The renowned Christian preacher and New York Times bestselling author of An Altar in the World recounts her moving discoveries of finding the sacred in unexpected places while teaching world religions to undergraduates in Baptist-saturated rural Georgia, revealing how God delights in confounding our expectations.
Christians are taught that God is everywhere--a tenet that is central to Barbara Brown Taylor's life and faith. In Holy Envy, she continues her spiritual journey, contemplating the myriad ways she encountered God while exploring other faiths with her students in the classroom, and on field trips to diverse places of worship.
Both she and her students ponder how the knowledge and insights they have gained raise important questions about belief, and explore how different practices relate to their own faith. Inspired by this intellectual and spiritual quest, Barbara turns once again to the Bible for guidance, to see what secrets lay buried there.
Throughout Holy Envy, Barbara weaves together stories from her classroom with reflections on how her own spiritual journey has been challenged and renewed by connecting with people of other traditions--and by meeting God in them. At the heart of her odyssey is her trust that it is God who pushes her beyond her comfortable boundaries and calls us to "disown" our privatised versions of the divine--a change that ultimately deepens her relationship with both the world and with God, and ours.
The book chronicle's the author's journey teaching Religion 101 at Piedmont College. It sounds a lot like the world religions course I took at Centre as an undergrad, although the prof didn't take us on any field trips. We did things in class such as Sufi spinning and Buddhist meditation, which he led. Dr. Taylor has the advantage of living near Atlanta, so there were many interesting temples and meditation centers they could visit. The book offers good insight into learning to see other peoples, religions, and cultures from the point of view of those who are actually living them. A good lesson in cross-cultural understanding for anybody.
