Welcome to Litsy!

Listening to the audio of this is a whole experience. I am grateful that this book was able to be completed for Rachel. The spirit of her words really comes through. The afterword by Nadia Bolz-Weber absolutely gutted me, though. Rachel‘s work was instrumental in giving me the courage to walk away from Evangelicalism and open myself to a different way of existing within those doubts and longings. ⬇️

This was bittersweet. It felt much less focused than her other work, which is to be expected for a book assembled posthumously from a half-finished draft and other pieces of her writing. But it‘s still full of Rachel‘s humor, warmth, and wisdom, and it pointed me back to a God who loves each of us deeply. And it made me tear up to think of all that Rachel still had left to say. I‘m thankful to have had one last book from this wonderful voice.

“…In other words, I could be a Christian as long as I loved God with half my heart, half my soul, half my mind, and half my body. (Actually, maybe just a quarter of my body.)”

(2021) I picked this up for a shared "exvangelical" / "deconstructing" group read. I agree with Evans's view of god as radically welcoming; of god indulging questions and doubt; and of god as challenging us to be as open to others as it is of us. Some of the religious language does not speak to me in the way it once would have done, and I wish I'd encountered it or something like it thirty years ago.

When I attended RHE‘s online-streamed funeral after she died unexpectedly from a sudden illness, I had no way of knowing that within two months I would lose my own best friend in a tragic accident. Listening to this, the last book that she was working on at the time of her death, narrated by her closest friends and family, was bittersweet. She so eloquently gave hope to all of us, especially including those who have been hurt by the church.

Grateful to have one last book from Rachel Held Evans. Jeff Chu does a wonderful job taking her last partial manuscript and holding onto her voice throughout. Chu threads in some familiar bits from her past stories and writings, so it feels complete. It also has a forward from Rachel‘s husband Dan, and comments from Chu and Nadia Bolz-Weber, which was lovely to include. Sad this is her last book, but thankful for her enduring legacy.

It is bittersweet reading this last book by Rachel Held Evans. Her writing meant so much to me, and I‘m glad to have one more chance to hear from her, but so so sad that she died so young and there will be no more. She was smart and brave and called BS when she saw it. She questioned everything about her faith and God. I miss her voice in the world.