Holy envy : finding God in the faith of others

The renowned and beloved 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 the world’s 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 outside of the church while teaching a college course on the world’s religions. In her interfaith class, Barbara introduces her students to other religious traditions and accompanies them on field trips to a variety of venues of worship. Both she and her students ponder and debate 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 these intellectual and spiritual discussions, 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 her communion with them. At the heart of her odyssey is her trust in God and knowledge that God is always with her. Barbara contends that it is the Lord who pushes her beyond her comfortable boundaries and calls for her to "disown" her version of the divine—a change that ultimately deepens her relationship with both the world and with God. Barbara Brown Taylor Continues Her Spiritual Journey Begun In Leaving Church Of Finding Out What The World Looks Like After Taking Off Her Clergy Collar. While Teaching The World's Religions To Undergraduates In Rural Georgia, She Contemplates The Myriad Ways Other People And Traditions Encounter The Transcendent, Both By Digging Deeper Into Those Traditions Herself And By Seeing Them Through Her Students' Eyes As She Sets Off With Them On Field Trips To Monasteries, Temples, And Mosques. Troubled And Inspired By What She Learns, Taylor Returns To Her Own Tradition For Guidance, Finding New Meaning In Old Teachings That Have Too Often Been Used To Exclude Religious Strangers Instead Of Embracing The Divine Challenges They Present. Re-imagining Some Central Stories From The Religion She Knows Best, She Takes Heart In How Often God Chooses Outsiders To Teach Insiders How Out-of-bounds God Really Is. Taylor Weaves Together Stories From The Classroom With Reflections On How Her Own Spiritual Journey Has Been Complicated And Renewed By Connecting With People Of Other Traditions -- Even Those Whose Truths Are Quite Different From Hers. The One Constant In Her Odyssey Is The Sense That God Is The One Calling Her To Disown Her Version Of God -- A Change That Ultimately Enriches Her Faith In Other Human Beings And In God. The Smaller Picture -- Religion 101 -- Vishnu's Almonds -- Wave Not Ocean -- Holy Envy -- The Nearest Neighbors -- Disowning God -- The Shadow-bearers -- Failing Christianity -- Born Again -- Divine Diversity -- The God You Didn't Make Up -- The Final Exam -- The Church Of The Common Ground. Barbara Brown Taylor. Includes Bibliographical References (pages [229]-238). New York Times Bestseller The renowned and beloved New York Times bestselling author of An Altar in the World and Learning to Walk in the Dark recounts her moving discoveries of finding the sacred in unexpected places while teaching the world’s religions to undergraduates in rural Georgia, revealing how God delights in confounding our expectations. Barbara Brown Taylor continues her spiritual journey begun in Leaving Church of finding out what the world looks like after taking off her clergy collar. In Holy Envy, she contemplates the myriad ways other people and traditions encounter the Transcendent, both by digging deeper into those traditions herself and by seeing them through her students’ eyes as she sets off with them on field trips to monasteries, temples, and mosques. Troubled and inspired by what she learns, Taylor returns to her own tradition for guidance, finding new meaning in old teachings that have too often been used to exclude religious strangers instead of embracing the divine challenges they present. Re-imagining some central stories from the religion she knows best, she takes heart in how often God chooses outsiders to teach insiders how out-of-bounds God really is. Throughout Holy Envy, Taylor weaves together stories from the classroom with reflections on how her own spiritual journey has been complicated and renewed by connecting with people of other traditions—even those whose truths are quite different from hers. The one constant in her odyssey is the sense that God is the one calling her to disown her version of God—a change that ultimately enriches her faith in other human beings and in God. "Barbara Brown Taylor continues her spiritual journey begun in Leaving Church of finding out what the world looks like after taking off her clergy collar. While teaching the world's religions to undergraduates in rural Georgia, she contemplates the myriad ways other people and traditions encounter the Transcendent, both by digging deeper into those traditions herself and by seeing them through her students' eyes as she sets off with them on field trips to monasteries, temples, and mosques. Troubled and inspired by what she learns, Taylor returns to her own tradition for guidance, finding new meaning in old teachings that have too often been used to exclude religious strangers instead of embracing the divine challenges they present. Re-imagining some central stories from the religion she knows best, she takes heart in how often God chooses outsiders to teach insiders how out-of-bounds God really is. Taylor weaves together stories from the classroom with reflections on how her own spiritual journey has been complicated and renewed by connecting with people of other traditions -- even those whose truths are quite different from hers. The one constant in her odyssey is the sense that God is the one calling her to disown her version of God -- a change that ultimately enriches her faith in other human beings and in God."-- (Source of summary not specified)