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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
This was beautiful, but also challenging to read. She is SO smart, and I had to stop and go back a few times to make sure I understood. She writes about her life as an Episcopal priest and how the decision to leave the priesthood changed her. I love her lessons and her admittance that she doesn’t know it all, that she still searches and questions and wonders. And I love that she comes down fiercely on the line of loving God and others above all else.
When she was ordained in the Episcopal Church, Barbara Brown Taylor envisioned a long, fulfilling life of ministry. With fatigue setting in after about ten years in an urban congregation, she takes a church in rural Georgia. But even in a peaceful town, her soul becomes increasingly troubled and exhausted. This is the story of how a woman in love with God and His Church ends up with more questions than answers, and has to deconstruct her faith to find it again. I recommend it to anyone in professional ministry or any believer feeling disillusioned. If nothing else, you'll feel reassured that you are not alone.
"The people you think love you don't love you as much as you think they love you and the people you think hate you don't hate you as much as you think they hate you"
" I do not think I was the only one who suffered from too much sun in church. One thing that had always troubled me was the way people disappeared from church when their lives were breaking down...I was sorry that church did not strike these wounded souls as a place they could bring the dark fruits of their equally dark nights...As enjoyable as it could be to spend a couple hours on Sunday morning with people who were at their best, it was also possible to see the strain in some of the smiles, the effort it took to present the most positive, most faithful version of the self...The cost of pretense was the loss of the real human texture underneath, but since we all thought that was what was expected of us, that was what we delivered."
" I do not think I was the only one who suffered from too much sun in church. One thing that had always troubled me was the way people disappeared from church when their lives were breaking down...I was sorry that church did not strike these wounded souls as a place they could bring the dark fruits of their equally dark nights...As enjoyable as it could be to spend a couple hours on Sunday morning with people who were at their best, it was also possible to see the strain in some of the smiles, the effort it took to present the most positive, most faithful version of the self...The cost of pretense was the loss of the real human texture underneath, but since we all thought that was what was expected of us, that was what we delivered."
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Fantastic! A must read for pastors. Why it isn't 5 stars is that it went on longer than it should have. The Lakota Indian stuff was interesting, but didn't fit the rest of the book.
This book came as such a gift to me. Beautifully written with such wisdom, vulnerability and humility. The Readers Guide at the end has been incredibly helpful in processing my own story in the light of the author's. I am so grateful and I’m quite sure I will return to it many times in the future. I highly recommend it to all men and women who are considering and questioning their involvement in church ministry.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
reflective
slow-paced