I have been reading this book for so long because I didn’t want to hurry through it and finish it. I was sad when I came to the last page because I loved the book so much that I wanted it to go on and on. (If you love this book like I do, please listen to her podcast, Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. And when searching for the exact name of her podcast, I learned there is a podcast called Everything Happens for a Riesling which I have not listened to although the name makes me laugh).
If you believe that everything happens for a reason and find comfort in that belief, then I am not here to change your mind. The author of this book would encourage you to not say those words outloud to others as they may not find them comforting. This book is what happened when one person learned that she had non-curable cancer and her whole world view needed to be reexamined.
In these pages, you be challenged in what you believe and how you support others who are suffering. You will laugh at the absurdity of life. You may cry as you remember that we were never told that life is fair even though we’d life for it to be.
“What if rich did not have to mean wealthy, and whole did not have to mean healed? What if being people of “the gospel” meant that we are simply people with good news? God is here. We are loved. It is enough” (21).This book is for people who read a sentence like this and want to hear more of the story.
“Everyone is trying to Easter the crap out of my Lent,” I say to my friends though gritted teeth and tears” (134). It is a book for people who love Easter and know real life contains so much Lent that doesn’t need to be rushed through.
I encourage you to read this book, and then we can talk more about it.
