Barbara Brown Taylor’s Leaving Church was the July selection for my church book group. The book is Taylor’s account of her journey to the Episcopal priesthood, and how her path then lead her away from the church. From the busy streets of Atlanta to the seemingly bucolic north Georgia mountains, Taylor comes to realize how demanding the vocation of being one of God’s ‘offical’ representatives is, regardless of location or setting, and that where she’s meant to be is perhaps not where she was.

I didn’t understand or support all the decisions Taylor made, but I appreciated her honesty in sharing them in this book. Perhaps what resonated with me most was the deep connection she feels with the earth and the life it supports. I am still a bit of a pagan in that respect, in that I feel everything has something of the divine in it, and God is not separate from the earth but part of it, as are we.

And here is one passage from the book that I bookmarked as a particular favorite:

As a general rule, I would say that human beings never behave more badly toward one another than when they believe they are protecting God. In the words of Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas, “People of the book risk putting the book above people.” (p. 106)

And another:

… salvation is not something that happens only at the end of a person’s life. Salvation happens every time someone with a key uses it to open a door he could lock instead.

This memoir of faith counts as one of my In Their Shoes Reading Challenge selections, which means I have just one more book to read in order to complete the challenge – woohoo!