My Review of "Good God, Lousy World and Me"

I have worked with troubled teens from broken homes, teens whose lives are themselves more broken than any thirteen year old girl should endure. I have worked with adults in residential facilities, who developmental disabilities have broken my heart. I now work with adults with autism. My work has taught me to grieve at the world's brokenness. These are jobs you shut off when you clock out. That kind of brokenness sticks with you.

So in reading Holly Burkhalter's Good God, Lousy World, and Me: The Improbable Journey of a Human Rights Actuvist from Unbelief to Faith, I found a kindred spirit.

I cried -- tears of joy. But also tears of pain.

This book is her honest journey from unfaith to faith. And rather than glossing happy and pious, Burkhalter writes with all the honesty that is at the heart of following Jesus.

There is darkness and evil in the world. She's seen it. And her accounting of all that pain gripped my soul. There's so much of it in the world. So, if God is so good, why is there all that suffering?

That's the question she seeks to answer in the book.

This is, after all, the single biggest roadblock for so many people. And Burkhalter talks about those times she couldn't get around it.

Until, she met those who lived Jesus in the midst of all that brokenness. People who taught her to pray and love, to hope and struggle, to believe and doubt.

Compassion, empathy, kindness, prayer, love, and help. In the middle of a "lousy world", that's what kept her going on this journey of faith.

Reading this book helped to settle some of my own doubts. But I'm still a companion on this way. It's a true answer, though: Love, love -- God's love in and through Jesus, in and through us. Love is why I believe.

This book brought tears to my eyes. Because it's a picture of our world. It's a picture of me, of those I work with. It's a picture of my husband's work in the church.

And it's a book you deserve to read!

___________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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