Book Review: Wholehearted Faith

 Information about the book

Rachel Held Evans with Jeff Chu. Wholehearted Faith. Harper One, New York, 2021.  Amazon Link.

Summary

From the Amazon description:

At the time of her tragic death in 2019, Rachel was working on a new book about wholeheartedness. With the help of her close friend and author Jeff Chu, that work-in-progress has been woven together with some of her other unpublished writings into a rich collection of essays that ask candid questions about the stories we’ve been told—and the stories we tell—about our faith, our selves, and our world.

Impressions

I have owned this book since December of 2021, when we gave it to the Foundation donors as a Christmas gift.  This is the first time I have picked it up. I'm not sure why I delayed reading it, but I think it is because it felt sad to read her LAST book. I remember when Rachel was sick, and I remember the day she died. It felt like the world, and me, had lost such an important voice of faith. I still feel that way.

But when I finished the Barbara Brown Taylor book I had been reading, I looked at my TBR stack and finally picked this one up.  I was right; starting and finishing it was sad.  It begins with a letter from her husband Dan, and intro by Jeff Chu, and finishes with an essay by her friend Nadia Boltz Weber.  There was a sadness in all of those for me. 

But the rest of the book was great.  Not sad.  Just Rachel's insightful voice.  The first half is about Wholehearted Faith and what that means, and the second half is a collection of less connected work - essays.  All of it has Rachel's theme of grace and love. I highlighted, marked with post-it notes, and wrote blog posts from it. It was great to hear her talking again, for one more time (until I pick up one of her older books and read it again!).

I highly recommend.

Posts about book

Evans Wholehearted