Category Archives: Religion

What Is the Bible?

Posted on June 22, 2017 by

People have lots of ideas about the Bible. A lot of those ideas are incomplete, misguided, or just plain wrong. And often those mistaken ideas lead people to miss the richness of the biblical stories. That’s what Rob Bell is … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonfiction, Religion | 5 Comments

Peacekeeper

Posted on January 19, 2017 by

It’s often easiest to review books when they stay inside generic boundaries, and the smaller the box, the better. This is a cozy mystery, this is a thriller, this is a western. If you like what goes in this box, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime, Religion, Speculative Fiction | 2 Comments

A Prayer Journal

Posted on January 19, 2017 by

When Flannery O’Connor was a very young woman, just twenty-one, she went to the University of Iowa for a year to participate in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She was a devout Catholic, and during that year or so, she kept … Continue reading →

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The Cross and the Lynching Tree

Posted on December 23, 2016 by

James H. Cone is a theologian best known for his work in Black liberation theology. I’ve read a bit about his work, but I’d never read anything he’d written until reading this short examination of how the cross of Christianity … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonfiction, Religion | 2 Comments

Bipolar Faith: A Black Woman’s Journey with Depression and Faith

Posted on July 25, 2016 by

Monica A. Coleman’s memoir touches on a lot of significant themes: faith, grief, trauma, rape, depression, prayer, race, family, friendship, and history among them. She begins with the story of her great-grandfather who died, it was said, “of grief,” hanging … Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir, Nonfiction, Religion | 8 Comments

The Givenness of Things

Posted on July 17, 2016 by

If you’re a regular or long-time reader of this blog, you’re probably aware that I’m a tremendous fan of the work of Marilynne Robinson. I’ve read and loved all her novels, and I marveled at her 2012 essay collection, When I Was … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonfiction, Religion, Short Stories/Essays | 3 Comments

My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer

Posted on November 6, 2015 by

This book by poet Christian Wiman is not easy to describe. It’s not exactly a memoir, although it contains elements of memoir, and it’s not exactly an essay collection, although each chapter dances around a particular theme or idea. His … Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir, Nonfiction, Religion, Short Stories/Essays | 8 Comments

Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church

Posted on September 22, 2015 by

Mine is a stubborn and recalcitrant faith. It’s all elbows and motion and kicked-up dust, like cartoon characters locked in a cloudy brawl. I’m still early in my journey, but I suspect it will go on like this for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir, Nonfiction, Religion | 13 Comments

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

Posted on March 1, 2015 by

“What sorts of things do you read?” people ask me, when they find out that reading is almost my only hobby. “Almost anything,” I tell them. “All sorts. Horror, romance, literary fiction, mysteries, religion, biography, history, psychology, science writing. Well … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonfiction, Religion | 15 Comments

The Bush Was Blazing But Not Consumed

Posted on January 8, 2015 by

I’m taking a class at my church called Education for Ministry. It’s basically a four-year study of the Bible and church history. Each year, the program has a theme, and participants read something related to that theme. This year, our … Continue reading →

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