Wadleigh (Forgiveness), director of the Planned Happiness Institute, provides a lucid guide to healing the “rejected parts of yourself.” According to the author, “traits, desires, and emotions that we may find uncomfortable or unacceptable” become “shadows” that live in the subconscious and can get redirected toward others in the form of judgment or anger. By healing these shadows, readers can make room to “receive the... blessings that the Universe is constantly trying to show you.” That process involves analyzing how shadows were created (often through formative traumas), using “affirmative prayers” to “shift our internal view of ourselves,” and establishing such healthy habits as meditation. In cogent prose, Wadleigh gently guides readers through her program while making clear that assuming personal agency is the first and most important step toward meaningful change (“All efforts to place responsibility outside ourselves by blaming another for our situation... weaken our resolve. When you take responsibility, you are in alignment with your personal power”). Seekers will be eager to embark on this spiritual yet practical path to greater self-acceptance. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 07/05/2024 | Details & Permalink

DeGroat (When Narcissism Comes to Church), a pastoral care professor at Western Theological Seminary, grounds this empathetic meditation on “reconnecting” with oneself in moments of crisis on the biblical account of Adam and Eve’s fall from grace. Like much of scripture, the story is on its face one of “alienation and exile,” as Adam and Eve, riddled with anxiety and shame, are “interrogated” by God. But when they’re framed compassionately, DeGroat suggests, the questions God asks can guide one through a process of self-examination and healing. For example, “where are you?” is an invitation to take stock of one’s life and suffering; “who told you?” is a call to recognize past pains that block connection to God; and “have you eaten from the tree?” is an encouragement to tap into a “deep hunger” for meaning that often gets filled with superficial coping mechanisms like binge eating and redirect it to seeking “union and communion with God.” Buttressed by therapeutic insight, reflection exercises, and suggested practices including yoga and breath work, DeGroat’s creative and sympathetic interpretation recasts the fall as a story defined by both sin and the promise of “restoration and redemption.” Christians seeking spiritual and emotional succor should take note. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 07/05/2024 | Details & Permalink

Comedian Skrmetti adapts her online video series of the same name into a chatty and colorful debut collection on faith, Southern culture, and middle age. Among other topics, she recalls how she found a surprisingly strong sisterhood in the “blush and boob tape”–filled world of beauty pageants as a preteen; relates how a quest to lose weight helped her to find self-acceptance (“I could lose all the weight in the world, but if I didn’t love myself, it wouldn’t matter”); and in one especially captivating essay, details how she battled her anxieties about aging by chasing a comedy career at age 45, first by frequenting open mic nights and then by posting videos that went viral. Readers should likewise chart their own paths, Skrmetti advises (“Just because no one is looking for you doesn’t mean they won’t be happy they found you.”) Skrmetti’s ability to find humor in faith—and faith in the everyday—makes for delightful reading, whether she’s drawing an unlikely comparison between Weight Watchers and church— in both, “you are welcomed back no matter what you ate the day before”—or reassuring readers that God is “in every little thing.” Equal parts sincere and sassy, this is a treat. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 07/05/2024 | Details & Permalink

In this candid debut, married couple Adaeze and Chad Brinkman share “some of the more difficult conversations we’ve had about race” and the lessons they’ve learned. Detailing an incident early in their relationship, when Chad made an inadvertently offensive comment about Adaeze’s headwrap, the authors stress that hurdles can “draw you closer together” if both parties are willing to listen and grow. They describe how Chad’s parents were initially averse to the relationship, but changed their minds after spending time with Adaeze (“It takes a willingness to stay in the fight even if you get a little bruised”), highlight the importance of supporting each other’s interests and cultures (Chad watched Beyoncé’s Black Is King with Adaeze even though he didn’t totally “understand” the film), and provide such practical suggestions for white partners as consuming more diverse news, music, and television. Their dual perspectives draw out the nuances of interpersonal interactions—including gaps between intent and outcome—and reinforce the overarching theme that white people should make an effort to understand their loved one’s experiences while acknowledging they’ll never know what it’s like to live in their shoes. For those looking to become better allies, it’s a valuable resource. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 07/05/2024 | Details & Permalink

Rabbi Cosgrove (coeditor of Jewish Theology in Our Time) grapples in this rigorous outing with the implications of the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel for the American Jewish community. He recounts how his Sabbath was interrupted by a call from his sister-in-law in Israel who reported the then-ongoing assault, the confusion that followed, and how he began fund-raising for Israeli communities during that day’s services. Broadening his discussion, Cosgrove draws on a theory from Rabbi David Hartman to delineate a shift that he feels has occurred after October 7. Prior to the assault, he writes, American Jews were “Genesis Jews,” whose religious identity derived from “positive Jewish identification.” But the shock of October 7 and the subsequent spike in antisemitic incidents transformed many American Jews into “Exodus Jews,” whose Jewish identity is “defined by others, by those who ignore our pain, exclude us, hate us... and in some cases kill us.” The challenge, Cosgrove explains, is to integrate these identities. While the larger implications of the Israel-Hamas war are sometimes glossed over, Cosgrove expertly navigates salient questions about Jewish faith and identity against a backdrop of rising antisemitism, while stressing throughout that “this thing we are fighting for, Jews and Judaism... is a joy, a privilege, and a blessing to... all people.” This is an eye-opener. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 06/28/2024 | Details & Permalink

Jewish Theological Seminary professor Eisen (Rethinking Modern Judaism) delivers a stimulating exploration of his belief in a God. Drawing on a realization that shaped his faith during college (“God is here with us in the world, though not necessarily to be found by you or me or anyone else”), Eisen considers the purpose of prayer, the personal connection to the divine, and the challenge of resolving one’s faith with such horrors as the Holocaust. On the latter topic, he cites a biblical passage stating that God’s “countenance” can be “hidden at one point and unmistakably visible at another.” While readers seeking definitive answers might be frustrated with Eisen’s willingness to embrace uncertainty, the curious will find plenty to appreciate in the mix of historical examples, sharp rabbinical insight, and reassurances that theological doubt can coexist with a meaningful Jewish life if one focuses on the here and now. “The good that we are called to do in this life is in our reach,” Eisen writes, “even though answers to the ultimate mysteries are not in our hands.” It’s a thought-provoking addition to the bookshelf on modern Jewish theology. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 06/28/2024 | Details & Permalink

Comedian and radio host Smiley (Stand by Your Truth) paints a wrenching portrait of grief and faith in the wake of his 32-year-old son’s death in 2023. After receiving the call that his son had overdosed, Smiley sleepwalked through the following days as he cared for his other kids, arranged the burial, and dealt with eerie echoes of his own father’s death from drugs when the author was six. After Smiley returned to work, he would go “from crying my eyes out in my dressing room to... having the whole audience nearly pass out with uncontrollable laughter.” He soon came to see the emotional highs as part of the mourning process—finding “glimmers of light” within grief, he writes, honors the deceased and proves that God can “orchestrate something good from pain.” Smiley also meditates on the value of therapy in healing from tragedy; the horrors of watching one’s child spiral into addiction; and questions of whether he could have done more to intervene. Smiley’s depiction of grief is both raw and nuanced, giving due equally to the comforts and paradoxes of faith—“the same God I may question regarding the loss of my son,” he writes, “is the same God who is helping me... survive that loss.” It’s a heartbreaker. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 06/28/2024 | Details & Permalink

Readers can look to the beyond to “live your very best life on earth—and die without regrets,” according to this muddled guide. Psychic medium Fraser (We Never Die) contends that each person has a “spirit team” comprising guardian angels, ancestors, and departed friends who possess the “predetermined” road map of one’s life and can nudge them in the right direction if consulted. To help facilitate communication with these guides, readers are advised to tap into their own intuition, through which spirits often speak; pay attention to “roadblocks or narrowly avoid[ed] disaster[s]” that double as ethereal warnings; and actively consult their spirit team when faced with crises (“What is the best way to grow from this?”). Elsewhere, Fraser warns readers to avoid regrets often revealed by the departed, including not having children, not following one’s passion, and abandoning friends. While readers will find some solid wisdom on living intentionally, the inherent contradiction at the book’s core (is one’s destiny predetermined, or not?) causes the rest of the program to collapse into mixed messages and vagueness. This misses the mark. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 06/21/2024 | Details & Permalink

Rabbi Linzer and journalist Pogrebin (My Jewish Year) discuss 52 weekly readings of the Torah in this intellectually lively adaptation of their Parsha in Progress podcast. Aiming to step outside their “echo chambers,” the authors draw fresh insights from such familiar stories as Abraham’s binding of Isaac. Contemplating God’s silence after Abraham followed his directives, Linzer muses that “some people spend their whole lives believing God isn’t talking to them.... Your religion might talk to you but you never feel that’s the same as God.” Elsewhere, they interrogate the gap between intent and outcome by considering whether Jacob’s son Reuben was courageous for preventing his brothers from killing Joseph but failing to follow through before they sold him into slavery (Pogrebin credits Reuben with empathy but not courage, while Linzer insists that Reuben’s bravery was essential to Joseph’s survival). No one in the Torah is above scrutiny, with both authors interrogating why God might have hardened Pharaoh’s heart in Exodus, and thereby prolonging the Israelites’ suffering. Such openness gives the book its spark and propels the authors’ broad-minded consideration of such questions as the value of ritual versus belief and what the Bible might have to say about gender identity. Rigorous and readable, it’s a stimulating addition to modern-day Torah scholarship. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 06/14/2024 | Details & Permalink

Journalist Akyol (The Islamic Jesus) draws theological, philosophical, and cultural links between Islam and Judaism in this innovative study inspired by the prophet central to both faiths. Framing Moses, who is mentioned 137 times in the Quran, as the “historic precedent for Muhammad,” Akyol traces an “Judeo-Islamic” tradition that began in seventh-century Medina when Jews introduced monotheism to their polytheistic Arab neighbors, paving the way for their eventual acceptance of Islam. While tensions flared as the two faiths lived side-by-side, their traditions continued to enrich one another across history, according to Akyol. Examples include how Islamic theology (kalam) informed Jewish theological study in the eighth and ninth centuries and how some present-day Muslims draw on Jewish models for adapting certain religious practices to Western societies (certain Muslim communities in the U.K. have established sharia councils, “which clearly follow the example of the Halakhic courts called beth din”). The parallels Akyol draws fascinate, including a detailed dissection of how the two religions each experimented with “strict textualism” versus “rationalist” approaches in their codes of law. Elsewhere, Akyol examines how present-day Jews and Muslims living in Western societies might join together to protect shared religious practices, including kosher and halal animal slaughter and circumcision. It’s a thought-provoking challenge to those who see only deep divisions between the faiths. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 06/14/2024 | Details & Permalink