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Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith
A nurturing and hopeful collection of practices to help an emerging generation of Christians reconnect to their faith, find inner healing, and build spiritual community—from Glennon Doyle’s “favorite faith writer” and the New York Times bestselling author of Jesus Feminist and editor of A Rhythm of Prayer
It’s hard to leave a faith that has raised us. Maybe it’s even harder to stay. But what can feel impossible is living in the tension. Living with a faith that evolves.
Sarah Bessey is an expert at faithfully stumbling forward. As a New York Times bestselling author and co-founder of Evolving Faith, the foremost community for progressive Christians, she has been trusted by thousands of people to pursue a reconstruction of faith centered on compassion, truth, and inclusion. Bessey has found a deeply underserved and underestimated remnant in the wilderness of Christianity who are still devoted to Jesus, deeply rooted in the Gospel, fascinated with Scripture, and committed to reimagining their faith.
Field Notes for the Wilderness guides us through multiple principles to live by for an evolving faith, including
• practicing wonder and curiosity as spiritual disciplines
• mothering ourselves with compassion and empathy
• making space for lament and righteous rage
• finding good spiritual teachers
• discovering what we are for in this life, and moving in that direction
In this groundbreaking and nurturing book, Bessey becomes a shepherd for our curiosity, giving us a table for our questions, tools to cultivate what we crave, and a blessing for what was—even as we leave it behind.
It’s hard to leave a faith that has raised us. Maybe it’s even harder to stay. But what can feel impossible is living in the tension. Living with a faith that evolves.
Sarah Bessey is an expert at faithfully stumbling forward. As a New York Times bestselling author and co-founder of Evolving Faith, the foremost community for progressive Christians, she has been trusted by thousands of people to pursue a reconstruction of faith centered on compassion, truth, and inclusion. Bessey has found a deeply underserved and underestimated remnant in the wilderness of Christianity who are still devoted to Jesus, deeply rooted in the Gospel, fascinated with Scripture, and committed to reimagining their faith.
Field Notes for the Wilderness guides us through multiple principles to live by for an evolving faith, including
• practicing wonder and curiosity as spiritual disciplines
• mothering ourselves with compassion and empathy
• making space for lament and righteous rage
• finding good spiritual teachers
• discovering what we are for in this life, and moving in that direction
In this groundbreaking and nurturing book, Bessey becomes a shepherd for our curiosity, giving us a table for our questions, tools to cultivate what we crave, and a blessing for what was—even as we leave it behind.
241 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 20, 2024
626 people are currently reading
8257 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Bessey
20 books2,213 followersSARAH BESSEY is the author of the national bestseller "Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith." She is also the editor of the New York Times, Globe and Mail, and Publisher's Weekly bestselling book, "A Rhythm of Prayer" and the author of three popular and critically acclaimed books: "Miracles and Other Reasonable Things;" "Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith;" and "Jesus Feminist."
Sarah lives in Calgary, Alberta with her husband and their four children.
You can find her online at sarahbessey.com.
Sarah lives in Calgary, Alberta with her husband and their four children.
You can find her online at sarahbessey.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 369 reviews
November 15, 2023
I was only a few pages into Sarah Bessey's "Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith" when I shed my first tear.
It wouldn't be my last.
In fact, I cried often throughout "Field Notes for the Wilderness," the latest book from the popular Christian author and blogger who is also co-founder of the Evolving Faith conference and podcast.
I first became familiar with Bessey via social media, her warm yet direct spirit appealing to me and my few encounters with her affirming my sense that she's what my Kentucky relatives would call "good people."
I must confess, however, that my tears while reading "Field Notes for the Wilderness" weren't always entirely because of a response to the direct subject. Instead, this "wilderness" that Bessey writes of feels very connected to the last few years of my life as I've lost a limb, experienced bladder cancer (and lost the bladder), experienced prostate cancer (and lost the prostate), acquired a new urostomy, lost my brother, lost my brother, and lost my best friend all within the past four years.
I have, quite honestly, felt very disconnected and very much like I'm wandering.
Into this wandering, I began encountering different writers - some Christian, some not. These included Bessey, Nadia Bolz-Weber, the late Rachel Held Evans, Beth Allison Barr, and even Miroslav Volf (whom I affectionately call my favorite theologian).
"Field Notes for the Wilderness" essentially plops us down in the midst of our deconstruction of faith, really an evolving of faith (evolving being a term I find more inclusive and accurate in my case), and nurtures our faith, our curiosity, and our desire to live into our beliefs that haven't always had space in organized religion.
Bessey writes about practicing wonder and curiosity as spiritual disciplines, mothering ourselves with compassion and empathy, making space for lament (I cried a lot here) and righteous rage (I probably should have been angry here, but I cried some more), finding good (and in my case healthy) spiritual teachers, and moving toward what we are "for" in this life.
Bessey isn't a prescriptive author. She certainly writes what has worked for her, however, her writing presents itself as more companion and mentor than anything else. She's the kind of author you want to run into at a conference (sadly, I never have) and she strikes me as a safe space for one to confess that ever-evolving faith (and we sure need those safe spaces).
By the end of "Field Notes for the Wilderness," I felt heard. I felt seen. I felt nurtured. I felt fed. There is one line, the very last line (at least in my ARC Galley of her book) of chapter 16 that still leaves me in tears every single time I think about it.
Available with a companion guided journal (and I strongly recommend reading the book first), "Field Notes for the Wilderness" feels like that unexpected creek you find when you're wandering in the wilderness.
"Field Notes for the Wilderness" is Bessey at her very best, a coach and mentor and friend for an evolving faith offering presence, nurture, coaching, mentoring, a few gentle nudges, and a whole lot of love.
It wouldn't be my last.
In fact, I cried often throughout "Field Notes for the Wilderness," the latest book from the popular Christian author and blogger who is also co-founder of the Evolving Faith conference and podcast.
I first became familiar with Bessey via social media, her warm yet direct spirit appealing to me and my few encounters with her affirming my sense that she's what my Kentucky relatives would call "good people."
I must confess, however, that my tears while reading "Field Notes for the Wilderness" weren't always entirely because of a response to the direct subject. Instead, this "wilderness" that Bessey writes of feels very connected to the last few years of my life as I've lost a limb, experienced bladder cancer (and lost the bladder), experienced prostate cancer (and lost the prostate), acquired a new urostomy, lost my brother, lost my brother, and lost my best friend all within the past four years.
I have, quite honestly, felt very disconnected and very much like I'm wandering.
Into this wandering, I began encountering different writers - some Christian, some not. These included Bessey, Nadia Bolz-Weber, the late Rachel Held Evans, Beth Allison Barr, and even Miroslav Volf (whom I affectionately call my favorite theologian).
"Field Notes for the Wilderness" essentially plops us down in the midst of our deconstruction of faith, really an evolving of faith (evolving being a term I find more inclusive and accurate in my case), and nurtures our faith, our curiosity, and our desire to live into our beliefs that haven't always had space in organized religion.
Bessey writes about practicing wonder and curiosity as spiritual disciplines, mothering ourselves with compassion and empathy, making space for lament (I cried a lot here) and righteous rage (I probably should have been angry here, but I cried some more), finding good (and in my case healthy) spiritual teachers, and moving toward what we are "for" in this life.
Bessey isn't a prescriptive author. She certainly writes what has worked for her, however, her writing presents itself as more companion and mentor than anything else. She's the kind of author you want to run into at a conference (sadly, I never have) and she strikes me as a safe space for one to confess that ever-evolving faith (and we sure need those safe spaces).
By the end of "Field Notes for the Wilderness," I felt heard. I felt seen. I felt nurtured. I felt fed. There is one line, the very last line (at least in my ARC Galley of her book) of chapter 16 that still leaves me in tears every single time I think about it.
Available with a companion guided journal (and I strongly recommend reading the book first), "Field Notes for the Wilderness" feels like that unexpected creek you find when you're wandering in the wilderness.
"Field Notes for the Wilderness" is Bessey at her very best, a coach and mentor and friend for an evolving faith offering presence, nurture, coaching, mentoring, a few gentle nudges, and a whole lot of love.
May 1, 2024
This book feels like warmth and welcome and goodness - like being wrapped up in a quilt fresh from the dryer and layered cozy socks on a cold evening. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything that made me feel as seen and known and beloved as this book made me feel. It gave me hope and made me cry.
You know that verse in Psalm 84 that talks about people journeying through the Valley of Weeping, their tears transforming the landscape into a place of springs (the implication being that those who follow after will then find sustenance along their own way)? This book is that.
It’s a sweet, honest collection of letters to spiritual wrestlers, wanderers, and path-finders, written from the heart of someone walking ahead who has dug a deep well. What a healing, refreshing read this was. I cannot recommend it enough.
You know that verse in Psalm 84 that talks about people journeying through the Valley of Weeping, their tears transforming the landscape into a place of springs (the implication being that those who follow after will then find sustenance along their own way)? This book is that.
It’s a sweet, honest collection of letters to spiritual wrestlers, wanderers, and path-finders, written from the heart of someone walking ahead who has dug a deep well. What a healing, refreshing read this was. I cannot recommend it enough.
February 21, 2024
Love, love, love, love, love, love, LOVE.
I would say that this book is a case of reading exactly what I needed at the right time. And that would certainly be true, yet somehow it seems that whenever and whatever I read of Bessey’s work feels as if it was meant for that moment. So I think the truth is simply that Sarah Bessey has a gift with words. My mother introduced me to @sarahbessey’s writing before my daughter was born, (more than thirteen years ago!) and I never fail to be moved by her ability to speak truth in the most gracious, compassionate way.
As someone who has been battered and beaten by a church family I loved and have seen the best and worst of Christianity and the Church during my almost forty-two years, I found this book to be healing and restorative in ways that I didn’t know still needed a balm. In the last handful of years I have found myself to be sort of a misfit in spiritual circles—too progressive for some, too conservative for others. Too charismatic in this setting but too liturgical in another. My faith has changed and grown over the last six years, and it’s not been an easy journey. I am simply so thankful for the gift that Sarah Bessey offers all of us with this book.
Even if you don’t necessarily see yourself in a place of spiritual disentangling or deconstruction, I highly recommend you read this book. There is so much truth to be gleaned for every believer. And if you do find yourself in the midst of a spiritual journey, please, please, please read this book. I loved it. I am refusing to quote a single word from it because I want you to read it for yourself. I will say that I wept, and I mean WEPT with tears pouring down my face, reading Sarah’s benediction for her readers at the end of the book. I read it again today thinking I could casually look through it for a quote, and nope…full-fledged tears again. It is a beautiful, beautiful book. I intentionally placed this cozy blanket up against the book because every single chapter felt like a comforting hug from God to me. This book is not just a “feel good” sort of book—there are some challenging truths, but Sarah’s words are gentle and kind.
I want for everyone to read this book and then come talk to me about it. ❤️
Thank you so much for this gifted copy, Convergent Books, in exchange for my honest review.
I would say that this book is a case of reading exactly what I needed at the right time. And that would certainly be true, yet somehow it seems that whenever and whatever I read of Bessey’s work feels as if it was meant for that moment. So I think the truth is simply that Sarah Bessey has a gift with words. My mother introduced me to @sarahbessey’s writing before my daughter was born, (more than thirteen years ago!) and I never fail to be moved by her ability to speak truth in the most gracious, compassionate way.
As someone who has been battered and beaten by a church family I loved and have seen the best and worst of Christianity and the Church during my almost forty-two years, I found this book to be healing and restorative in ways that I didn’t know still needed a balm. In the last handful of years I have found myself to be sort of a misfit in spiritual circles—too progressive for some, too conservative for others. Too charismatic in this setting but too liturgical in another. My faith has changed and grown over the last six years, and it’s not been an easy journey. I am simply so thankful for the gift that Sarah Bessey offers all of us with this book.
Even if you don’t necessarily see yourself in a place of spiritual disentangling or deconstruction, I highly recommend you read this book. There is so much truth to be gleaned for every believer. And if you do find yourself in the midst of a spiritual journey, please, please, please read this book. I loved it. I am refusing to quote a single word from it because I want you to read it for yourself. I will say that I wept, and I mean WEPT with tears pouring down my face, reading Sarah’s benediction for her readers at the end of the book. I read it again today thinking I could casually look through it for a quote, and nope…full-fledged tears again. It is a beautiful, beautiful book. I intentionally placed this cozy blanket up against the book because every single chapter felt like a comforting hug from God to me. This book is not just a “feel good” sort of book—there are some challenging truths, but Sarah’s words are gentle and kind.
I want for everyone to read this book and then come talk to me about it. ❤️
Thank you so much for this gifted copy, Convergent Books, in exchange for my honest review.
January 14, 2024
Sarah Bessey has accomplished exactly what she set out to do! This is a beautiful companion to anyone in the Spiritual wilderness - the place where your faith is evolving or you’ve felt like you don’t belong. This book is a unique guide; she does not offer a step by step process to deconstruction. Rather, she attests to her own evolving faith and invites the reader to discern and embody the practices that have guided her. Re-imagine the wilderness, go slowly, see it all as sacramental, find good teachers and companions, reclaim what’s been twisted, tell the truth, know that the wilderness does not negate belonging, and you cannot escape Gods love: these are just a few of the rich and hopeful words Bessey offers.
Thanks to NetGalley and Convergent Books for the ARC!
Thanks to NetGalley and Convergent Books for the ARC!
March 4, 2024
I began my own deconstruction when my Mom passed away and I watched my church not know how to love or help someone my age going through grief like that. I had many friends who showed me the love of God through that season, but I was definitely hurt by the church during this time. Fast forward to 2020, and I watched that same church laugh at mask mandates and continue to meet, I watched my former pastor talk about how the children in cages at the border were being saved and would be great missionaries one day, and I was just enraged. Now, I watch as pastors who are supposed to speak truth and love, continue to support and praise a genocide of people all because they believe a nation must exist for Jesus to come home.
Living internationally now, I look at the ‘church’ in America and it breaks my heart and disgusts me most days. It’s hard to imagine ever wanting to step foot back inside, but this book…man. Sarah Bessey so tenderly and lovingly brings us back to the central purpose of our lives and points out so perfectly and poignantly to us that our faith is ever evolving and that the ‘church’ doesn’t have to be the answer, but Jesus still is.
It was just what my heart needed this season. If you have ever been or are currently on the path of deconstruction or faith evolution, I highly encourage you to read it. It is amazing ♥️
Living internationally now, I look at the ‘church’ in America and it breaks my heart and disgusts me most days. It’s hard to imagine ever wanting to step foot back inside, but this book…man. Sarah Bessey so tenderly and lovingly brings us back to the central purpose of our lives and points out so perfectly and poignantly to us that our faith is ever evolving and that the ‘church’ doesn’t have to be the answer, but Jesus still is.
It was just what my heart needed this season. If you have ever been or are currently on the path of deconstruction or faith evolution, I highly encourage you to read it. It is amazing ♥️
Read
March 27, 2024I feel held by these words.
“It isn’t only sad and tragic things that are real: redemption is real, renewal is real, joy is still real. Kisses in the kitchen and underlined poems and herons gliding low over the water are real. Nurses who stand vigil at bedsides and teachers who read stories abound and sanitation workers who dress up as superheroes to collect trash so that kids stuck inside sick have something to look forward to while the days pass, all real. Eucharist and old hymns, iron-gray skies and hearing the words “I love you still” are real, too. A Savior who sits in our sorrow, lentil soup simmering on the stove, forgiveness, all real.”
“It isn’t only sad and tragic things that are real: redemption is real, renewal is real, joy is still real. Kisses in the kitchen and underlined poems and herons gliding low over the water are real. Nurses who stand vigil at bedsides and teachers who read stories abound and sanitation workers who dress up as superheroes to collect trash so that kids stuck inside sick have something to look forward to while the days pass, all real. Eucharist and old hymns, iron-gray skies and hearing the words “I love you still” are real, too. A Savior who sits in our sorrow, lentil soup simmering on the stove, forgiveness, all real.”
October 24, 2023
Sarah Bessey's writing always hits home. In this book, she's writing for all of us in the wilderness, searching for meaning and connection with God, and it's personal because she's been there too. The central point to her writing is that God loves us, no matter where we find ourselves, and she offers hope for each of us as we move through different places of understanding. As always, her writing is warm and compassionate, and her personal anecdotes and use of Bible verses serve to drive home important points. While she has obviously spent a lot of time thinking about and weighing her beliefs, she doesn't claim to have all of the answers, which allows the reader to formulate their own thoughts on the matter.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.
June 24, 2024
I think that Sarah Bessey wrote a book with a lot of important truths in it. However, nothing in it captured me and left me awestruck, which isn't entirely necessary, but it's also nice to find revelations that increase my understanding when reading someone else's interpretations of our God and His scriptures. I'm not sure that I'm in the right space for this book to be as impactful as it has the potential to be and that's okay. I would recommend other books before this one, but if you're starting to question God or going through some deconstruction of your faith this will hopefully provide some guidance and wisdom for you!
March 22, 2024
Maybe I wasn't the right audience. I loved and agreed with every single thing Sarah Bessey wrote in this, but I was waiting for just...a bit *more.* I think this could be SUCH a helpful book to someone who's new to exploring faith shifts and needs a starting point. Maybe it's because I've been reading about faith deconstruction for a few years now and have read similar books from all her contemporaries (Rachel Held Evans, Strahan Coleman, etc), but I didn't really feel like any point was groundbreaking.
August 8, 2024
This is such a beautiful book, and an essential read for me. She spoke to my experience and the experience of so many friends. Looking forward to discussing this, I think that will make it even better.
July 29, 2024
I decided to read this more like a devotional— reading one chapter every Sunday (for 17 weeks/chapters). I loved how the author started each chapter as a letter— the tone felt very caring, reflective, vulnerable, and conversational.
Field Notes is one of the most eloquent and encouraging —with moments of necessary disruption— spiritual books I have read in a long time. It will be a forever favorite for me as a guide book of how true faith (not religion) should look and feel. If you’re “lost,” these letters will help you find a way forward and toward a deeper understanding of how faith should evolve WITH us.
Field Notes is one of the most eloquent and encouraging —with moments of necessary disruption— spiritual books I have read in a long time. It will be a forever favorite for me as a guide book of how true faith (not religion) should look and feel. If you’re “lost,” these letters will help you find a way forward and toward a deeper understanding of how faith should evolve WITH us.
March 26, 2025
I listened to this as an audiobook, and it was quite enjoyable to listen to. I appreciate Sarah Bessey as an author and as a fellow white woman, I appreciate the ways she continues to speak out about injustice and preach a loving and inclusive theology.
Although a good listen, I was hoping for more depth in this book! I wanted more “umph” and more quotes that leave me thinking critically and reflecting deeply.
Highlightable quote from Archbishop Desmond Tutu that was referenced- “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they are falling in.” Happy social work month!
Although a good listen, I was hoping for more depth in this book! I wanted more “umph” and more quotes that leave me thinking critically and reflecting deeply.
Highlightable quote from Archbishop Desmond Tutu that was referenced- “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they are falling in.” Happy social work month!
Read
August 25, 2024This book is a gift to the 18/19-year old version of myself that still lives inside me. Now that I am a good bit removed from my journey from conservative evangelical religiosity to embracing a Love which casts the widest net as my guiding light, I can think about my former self sweetly and offer these words to that self who was once a fresh college student, navigating an evolving faith. I recall words from Christian Wiman, who Bessey also gestures to in this book, “Sometimes God calls a person to unbelief in order that faith may take new forms.” Thank you, Sarah<3
“It’s here I discovered that the wilderness isn’t a problem to be solved, it is another altar of intimacy with God.”
“Creating rituals and moments of meaning at the crossroads of your loss is a form of healing, too. It’s a form of resurrection, right here and now. We will experience a dozen small deaths here, and we’ll witness a dozen small resurrections, too.”
“Your burgeoning sense of astonishment is admitting that being useful isn’t everything. There has to be room for what is beautiful, simply for its own sake.”
“There has to be room for nonsensical, wasteful, and sacramental noticing because through it you begin to witness God’s heavy pour of love into your cup.”
“Pay attention, be mindful of loving this particular world and your particular people and your particular place and your particular self. Love is not cautious but extravagant and specific.”
“It’s here I discovered that the wilderness isn’t a problem to be solved, it is another altar of intimacy with God.”
“Creating rituals and moments of meaning at the crossroads of your loss is a form of healing, too. It’s a form of resurrection, right here and now. We will experience a dozen small deaths here, and we’ll witness a dozen small resurrections, too.”
“Your burgeoning sense of astonishment is admitting that being useful isn’t everything. There has to be room for what is beautiful, simply for its own sake.”
“There has to be room for nonsensical, wasteful, and sacramental noticing because through it you begin to witness God’s heavy pour of love into your cup.”
“Pay attention, be mindful of loving this particular world and your particular people and your particular place and your particular self. Love is not cautious but extravagant and specific.”
March 15, 2024
If Sarah Bessey has a million fans, I am one of them. If she has ten fans, I am one of them. If she has one fan, it is me. If she has zero fans, I have passed peacefully in my sleep.
BUT REALLY her honesty, beautiful way with words, and profound wisdom has been healing and formative for me. Highly recommend if you’ve ever wrestled with your beliefs (haven’t we all), and have ever felt like you’re living in the lonely wilderness of your faith.
BUT REALLY her honesty, beautiful way with words, and profound wisdom has been healing and formative for me. Highly recommend if you’ve ever wrestled with your beliefs (haven’t we all), and have ever felt like you’re living in the lonely wilderness of your faith.
March 31, 2024
Review to follow
Read
September 23, 2024There were some things I liked, but I stopped reading because it made me feel lukewarm about my faith whereas other books make me feel like I'm burning hot in my faith. I don't know how else to describe why I wanted to stop reading a book of seemingly good thoughts.
March 11, 2024
I can’t say enough good things about Bessey’s latest book. She has a captivating and humorous writing style that makes you feel like you are sitting down with a close friend. Her words brought me comfort and encouragement. If you feel like you are lost in the wilderness after leaving your church home or faith community, definitely read this one. I wish I had bought the book instead of borrowed from the library. I know it would have been highlighted to death.
September 2, 2024
I wish I would have had this book 8 years ago, but I'm not sure I would have related as much having just entered the wilderness. She put such beautiful words to my experiences. It was a blessing to read it. I've read a lot of Christian faith journey books in the last few years, and this is one of my favorites.
November 27, 2024
Y’all. Where to start!?
If you know me at all you know that I have been going to the Evolving Faith Conference since the first one back in 2018. You already know that I love Sarah Bessey and her books and all of her writing. You might have heard me say that RHE, Sarah Bessey, and Nadia Bolz-Webber and their writings and sermons and podcasts helped me so much when I was really struggling “in the wilderness” of my own HUGE EXISTENTIAL SPIRITUAL FAITH CRISIS / DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL/ DECONSTRUCTION… whatever words you want to use to describe it. Those 3 women in particular helped me figure out how I could hold onto Jesus when so much of my theology and all of my certainty had “crumbled like sand ‘neath the waves” (yes that’s a Bible & Jennifer Knapp lyric reference.)
I finished listening to the audiobook while driving home from work today. (It is read by Sarah and I highly recommend it!) a word of caution though: if you are often moved to tears by beautiful, healing words of encouragement, blessings, and her benedictions, you probably shouldn’t be driving while listening to those parts! I had a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes so many times as I listened.
A few quotes from her benediction/blessing at the end of the book:
“So here, take this with you for the journey along with my love and hope. Sometimes when we don’t know what we think about anything, it’s nice to just rest in someone else’s faith for a while anyway, especially when we feel a bit out of sorts. Open your hands and receive whatever lands. Everywhere we are is already held in the love of God, even in those times when the night gathers and you are on your own.” (217)
“First, I pray for you to know, to believe, to make your home within the love of God. May you be stubbornly convinced of your own value and belovedness. May you know that you aren’t a problem to be solved, you never were.” (217)
“Receive the patience and kindness of the Spirit, offer it freely to everyone, including yourself. May that gentleness deliver you to an unforced rhythm of grace that reawakens you, recovers you, and restores you. May you receive losing your religion like the gift it will be to you in the end.” (218)
“May all of the meaning you find and create bring you comfort and peace.”(219)
I have more to say but you should really just go read her book!
If you know me at all you know that I have been going to the Evolving Faith Conference since the first one back in 2018. You already know that I love Sarah Bessey and her books and all of her writing. You might have heard me say that RHE, Sarah Bessey, and Nadia Bolz-Webber and their writings and sermons and podcasts helped me so much when I was really struggling “in the wilderness” of my own HUGE EXISTENTIAL SPIRITUAL FAITH CRISIS / DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL/ DECONSTRUCTION… whatever words you want to use to describe it. Those 3 women in particular helped me figure out how I could hold onto Jesus when so much of my theology and all of my certainty had “crumbled like sand ‘neath the waves” (yes that’s a Bible & Jennifer Knapp lyric reference.)
I finished listening to the audiobook while driving home from work today. (It is read by Sarah and I highly recommend it!) a word of caution though: if you are often moved to tears by beautiful, healing words of encouragement, blessings, and her benedictions, you probably shouldn’t be driving while listening to those parts! I had a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes so many times as I listened.
A few quotes from her benediction/blessing at the end of the book:
“So here, take this with you for the journey along with my love and hope. Sometimes when we don’t know what we think about anything, it’s nice to just rest in someone else’s faith for a while anyway, especially when we feel a bit out of sorts. Open your hands and receive whatever lands. Everywhere we are is already held in the love of God, even in those times when the night gathers and you are on your own.” (217)
“First, I pray for you to know, to believe, to make your home within the love of God. May you be stubbornly convinced of your own value and belovedness. May you know that you aren’t a problem to be solved, you never were.” (217)
“Receive the patience and kindness of the Spirit, offer it freely to everyone, including yourself. May that gentleness deliver you to an unforced rhythm of grace that reawakens you, recovers you, and restores you. May you receive losing your religion like the gift it will be to you in the end.” (218)
“May all of the meaning you find and create bring you comfort and peace.”(219)
I have more to say but you should really just go read her book!
December 1, 2023
Sarah Bessey says this book is about “practices for an evolving faith” - and it is - but for me, even more importantly, it is also a series of love letters to all of us who have been hurt and broken by the church that we keep trying to love. I read only a chapter or 2 at a time, savouring this book and I cried often as I read it, because it felt like Sarah was speaking to my soul. So, yes, read this if you are ready to move forward, bravely, into the wilderness. But also read it if you still just need to sit by a tree with your blanket in the wilderness hoping someday maybe you will be able to get up again. I’m still the second one and I’ll be buying this book when it comes out to reread for that me but also with hope that someday I’ll be the me who is ready to move forward, bravely.
Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!
Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!
January 23, 2024
From the first pages of this book, I felt like I was listening to an old friend. Sarah Bessey puts into words things that I have thought and wondered and struggled with in my spiritual and life journey. This book is full of hope and love and acceptance. Her words are helping me walk through my wilderness with much less fear and so much more love.
June 1, 2025
I enjoyed this book, it did feel very much like a field guide of some very helpful “take them or leave them” spiritual practices and dispositions for the “wilderness” — the outskirts of a faith community that once felt like home. This book provided a framework for how to be a person who both holds regret about how my past actions as a certain brand (word used intentionally) of Evangelical Christian have negatively impacted others while also being a person who has been on the receiving end of that negative impact.
I was not expecting this book to be as truly practical as it was. It really is a guide in that it offers specific and actionable avenues for how to cope with the disorientation one feels in the “wilderness” while also discouraging anyone from returning to places where they have been mistreated or used as a tool in structures that mistreat others.
Would recommend to friends who are having similar experiences to my own as it pertains to their spiritual life.
I was not expecting this book to be as truly practical as it was. It really is a guide in that it offers specific and actionable avenues for how to cope with the disorientation one feels in the “wilderness” while also discouraging anyone from returning to places where they have been mistreated or used as a tool in structures that mistreat others.
Would recommend to friends who are having similar experiences to my own as it pertains to their spiritual life.
January 18, 2025
This was a deeply personal and transformative read for me. As I turned each page, I found myself not just reading about the wilderness, but truly engaging with it—learning to walk through it instead of running from it. The author’s reflections gave me permission to sit with the uncertainty and messiness of faith, all while gently pointing me back to Christ. It felt like an invitation to slow down, to notice God’s presence even in the midst of confusion and doubt. The book met me exactly where I was, reminding me that the wilderness isn’t a place to fear but a sacred space for growth and renewal. It wasn’t just a book—it was an experience of letting go, trusting the journey, and finding Christ in the most unexpected places. Throughout this book, I took little nuggets that I now can hold dearly as I walk through my faith journey.
August 12, 2024
Bessey sets the table for those who are walking wounded by the church and deconstructing their faith. I admired her beautiful prose and the way she brought light to the pain and confusion many feel about how little the church is like Jesus when it comes to issues like sexual abuse. Honestly, reading her book felt like being handed a blanket and hot cocoa after a week of rainy days and hearing the words “I’m in this with you.” I’m not sure I align with all Bessey’s conclusions, but I did enjoy her book as a form of memoir.
May 11, 2024
Sarah Bessey does it again! I wish I’d had it 10 years ago, and I’m so glad I have it now. Like a hug, full of hope and curiosity - just beautiful.
July 16, 2024
Crying, sobbing, throwing up. Sarah is such a mother hen and I just want her to give me a hug. This book met me exactly where I am at and held me with such tenderness.
August 5, 2024
Sarah Bessey has been a traveling companion for me for a very long time. She is a beautiful writer and perhaps an even better human being.
And I’m not sure she’s ever written anything better than this book. At least not for me at this exact moment.
And I’m not sure she’s ever written anything better than this book. At least not for me at this exact moment.
August 16, 2024
Sarah is a bit further on the progressive path than I am, if one is into labeling such things. I still find my home in the churches I've known, but the view is ever-expanding, and here's why I loved this latest offering of hers - she gave me permission to lose my grip a little. To fly away and see where I'll land. She leaves a big open splace for those of us who wander, even when we don't quite agree. I still see the image of Christ, and his witness, in her. I'm grateful.
May 28, 2025
Yes it really did take me a year to read this, with a friend who needed it. And it turned out I needed it too. It’s for anyone questioning their faith, coming back to it, or as the tag says, evolving. Sarah Bessey is one of my spiritual mothers and I’m so grateful for her wisdom, grace filled and earnest and humble.
March 10, 2024
4.5 ⭐'s Right book at the right time.
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