When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over by Addie Zierman is a memoir I needed to read.
Her story starts in Tenth Grade. Her mom drops her off at the flagpole for "See You At the Pole," a phenomenon experienced by many of us who grew up evangelical in the nineties. Once a year, Christian teenagers were challenged to meet at the flagpole before school, pray for their fellow classmates, and risk their high school status for the sake of Christ. As her mom drives away, Addie is left alone, in the rain, wondering why no one is there to pray with her. Her mind drifts from one realization to another. Pride -- she's the only Christian student who bothered to show up in the rain and pray for her school. Isolation -- her lonely stand also leaves her insecure about her place.
It's that drift from one realization to another that sets the tone for this excellent memoir. Part life story, part spiritual narrative for those of us who grew up in this saturated Christian culture. Zierman takes us on the journey many of us have already walked.
The sort of "sacrifices" we made for living a faithful Christian life, "on fire for God". My life, like hers, was spent in this Christian 90s subculture: WWJD bracelets, Christian pop music, Jesus books. But most importantly the Jesus-speak.
Each of her chapters are organized around that Jesus-speak, terms that the evangelical culture relishes. Those same terms brought me through the same isolating journey and spiritual crisis that Zierman writes in When We Were On Fire.
We watch what this evangelical culture does to her faith -- from college and into marriage. But what I most love about this book is her ability to tell that story without placing blame on any one person. It'd be easy to demonize an oppressive culture that demands obedience. But Zierman highlights both the benefits of that life and the tragedies that resulted.
The moments of her desperation and depression are palpable. The line her husband whispers in the midst of all her brokenness -- "Come to bed with me, sweetie" -- highlight the tenderness and love that are really at the heart of this story.
It's the brokenness and tenderness of love that are really the core of When We Were on Fire. Zierman knows first-hand what oppressive Christian cultures can do. But she also knows the grace of Christ that comes through those cultures and grows out of them.
So the brokenness that isn't the real story that's told her. It's the story of the hopefulness of Christian love.
That makes this book a must-have for all of us who are seeking a way of being Christian.
_____________
I received this book free, from the Blogging for Books program, in exchange for my honest review.
Her story starts in Tenth Grade. Her mom drops her off at the flagpole for "See You At the Pole," a phenomenon experienced by many of us who grew up evangelical in the nineties. Once a year, Christian teenagers were challenged to meet at the flagpole before school, pray for their fellow classmates, and risk their high school status for the sake of Christ. As her mom drives away, Addie is left alone, in the rain, wondering why no one is there to pray with her. Her mind drifts from one realization to another. Pride -- she's the only Christian student who bothered to show up in the rain and pray for her school. Isolation -- her lonely stand also leaves her insecure about her place.It's that drift from one realization to another that sets the tone for this excellent memoir. Part life story, part spiritual narrative for those of us who grew up in this saturated Christian culture. Zierman takes us on the journey many of us have already walked.
The sort of "sacrifices" we made for living a faithful Christian life, "on fire for God". My life, like hers, was spent in this Christian 90s subculture: WWJD bracelets, Christian pop music, Jesus books. But most importantly the Jesus-speak.
Each of her chapters are organized around that Jesus-speak, terms that the evangelical culture relishes. Those same terms brought me through the same isolating journey and spiritual crisis that Zierman writes in When We Were On Fire.
We watch what this evangelical culture does to her faith -- from college and into marriage. But what I most love about this book is her ability to tell that story without placing blame on any one person. It'd be easy to demonize an oppressive culture that demands obedience. But Zierman highlights both the benefits of that life and the tragedies that resulted.
The moments of her desperation and depression are palpable. The line her husband whispers in the midst of all her brokenness -- "Come to bed with me, sweetie" -- highlight the tenderness and love that are really at the heart of this story.
It's the brokenness and tenderness of love that are really the core of When We Were on Fire. Zierman knows first-hand what oppressive Christian cultures can do. But she also knows the grace of Christ that comes through those cultures and grows out of them.
So the brokenness that isn't the real story that's told her. It's the story of the hopefulness of Christian love.
That makes this book a must-have for all of us who are seeking a way of being Christian.
_____________
I received this book free, from the Blogging for Books program, in exchange for my honest review.
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