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Book Review: "Girl Meets God: On the Path to a Spiritual Life" by Lauren Winner
Whenever I find myself in a Barnes and Nobles or Borders with my wife or a close friend, I have a game I like to play.
I take my companion to a shelf of new releases and ask the person to pick out the book they think I would like the
best. Then, I pick the book I think they would like the best. Sometimes it works... sometimes not, but on a recent
trip with my friend Mark, we both ended up picking "Girl Meets God" by Lauren Winner and based on a quick browse-through,
we both bought the book.
I really enjoyed this book. Although Winner is a young woman (I'm guessing 30 or so) she writes with a wisdom beyond her
years in this personal journey of faith. The book itself could be compared to a blog in book form as she documents
her unusual path to Christianity.
Without giving away a lot of the details, Winner became a Jew in her teenage years and then converted to Christianity.
This book deals mostly with how she has tried to reconcile her Jewishness with her Christianity. Sometimes she has
done so successfully, other times not so much. As a protestant in the south, I don't know many Jewish people and I
honestly don't know much about their culture. Winner did a great job of not leaving readers behind by explaining the
Jewish rituals and holidays she frequently talks about.
Another strength of the book is that Winner isn't afraid to tell the truth. One particularly moving passage involves her
going to confession (which she isn't even sure if she is supposed to do) and confessing her struggles with sex. Openness
like this helps Winner come across as a normal person who struggles just like the rest of us.
If you enjoyed Anne Lamott's wonderful book "Traveling Mercies", this book will probably be one you won't be able to put
down. Like most of us who would consider ourselves to be on a journey, Winner hasn't arrived, but she's definitely on her
way.
Review by Greg Adkins
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