Sin Boldly

A Field Guide for Grace

By: Cathleen Falsani

Narrated by: Cathleen Falsani

Grace is everywhere, all around us, all of the time. We only need the ears to hear it and the eyes to see it. It is much easier and perhaps more helpful to describe what grace feels like through stories and images that illustrate the varied ways grace is experienced when encountered in the wild, than it is to attempt to define it definitively, to trap it, and cage it. Maybe that’s why Jesus was so fond of parables: nothing describes the indescribable like a memorable yarn.Sin Boldly: A Field Guide for Grace is a collection of stories about the author's experiences with grace—in ridiculous moments and in those that seem trivial but are anything but; in wacky adventures and quiet walks; with family and with strangers; in bars, nightclubs, the occasional house of worship, and in her own home; and through conversations with people—some famous and some not—who have introduced her to grace in new ways that in turn have shaped her faith and the way she tries to live it.

Critic reviews

'Ranging from Chicago to Kenya, New Orleans to Maine, Big Sky to Graceland, [Cathleen] Falsani dons her investigative cap and scouts for grace. This religion columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times is a charming guide to places and people who reveal 'grace when and where it happens.' Eschewing technical theological definitions, Falsani opts instead to tell how she has experienced grace. And we are vicarious travelers, seeing grace -- 'audacious, unwarranted, and unlimited' -- through Falsani's eyes. She marvels at the devotion of young people who crowd to the pope's funeral and at the astoundingly independent women of Asembo Bay in Kenya. She wrestles with anger at a misogynist Tanzanian tour guide and anger at God when her mother and beloved cat face cancer. We traipse along with the author and eavesdrop on her conversations, both external and internal. The result is a pastiche of images meant collectively to reveal God's grace. Though some may find the premise contrived, only a fierce cynic could fail to be drawn into Falsani's tales and candid reflections.'

Thought provoking

Although I don't completely agree with everything in this book, it is very thought provoking. Some people might be surprised by her mild profanity sprinkled through out, but I thought it was authentic and not gratuitous in anyway.

I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind being challenged to think outside their box. It definitely isn't for the faint of heart, extremely conservative or those who think they already know all the answers.

Recommended by a friend!

If you could sum up Sin Boldly in three words, what would they be?

Will listen again!

What did you like best about this story?

There's so much information, so many things I took from the book to apply to my own life that I'll keep this in my Kindle to listen to a couple times a year.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No