Kathleen NorrisAmazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith

My aunt recommended this book to me several years ago but I was involved with other things at the time and did not get it. Then Amazon recommended it to me again later and that time I did get it. I read it one essay at a time as a part of my daily devotional. It's a great feeling when an articulate, gifted writer puts into words one's own beliefs as this one did for me.Page 310: ". . . Here, too, is the justification of the mystic's certainty, as in Shaw's 'St. Joan,' when she responds calmly to an inquisitor's pouncing on the word imagination, as if to spring a trap. 'I hear voices telling me what to do,' Joan says. 'They come from God.' 'They come from your imagination?' her interrogator asks, and she replies, 'Of course. That is how the messages of God come to us.'"Kathleen Norris's extensive study of the Christian religious history is expressed in this book and benefits the reader.It is poetic in parts which presents a difficulty for me because although I value poetry and admire poets, as an analyical person, I often don't get it. (She says her husband is both poetic and analytical -- a wonderful gift.) Nevertheless it was a priceless experience.This is not a book for fundamentalist Christians. It is a book for us spiritual seekers who love God with all our hearts.

I have read other books by Kathleen Norris, and am working my way through the rest. Above all else she is a magnificent storyteller. In my opinion, storytelling is a lost (but terribly necessary) art. I find myself lost in her books and, when I stop reading (when I can), I feel like I've been in another place. She has a way of pulling you in and never wanting to leave. In this book she is trying to define spiritual words that people of faith use. She was coming out of a time of being away from the church, and finding that she had trouble accepting these words that she's heard most of her young life. As a Christian who has been away from the church and is now trying to return, I find myself in the same place. A lot of the language of the church leaves me confused. Kathleen takes these words and defines them in a technical sense, but more so applies stories and examples that make them so clear. I recommend anything she's written, especially her book Dakota.

Kathleen Norris has given us all the benefit of her spiritual journey, and I have now given this book to several friends. We're all unique, created "a little lower than angels", and our relationships with God are unique. Not all of us have been born with child-like faith, and this book is profound reading for folks who have struggled along the way. Ms Norris correctly places her emphasis upon the importance of our spiritual vocabulary as a key component of this process. I agree with one reviewer who compared the book to candid conversations with a highly literate, understanding friend. This is not the "warm and fuzzy" language of faith, but the testimony of a woman who has looked long and hard at questions that many of us struggle with in becoming a "woman of fatih", much to her own surprise. Her testimony will speak volumes to many people who grew up in the 1950's and 1960's who need to hear from just such a voice. Buy this book and take the time to absorb what this poet has to say. Highly recommended.

A rare example of an open minded look at religion and particularly at Christianity based on the writers personal experience, good and bad. Kathleen Norris was brought up in a traditional mid-western family with strong ties to the Methodist and Presbyterian denominations. Like so many of us, she found the church irrelevant to her life and career as a writer, poet and educator.The book addresses her struggle later in life to find again her faith and commitment to the small town church where her grandmother had attended faithfully for sixty years. Organized around the words that most scared her, she presents the challenges faced by so many who try to find meaning in the code language of those on the inside. I have read many stimulating books on religion but this one stands out for its honesty and value. I would recommend it highly both to Christians seeking to understand better their religion and to those who are not Christian but would like to better know it.

I was concerned about the slow delivery but that is understandable in this busy, trucking-problems time. The seller contacted me with sincere concern and courtesy. I would not hesitate to order from them again. The book arrived just as described, packaged well, and is most satisfactory.

"Amazing Grace" must be savored in small bites. There's too much here to boggle the mind in order to read too much at one time (aside from the fact that I was jumping up and down several times screaming, "YES! YES!" while reading it). I was glad that each chapter is, at most, only a few pages. Norris has put into words what I so often have felt and thought: that I, alone, experienced this. If you are coming into this from a narrow, fundamentalist viewpoint, you will undoubtedly find a couple thousand things to critique; if you're coming in as someone who is disillusioned with the Christian faith but are hanging on by your fingernails and sincerely WANT to find something to call your own, you will find encouragement. And affirmation. And a way forward.

I've read a couple hunderd Theological books including most of C.S. Lewis; Tozer; Willard and Bonhoffer.I would rate AMAZING GRACE IN MY TOP 10! Kathleen writes in a casual personable style. She has Amazing insights. Her writer's club includes Athiests and Buddists and none of them are offended by what she writes, uncluding Me! She is a sweet and gentle Soul.

If you like a book that really makes you think, this is the one for you. We used this book for our church discussion group and it was really wonderful. You can choose to read one or two chapters at a time. I would definitely recommend.