“God’s love transcends every bruise, mistreatment, and setback,” according to this empowering debut guide from former corporate executive Ricks. Recalling how she climbed the ranks to become the youngest senior vice president at ScottsMiracle-Gro, Ricks describes the self-doubt she faced before a health crisis forced her to find new ways to protect her self-worth. Ricks advises readers to stop relying on others’ approval by eschewing “hollow promises made to appease [you]” and “words that merely stroke your ego,” and refusing “to contort who you are to fit in.” Elsewhere, she encourages readers to get clearer on their priorities (for example, by considering whether God believes the “item, idea, or rhythm... you have introduced into your life is beneficial”), reframe failure as a chance to cultivate resilience, and become more empowered decision-makers. While some might wish for more concrete advice—the book consists mostly of guided self-reflection, and questions such as “What is the posture of my heart?” can feel vague—others will appreciate Ricks’s can-do attitude, which is grounded in intimate disclosures from her personal and professional life (including the challenges of being one of the only Black women at a corporation’s executive level). Believers seeking a fresh start will be energized. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 07/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

Zen teacher Foster (The Roaring Stream) delivers a rigorous reappraisal of Buddhist teachings that have been adapted for Western practitioners by translators and Zen masters who stripped away key cultural and canonical references. For example, Foster critiques 19th-century missionary James Legge’s translation of the word hundun—which is most accurately defined as “absolutely amorphous, the primordial closed and utterly dark entity containing all potential forms”—as “chaos,” a term that is negatively tinged by Western values of order over disorder. According to Foster, Buddhism advocates for embracing apparent disorder to gain “an enhanced understanding of our place in the schemeless scheme of things.” Other chapters tackle such concepts as integrity, shame, and contentment. Drawing from Chan and Zen texts as well as the Chinese literary tradition—including writings from Confucius and the eighth-century poet Wang Wei—Foster employs fine-grained analysis to draw out textual subtleties, challenging practitioners to question received values and engage with the Chan and Zen traditions’ complexities on their own terms. It’s a perceptive look at what gets lost in translation. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 07/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

White debuts with an emphatic if clumsy testament to the faith that helped her beat cancer. Seven years old when her older sister was diagnosed with cancer (which she survived), White grew up plagued by fears of death and struggled with overeating. Further heartache followed in her teens when her mother died. White describes being diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma when she was 18; the seemingly endless, crushing rounds of radiation that followed; and the love from friends and family that sustained her until she went into remission after a year and a half of treatment—only to be told at age 28 that the cancer had returned. From there, White recounts how she developed congestive heart failure and chronic lung and kidney disease at 38, and received a heart and kidney transplant at 47. The author’s passionate ode to her unshakable faith in “God’s grace and mercy” inspires, but the book’s strengths are obscured by awkward writing that tends toward platitudes and often contradicts itself (“Although Sheila and I had an ambivalent relationship due to me ‘taking her place as the baby of the family,’ we were also best friends, and I did not want any harm to come to her”). Still, readers will find it hard to forget White’s incredible life story. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 07/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

Yale Divinity School history professor Gordon (Calvin) delivers an ambitious study of how a collection of prophecies, poems, and letters became a sacred text that has shaped cultures. Styling the Bible as a migrant, he describes how diverse writings—the rabbinic Bible, the four Gospels, Acts, and the Epistles—coalesced into canon through “worship, reading, and devotional practices,” then were spread by “merchants and colonizers” to the Americas, Africa, and Asia. There, local communities adapted the “alien” book through a mix of cultural blending, reinterpretation, and even rebellion. For example, theologians in 20th-century China drew comparisons between Confucianism and biblical texts, Native Americans centered themselves in biblical stories (a group of 18th-century Mohican converts renamed themselves Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, declaring themselves “patriarchs of a new nation of believers”), and a charismatic 20th-century Baptist catchetist in the Democratic Republic of Congo formed the “Kimbanguist” movement, which rejected “the God of the missionaries” but revered Christ. Smoothly capturing a sprawling and complex history, Gordon frames the Bible as a cultural artifact and a dynamic site where identity is negotiated; a force that binds communities; and an arena where foreign influences are contested. The result is a fascinating look at how the “most influential book in the world” came to be. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 07/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

A self-centered life is inherently unsatisfying because it deviates from “God’s will,” according to this gentle guide. Bible teacher Meyer (How to Hear from God) outlines a loose, introspective model for rooting out selfish tendencies and living a more outwardly focused life. Suggestions include adopting more “godly” thought patterns (“When you think about people you know... think about their strengths”); feeling such emotions as guilt, self-pity, and anger without acting on them; and regularly turning to the Bible for wisdom. Elsewhere, she calls on readers to “cooperate with the Holy Spirit, obeying what He leads us to do,” though what exactly this looks like is unclear: “If what we are doing... isn’t right, we will sense a gentle pressure that does not feel pleasant.” Despite such murky moments, readers will appreciate Meyer’s ability to succinctly capture the nuances of her topic, as when she distinguishes selflessness from self-neglect: “If we are to love our neighbor (other people) as we love ourselves, how can we do it if we don’t love ourselves?” It’s a solid study of what it means to be a giver. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 07/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

Bestseller Whittaker (Get Your Hopes Up) shares an enlightening account of how a seven-week break from his phone and other digital devices changed his life. Sobered by a notification that he spent an average of seven hours and 23 minutes a day on his phone, the author stayed at a monastery in the California desert and an Amish farm in Ohio in hopes that the quiet and simplicity on offer there would “reset” his body and mind. He learned to savor the little things, like the flavor of coffee; to commune more freely with God; and to rediscover the joys of a spontaneous, non-efficiency-based lifestyle (of driving sans GPS, he writes, “what if by getting lost on the way to work... you run across a beautiful view or an under-the-radar park? You’ll never know unless you try”). More broadly, he perceptively identifies the market-based machinations underlying the internet’s outrage-provoking content (“Most of the well-produced content out there that makes your blood boil is literally making money off your blood boiling”). It’s a thought-provoking examination of the challenges of online connection—and the benefits of breaking free once in a while. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 07/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

Systemic racism and environmental degradation “share the same tangled origins: greed and its ravenous manifestation, theft,” according to this enlightening treatise from pastor Swanson (Rediscipling the White Church). In the author’s view, a “theology of extraction”—the notion that “everything from microbes to metals,” in the words of theologian Willie Jennings, exists in terms of its “value for us”—underpins Western attitudes toward the earth and its inhabitants. The result is relentless fracking, mining, and drilling, along with “exploitation of people” via capitalistic systems that leverage the labor of poorer people, often minorities, for gain. Calling on Christians to reclaim “our unique vocation as caretakers,” Swanson recommends cultivating community spaces (such as neighborhood gardens) that bring people together; keeping the sabbath to “relearn... harmony with creation”; and founding Christian communities “committed to becom[ing] naturalized to their places.” While the author acknowledges such solutions might feel flimsy in the face of such far-ranging crises, his insight that small, committed communities are the starting point for systemic change is trenchant, and his theological and historical grounding (including discussions of the Great Migration and the theft of Native American–owned land) provides plenty of thought-provoking material to inspire further research. The result is a nuanced and ambitious take on the links between two pressing societal issues. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 07/05/2024 | Details & Permalink

Understanding how Jesus’s teachings have been misinterpreted can shed light on “everyday hassles [and] global problems,” according to this flawed study from historian Levine (The Difficult Words of Jesus). Delving into such topics as healthcare, race, and immigration, Levine details how Jesus flouted traditional gender roles by remaining a bachelor, accepting single female followers, and “commending” men who made themselves eunuchs (via what the author suggests would today be called “gender reassignment surgery”). Elsewhere, Levine examines how Jesus healed the sick without regard to their social status, thereby opening “the conversation about... how so often those with economic resources receive better, and quicker, care.” Rather than maligning the rich, Jesus emphasized that they must use their resources constructively, Levine claims (“Jesus states, ‘You cannot serve God and wealth,’ but he is also aware that one can serve God with wealth”). Unfortunately, the author spends more time criticizing existing textual interpretations than providing her own, and the links she draws can feel forced and underdeveloped, as when she claims that a woman who “took a risk” by approaching Jesus from behind to seek healing “reminds us of those who enter drug trials, which may cure or kill, ease suffering or increase it.” Despite its worthy aims and a few bright spots, this stumbles. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 07/05/2024 | Details & Permalink

In this unfocused debut guide, Asbury assures those who feel unfulfilled that “God is writing a better story for your life—a story that is unfolding right in front of you.” After moving to Charlotte, N.C., in 2019, the author thought she’d found what she was looking for—a good job, a tight-knit community—but remained dissatisfied, leading her to wonder “where God was, what he was doing, and whether anything would ever change.” Describing how she sought to appreciate what she has while also working to build a better future, she recalls how she got honest with God about what was making her feel behind in life; let go of the hope that, before she turned 30, she would start dating the man she’d eventually marry; and attempted to strike a balance between pursuing her goals and seeking contentment with the life in front of her. Asbury makes clear that her quest is ongoing, which lends the proceedings a somewhat contradictory and scattershot feel (“I want to be married. I want my own house... and if I’m honest, today I want all of it more than I want God... But deep down, I also know I want more than that”). Despite some bright spots, this fails to deliver. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 07/05/2024 | Details & Permalink

Rabbi Jablonski shares her idiosyncratic approach to her vocation in this chatty debut. Contending that the continuing declines in American Jewish synagogue affiliation stem from “casual indifference,” an unstable economy, and the rise of social media, Jablonski describes how she fashioned herself as an independent, “on-demand” rabbi who “meet[s] people where they are” in their spiritual lives, a “bespoke” philosophy she feels reflects how the faith should adapt to the modern world. She recounts how she worked intensively with a mother and son—neither of whom spoke Hebrew—to convert to Judaism in time for the son to be bar mitzvahed the following year; planned a Jewish baby-naming ceremony for an interfaith family; and, following the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, fielded endless calls in which she explained everything from “thousands of years of Middle East history” to how kids could be proud of their Jewish identity in school. Her point that Jews are not necessarily becoming less religious but are seeking religious meaning in new ways is salient and her methods intrigue, even if little is said about whether others have adopted her approach. Still, those concerned about Judaism’s future will find plenty of food for thought. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 07/05/2024 | Details & Permalink