Reluctant Pilgrim
A Moody, Somewhat Self-Indulgent Introvert's Search for Spiritual Community
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- USD 9.99
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- USD 9.99
Descripción editorial
Finalist in the "Best Books 2010" Awards
"This is one of those books that you read and then have to sit back or curl up in a ball and 'be still and know.' In these honest, tear-stained pages are clear signs that there is a 'Hound of Heaven' hunting us down—this Spirit that is stalking us with love, winking at us with miracles, tickling us with grace, subverting everything that could destroy us, and whispering in our ears that we are truly beloved."
—Shane Claiborne
Author, activist, recovering sinner
Love God, but not so sure about church? If you've ever had doubts or felt the gnawing need to examine your interior life, you'll find a trustworthy companion in Enuma Okoro, a purse-shopping, tea-sipping, shaky follower of Jesus who wouldn't mind meeting a guy who loves God and has decent hair.
But after her father's unexpected death, her grief seems to morph into the panicky feeling that God wants something more from her, like maybe becoming a nun.
As she seeks to unravel those feelings, Okoro takes us back to the places that formed her, from her first years in church at a parish in Queens, New York, to her years in West Africa where she collected crucifixes along with Richie Rich comic books, to her studies in Europe and the United States.
Part Augustine, part Jane Austen with a side of Anne Lamott, Okoro attempts to reconcile her theological understanding of God's call to community with her painful and disappointing experiences of community in churches where she often felt invisible, pigeonholed, or out of place.
At turns snarky and luminous, laugh-out-loud funny and vulnerably poignant, Reluctant Pilgrim is the no-holds-barred account of a woman who prays to savor God's goodness and never be satisfied. It is a daring, insightful, and deeply moving field guide for the curious, the confused, and the convicted.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A woman struggles to find her place in the Christian community in this elegant and witty memoir. Okoro is deeply devoted to God trouble is, she's never felt comfortable in her worship environment. As a woman of Nigerian heritage who was raised both Catholic and Anglican, her personal faith is never fulfilled by worship. She longs to belong to a loving, empowering church, but as she grows in her faith, she also grows more distant from organized religion. Although the author admits that there is nothing remarkable about her life story, she hopes her spiritual journey and her strengthened relationship to God will inspire others to never stop searching for their Christian home. Okoro's memoir echoes the pathos, joy, and humor of Elizabeth Gilbert in this theological quest to find meaning in worship and Christian community. The author's clever and poignant writing keeps readers enthralled at her every triumph and personal trial, and it speaks to anyone who's struggled to reconcile faith and ways of worship.