In Search of Grace: A Journey Across America's Landscape of Faith Rating :
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Fascinating Exploration of America's Melting Pot
By Todd Havens
Kristin Hahn's book was a wonderful find for me. Not only did I grow up feeling like a religious outsider myself, but I could easily relate to her tolerant and often humorous approach to each and every belief system that she experiences. I say "experiences" because that is exactly what this book is all about. How do people of widely differing beliefs experience the transcendent? And how does that inform their personal and communal lives?
Though this book is by no means a comprehensive or exhaustive approach to the pluralistic society in which we live (how could any book achieve that?), it shared with me many fascinating (and sometimes secretive) glimpses of the diverse American religious topography that we have inherited. What makes this a five-star review is that Kristin Hahn shares her spiritual awakening with the reader in such melodic prose that I have ordered this book with the hope of revisiting it from time to time when I will inevitably find myself viewing the world through mono-chromatic glasses.
In Search of Grace will always remind me of how much richer the world of spirituality and belief is when viewed as a tapestry of differing shades of grey.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
An eye-opening personal account
By Blissful Mama
This book offers an interesting look into one woman's search for the meaning and experience of spiritualty. I think the book's layout (chapters devoted to different branches of religion, along with the brief histories of each group given at the start of the chapter) lend's itself to be (mis)interpreted as a non-fiction anthology. At times I felt the book was misinforming, especially on Unitarian Universalism, which is my own leaning. However, in retrospect, I think the author never intended to be an authority. Through this book I saw Catholic practices and rituals in a new light and with renewed inspiration, and had my interest piqued about Sikhs, Mormons, Amish and the Scientologists. I found the writing to be a little too "pop" for me at times, and generally like the content of the accounts more than her way of telling about them.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.A Grace to Read
By Tim Fort
I read this book three years ago and thought it was a lovely and interesting book, so much so that I assigned it for a class I teach. I just finished reading it again and I found that I loved it even more. like sacred scriptures themselves, Hahn's book has depth uncovered by repeated engagement. "In Search of Grace" really is a grace to read.
Product Description
After years as a Hollywood writer and filmmaker, Kristin Hahn felt a crisis of faith: she had no spiritual group she could call her own. Setting out on a three-year journey, she began an investigation of America's religious traditions, practices, and beliefs.
Crisscrossing the nation, Hahn spent a week cloistered in prayer with convent nuns and a month of Ramadan fasting with Muslims. She went door-to-door with young Mormon missionaries and head-to-head with turbaned Sikh yogis. She sat through marathon meditations with Buddhist masters and spent days in conversation and ceremony with an 0jibwe medicine man. Her explorations exposed her to the rich, ancient culture of the Jews and brought her into the enclaves of Christian Scientists and Amish farmers, as well as the less traditional realms of Scientology, neopagan witchcraft, and the congregations of new-age gurus.
And this was only the beginning.
Openhearted, humorous, and always thoughtful, In Search of Grace offers nourishment for our spiritual hunger -- and a myriad of ways to find a religious home.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #102386 in Books
- Published on: 2003-03-04
- Released on: 2003-03-04
- Original language:English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 7.87" h x5.28" w x.79" l,.61 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 320 pages
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