Cathleen Falsani, an award-winning religion writer for the Chicago Sun-Times, calls her new book Sin Boldly
How do you define "grace" and how would you define "grace" in a missional context?
In fact, it's a journey around the USA and over to Africa in search of grace. The meaning of "grace" in this book is shaped for those who doubt grace is around, and Cathleen finds experiences that point toward God. Take the book, then, as a search for icons in life. "It is much easier," she says, "and, I would argue, more helpful to describe what grace feels like through stories and images that illustrate the varied ways grace is experienced when encountered in the wild than it is to attempt to define it conclusively, to trap it or cage it" (12). Thus, "Justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. And grace is getting what you absolutely don't deserve" (14).
Cathleen Falsani is a consummate storyteller, and each of these stories -- 20 of them -- somehow leads us to her theme, which is not a theological definition but an experience that speaks deeply of God's goodness. Yes, she's got a traditional theory of grace at work in one chp -- one of traipsing around Montana with a rabbi and his wife -- and she's got the graces of mercy and people and images and finding a place to live and the poor, suffering of Africa and women who have resisted tradition to show compassion to others in Kenya and pouring-down rain and noisy neighbors when she was on retreat. Not to forget watermelon gazpacho and Elvis.
Cathleen Falsani is an excellent writer, and she slid in words at times that caught me off guard and I paused and said, "Nice one." And there's good wit, a little irreverent at times, but good and fun and enough to make pages sparkle. Also, I need to add this: there's a maturity of journalism at work behind this book and it shows -- in every chp. I'll be mentioning this book to many for a long time.
This is the making of a memoir -- she grew up Catholic, became Southern Baptist, went to Wheaton, and became an Episcopalian. Religion newswriters have a challenge unlike most of us: they are required to tell stories of various faiths, suspending judgment often, to get into the skin of what others think and believe, and those experiences soften one's convictions and shape one's faith. I often wonder how religion writers can believe.
I'll tell you why: learning to suspend one's faith or bracket one's faith is a way of deconstructing one's faith, a way of learning to live and think and even be outside one's faith. I know this is heavy for a review on Cathleen's book, but this book made me think of this belief of mine.
This might be the first time I've done this. I chose to put this book in the category of "missional" because, deep inside, this book is a missional exploration for those who are seeking for grace.
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Wouldn't it be more helpful to simply talk about faith in a God of love than "bracketing" one's faith--Christian love as dying to oneself in order to truly hear another's voice with respect and empathy (though eventually with discernment); the humility and vulnerability of Christ that allows another's perspective to challenge us (and perhaps surprises us with an encounter with a "seed of the Word"); faith from an encounter with Christ that draws us to follow after him with growing insight and transformation and moments of awe that somehow make our language of an ineffable God go limp.
Scot, thank you for your great review, and for recommending the book to friends. I heartily agree that, "this book is a missional exploration for those who are seeking for grace."
Beth Murphy
Zondervan
I think that "bracketing" is probably one of those things which a Christian needs to be very careful and aware of. However, it's hard to see how one can enter into real, meaningful conversation with those of other beliefs or no beliefs without doing it. I was heartened to read something from John Eldridge a while back saying that he has a sign near his bed that says, "God is real." He says he put it there because he forgets in his sleep that God is real and needs to be reminded of that fact each morning. In my experience, when we spend too much time bracketing off our faith in order to engage in conversation with others, we do have a tendency to forget. I think that, as Mr. Eldredge's sign shows, it takes deliberate acts of awareness on our part to counter-act that tendency.
One of the other things which I have struggled against is not sliding into a mushy embrace of all faith and lose sight of the exclusive claims of Christianity. I try to look for those signs of logos which are embedded in other religions and other people who are simply trying to live good lives without being Christian. However, it can be tempting to take those signs as repudiation of the exclusivity of Christianity without even realizing it. OTOH, struggling against that has forced me not only to be more thoughtful about my own faith, but to expand my understanding of the role my faith plays in the drama of humanity and how all these different beliefs and experiences fit into my understanding of God's plan for mankind. All in all, this has been a good thing, I think. Although there are no doubt some who would find my understanding heretical.
While I can see the very real problems of bracketing, I don't see how we can engage in a world where we are increasingly surrounded by friends, loved ones, family, coworkers, etc. who do not share our values, our beliefs, or even our language (in so far as our religion shapes our way of speaking) without bracketing. How can we love, engage and hopefully influence others if our faith is actually a barrier between us? Paul's words about becoming all things to all men come to mind. I wonder how he did it?
Interesting discussion. Pondering publicly...
Holding up the lens of the Jesus Creed, does bracketing refer only to the mind portion?
When I love with my heart (vs my mind), do I bracket that as well? EG, if I experience love for one child at a singular moment in time, does that affect my experience of love for my other child? If I love God at a singular moment in time, does that affect my love for humans? I think we would tend to say - "Of course not". We believe that we can hold love for many simultaneously. But we cannot hold ideas for many simultaneously?
If I view someone of another faith with compassion and understanding, does that necessitate bracketing of my understanding of my own faith? Just the mind part? Or the heart part too?
RJS,
It is a truism, but perhaps helpful to say that faith can only be bracketed if it is bracketable. You probably have other convictions that are less bracketable. Do you have any thoughts on what makes the difference when it comes to faith, and why the difference is greater for you than for many other people?
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