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The phrase "I'm spiritual but not religious" has become a cliché. It's easy to find God amid the convenience of self-styled spirituality--but is it possible (and more worthwhile) to search for God through religion? Minister and celebrated author Lillian Daniel gives a new spin on church with stories of what a life of faith can really be: weird, wondrous, and well worth trying. From a rock-and-roller sexton to a BB gun-toting grandma, a church service attended by animals to a group of unlikely theologians at Sing Sing, Daniel shows us a portrait of church that is flawed, fallible--and deeply faithful. With poignant reflections and sly wit, Daniel invites all of us to step out of ourselves, dare to become a community, and encounter a God greater than we could ever invent. Humorous and sincere, this is a book about people finding God in the most unexpected of places: prisons, airports, yoga classes, committee meetings, and, strangest of all, right there in church.… (more)
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Favorite Passages:
"When you witness suffering and declare yourself to have achieved salvation in the religion of gratitude, you have fallen way short of what God would have you do, no matter what religion you are called to.
And by the way, while I think God does want us to feel gratitude, I do not think God particularly wants us to feel lucky. I think God wants us to witness pain and suffering and rather than feeling lucky, God wants us to get angry and want to do something about it.
The civil rights movement didn't happen because people felt lucky. The hungry don't get fed, the homeless don't get sheltered, and the world doesn't change because people are who are doing okay feel lucky. We need more." - p. 9
"At one point, the whole world was safe for animals. Now their territory is constricted. Human beings control so much of the landscape and we have huge areas where animals rarely go -- schools, hospitals, stores, churches. So I like to think of the sight of an animal in the airport as a special gift. We get a glimpse of nature in a sterile place. We get a dose of animal instinct in a place where we all have to behave ourselves. It's as odd as hearing a dog bark in church, and just as wonderful." - p. 137
"I don't want to choose. The church has plenty of tents staked out on the battlegrounds of who Jesus is, and why it matters. I pitch my tent in the field of mystery, and have yet to nail it down." - p. 161
"I'm tired of playing by that dull and pedestrian set of rules, which has everything to do with a litigious, factoid-hungry culture and nothing to do with following Jesus. I don't come to church for evidence or for a closing argument. I come to experience the presence of God, to sense the mystery of things eternal, and to learn a way of life that makes no sense to those stuck sniffing around for proof." - p. 166
"I believe that there really is a connection between who we were raised to be and who we are now. It might bot be a straight line, but you cannot connect the dots. God works through all kinds of religious communities at different points in our lives.
No spiritual home is all good or all bad. So give thanks for the small and tender blessings of every place that has never been our spiritual home, and for lessons you have learned." - p. 182
The focus of this book is the importance of religious
- Jessica Nylund Salt