Parts of this book were really good, but overall it was just okay. I resonated with her journey in many places and found it inspiring to be reminded of some of the same things that I have also discovered, especially regarding "Dirt" and "Commons". Her bibliography is excellent and I found several titles that will have to go on my reading list. She continues to write from a perspective that is widely known as 'Emergent' Christianity which I also resonate with despite being part of the institution. After years of study among Native Americans on spirituality there is much here that relates as well. There is also overlap with Celtic understandings and all of these, Native, Celtic, and Emergent, resonate deeply with my own spiritual understandings. So in places I really identified with this and with her journey. Perhaps that is why I can only give mixed reviews because I really identified more closely in some places than in others. And perhaps another reader might have a broader connection. Regardless it was worth the read. ( )

"The headlines are clear: religion is on the decline in America as many people leave behind traditional religious practices. Diana Butler Bass, leading commentator on religion, politics, and culture, follows up her acclaimed book Christianity After Religion by arguing that what appears to be a decline actually signals a major transformation in how people understand and experience God. The distant God of conventional religion has given way to a more intimate sense of the sacred that is with us in the world." (Publisher's Blurb)

Winner of the RNA Book Award, Nautilus Award, and Wilbur Award.

“With her usual blend of plain-talking and sharp insight, Diana Butler Bass brings into focus the usually fuzzy realm of the spiritual but not religious, providing a much-needed guidebook for... the often-perplexing but growing turn away from organized religion.” (Religious Newswriters Association)

“A profound and literary book.” (Christian Century)

“Bass’ credentials... frequently help bridge the gap between those who practice Christianity and those who research it. ‘What makes her an unusual voice among commentators in American religion right now is that she’s a proponent of hopeful religion.’… Grounded champions a return to nature and an embrace of hospitality.” (Religion News Service)

“In her excellent treatise, [Bass] declares the current state of religion as not dying but transforming…. Bass’s biblical and effusive style, always mixing the personal with the political and scriptural, finds a deeper, more profound register in this latest book.” (Publishers Weekly starred review)

“Bass digs her fingers into the soil of our surroundings to unearth a new way of looking at spirituality and our place within our increasingly global neighborhood. A deeply theological book, but also a practical one; causes one to ponder the spiritual implications of farmers’ markets in altogether new ways.” (Booklist)

“An absolutely gorgeously written book about real faith in the real world.” -- (James Martin, SJ, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage)

“In this lyrical, mystical, and spiritual book, … Bass has made an important contribution by beautifully explaining a broader and more inclusive understanding of God that can be embraced by the spiritually independents (”spiritual but not religious”) and also by those rooted in one of the world’s religions. ” (Spirituality and Practice)

“‘There is nothing worse than sleeping through a revolution,’ Bass says. Her new book will not only help you wake up. It will equip you to be an enthusiastic participant in what I believe is the deepest and most important movement taking shape in our lifetime.” (Brian D. McLaren, speaker, activity, and author of A New Kind of Christianity)