Patty Kirk

I wasn't connecting with the author at all until chapters 14 & 15, in which she talks about her struggle to feel remorse when she's wrong, and the difficulty of intercessory prayer. She seemed to be my identical twin in these issues. Sadly, the really good insights for me were only in those chapters.

As the title indicates, the author became a Christian as an adult and is not a theologian; this shows in some of her Scripture interpretations. She didn't always take the historical, cultural contexts into consideration, but often projected her own thoughts and feelings onto people in the Bible - and also on readers. (I.e., "we all do this or that, we all think such and such…")

She equates having a "personal relationship" with Christ with having a starry-eyed, romantic relationship with Him. I thought this view was very strange. I've never heard anyone describe it in those terms before, only in the sense that it's the opposite of an impersonal one (e.g., we all know of the president, but we don't all have a personal relationship with him).

I cringed at the stories about her young daughters that were very personal. She stated she's grateful for their permission to include them, but I didn't get the impression that they were old enough to really understand what they were agreeing to. (For instance, there were physical descriptions of a child who went through puberty earlier than most - why on earth would a mother want that to be the mental image in the minds of her readers? She also included some of their very specific questions about sex.)

Note: She uses profanity a few times.

Completely irrelevant, but fun to me: Kirk taught at John Brown University, likely during the same period I attended, though I didn't have her as a professor. Small world!… (altro)

The author shares her spiritual journey, which goes from being raised as a Christian in the Catholic tradition, to turning away from the faith and thinking of herself as an athiest, to a return to the faith as a protestant believer--with a lot of questions. She shares herself in a series of short essays divided into 4 sections: Meeting God, Struggling, Progress, and Rest.
Kirk's writing is easy to read, it's like listening to a neighbor down the street share about her life struggles and philosophies. She is candid, honest, and reflective, often finding a lesson in her experiences that she shares with her readers. I definately recommend this to any believer or non-believer who would like to read an honest story about someone's spiritual journey.… (altro)