Bright Shining

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 INDIE BOOK AWARDS

“Luminous. . . . A work to both devour and savour, Baird has, once again, written a book the world needs now.'”—Guardian

“The uplift and power of Bright Shining . . . is to be found in the way Baird gives grace fresh currency by bringing this beautiful and elusive condition from the theological margins into the mainstream and showing, with passion and verve, how quietly transformative it can be.”—Sydney Morning Herald

From the bestselling author of Phosphorescence comes a beautiful and timely exploration of that most mysterious but necessary of human qualities: grace.

Grace is both mysterious and hard to define. It can be found when we create ways to find meaning and dignity in connection with each other, building on our shared humanity, being kinder, bigger, better with each other. If, in its crudest interpretation, karma is getting what you deserve, then grace is the opposite: forgiving the unforgivable, favoring the undeserving, loving the unlovable.

Sadly, we live in an era when grace is increasingly rare. Our growing distrust of the media, politicians, and each other has choked our ability to trust, to accept, to allow for mistakes, to forgive.

What does grace look like in today’s world, and how do we recognize it, nurture it in ourselves and express it, even in the darkest of times? In this luminously beautiful, deeply insightful, and timely book, Baird explores the meaning of grace and how we can cut through negativity to find it today.