Meet the Author
Lauren. F. Winner is Assistant Professor of Christian Spirituality at Duke Divinity School. She is the author of numerous books, including Mudhouse Sabbath (2003 – read my review here). Additionally, a number of her shorter pieces have been published, including a chapter in A Spiritual Life: Perspectives from Poets, Prophets, and Preachers (2011 – read my review here). Winner has appeared on PBS’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and has written for The New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post Book World, Publishers Weekly, Books and Culture, and Christianity Today.
Book Basics
Still is one of few books I have read in recent years that doesn’t quite fit into any one genre; I consider it to be “autobiographical theological praxis.” More significantly, it is the story of the author’s authentic struggle with the life of faith during a season when everything changed: she lost her mother, she married and experienced an unhappy marriage, and she divorced. While Winner may be seen as a “professional Christian” given the nature of her professional pursuits, her response and honest reflections about it will resonate with readers from a wide variety of backgrounds and during many different life transitions.
The book is a tool for personal spiritual growth. Readers who want easy answers, simple recipes, or practical tips will be disappointed. Those who are willing to explore their own existential anxieties, and who open themselves to the possibility of learning from Winner’s experiential wisdom will find the possibilities are almost limitless.
So What?
At some point along the journey of faith most of the faithful struggle. Winner’s tale of her mid-faith struggle reminds us that we are not alone.
- How open is your local congregation to people who are struggling with their faith? Within your parish, what are some of the most helpful ministries, programs, or forums for such people that allow these individuals to be brutally honest in supportive environments that welcome questions?
- Have you struggled at one or more points in your own faith journey? What kept you going? What resources would have been helpful (or would be if you are in this season currently)?
Lauren. F. Winner. Still: Notes on a Mid-faith Crisis (HarperOne, 2012). ISBN: 9780061768118.