Presbyterian Outlook's Page Turners - A free book 📚

Companions for the wilderness Dear Outlook Readers,   My pastoral work focuses almost entirely on visiting older adults in their homes. When someone offers me a cup of tea and invites me to take a seat, I first scan the room for books. If the coffee table is weighed down by selections like C.S. Lewis’ The Problem of Pain or Rabbi Kushner’s When Bad Things Happen to Good People, I mentally prepare myself for some tough conversations and theological wrangling. When a parishioner’s table is littered with best sellers or recent fiction, I instead seek a cheerful way into the conversation: “You’re reading Ross Gay — I love him! Have you read his latest?”   A shared love of reading is one way we connect; it can also be a way to access unfamiliar viewpoints and stories we wouldn’t encounter in our day-to-day. Earlier in the month, we shared some Black History Month reading for adults (and children), all of which offer terrific entry points for readers of all colors eager to better understand Black experiences. These are books to enjoy all year long — may they inform, inspire, and uplift.   Happy Reading,   Amy Pagliarella Outlook Book Review Editor BOOK OF THE MONTH Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith Sarah Bessey Convergent Books, 256 pages Published February 20, 2024   As an Evolving Faith co-founder, Sarah Bessey joined writers like Rachel Held Evans and Jeff Chu to create space for Christians actively deconstructing their faith and pulling away from harmful theologies and toxic communities. In Field Notes for the Wilderness, Bessey writes to fellow “wanderers” who seek a way to follow Jesus that honors their doubts and questions. She writes with the confidence of someone who has wandered (and suffered — she and her husband have lost jobs and friends when they questioned their church’s attitudes toward women, LGBTQ folks, and more) and has found a new home. Yet, she also writes with the humility of one who still searches, questions and doubts.   Field Notes for the Wilderness doesn’t necessarily offer anything new; the “ex-vangelical” field is increasingly crowded with authors who walked away from a faith that was too certain, too restrictive, and sometimes actively harmful. But Bessey is a clear-eyed and warm-hearted companion for our journey toward an all-loving God and a more inclusive faith. Each chapter is a letter to a reader (Dear Heartbroken…, Dear Wonderer…) and each speaks to a different time and place in which readers might find themselves. This is, therefore, truly a “field guide” that can be read linearly or picked up in search of guidance for particular situations. With gentle humor, personal anecdotes and solid theology, Bessey witnesses to a God of grace and glory who loves her – and you – forever. QUOTE OF THE MONTH “Creation is the masterpiece of God’s artistry, and its richness a gift for our senses … if we love God’s good creation, we will have limitless occasions to give God our thanks and to thrill a little at God’s ingenuity in fashioning it.”   Gratitude: Why Giving Thanks is the Key to Our Well-Being Cornelius Plantinga Brazos Press, 176 pages Published February 6, 2024 Book Giveaway!  Congratulations to last month’s winner Christopher Kirwan. Thanks to our generous partners at Resource Publications, they received David Brown Howell's Buried Dreamer. Our friends at Brazos Press are kindly offering a copy of this month’s featured book, Gratitude by Cornelius Plantinga. A fortunate Outlook reader will be randomly selected to receive a copy!  If you're reading this note, then you're all set! Know someone else who should be reading Page Turners? Send them this link and they'll get entered for a chance to win, too. The contest closes on March 20.   OTHER READS Children’s books to celebrate Black History reviewed by Amy Pagliarella  Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems and Meditations for Staying Human by Cole Arthur Riley, reviewed by Emily McGinley Wounded Pastors: Navigating Burnout, Finding Healing, and Discerning the Future of Your Ministry by James Fenimore and Carol Howard, reviewed by Patti Snyder Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition edited by Mark Elsdon, reviewed by Beth Guzman