoever you are, you will let go, fall against that love, and be held.
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
A really great story, or collection of really great stories I guess. The nature of her position means that she's constantly in interesting positions, and around really great people trying to do good together. And I think she would agree that she isn't really the star here - it's the wardens, her kids, her late first husband. I only give don't give it 5 stars because her musings about the religious significance of her work are confusing. As someone who doesn't know much about Unitarian Universalism I didn't feel like it assumed too much background on this denomination, but the way she talks about her beliefs makes them seem sometimes contradictory and often ill-defined. Maybe that's the point, that life is contradictory and so are her beliefs. But I would've like her to explain that a little more clearly so I wasn't so confused trying to figure out what she was getting towards.
But seriously, it's a great book. I was very skeptical of it, and read it all in two days. 4.5/5.
Also, I now can't think of doing anything except being a chaplain for some forestry service now. So, thanks?
Okay bye drive safe,
Sam
But seriously, it's a great book. I was very skeptical of it, and read it all in two days. 4.5/5.
Also, I now can't think of doing anything except being a chaplain for some forestry service now. So, thanks?
Okay bye drive safe,
Sam
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
I was not wild about this book, mostly because it read like a book on Christian apologetics more than an autobiography.
This is a beautifully written memoir of a woman who lost her husband in a car accident and then fulfills his dream of becoming a minister. She serves the Maine wardens as a chaplain and describes her experiences with them as they search for people in the wilderness.