What do you think?
Rate this book
Bandersnatch: An Invitation to Explore Your Unconventional Soul
IDENTIFY THE EXPECTATIONS AND LABELS THAT CRAMP YOUR SOUL.
Contemporary Christianity seems to be suffering from an epidemic of sameness. Uniformity. Monotony. Those trapped inside are often afraid to step beyond established norms and innovatively express themselves, or they simply don’t know how. And those on the outside of Christianity often see very little that attracts them. Yet God, out of the abundance of his own artistic force, made each one of us unique. Peculiar. Irreplaceable. So why so much pressure to conform?
Bandersnatch* explores this intersection of disillusionment and welcomes readers to a liberating journey, an odyssey of the soul. This process is an opportunity for fellow Christians who are feeling weary or stifled by established norms to find God in unconventional ways, as well as an invitation for people on the outside to reimagine what following the mystery of Christ could be like.
It is organized around four terms viewed through the life of Avant-Garde, Alchemy, Anthropology, and Art. Each expression reveals a diverse facet of God’s unorthodox creativity planted within us, provides a fresh look at the divine nature, and offers a reframed collection of definitions by which to live.
Erika Morrison gives us permission to break free from the expectations and labels that cramp our souls. Then, through the lens of singularity, she encourages her readers to cultivate artful, holistic, contributing lives that matter to both heaven and earth.
*A BANDERSNATCH, WHILE MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE WILD, FEROCIOUS, AND MYTHICAL CREATURE OF LEWIS CARROLL’S CREATION, IS ALSO A PERSON WITH UNCONVENTIONAL HABITS AND ATTITUDES.
Contemporary Christianity seems to be suffering from an epidemic of sameness. Uniformity. Monotony. Those trapped inside are often afraid to step beyond established norms and innovatively express themselves, or they simply don’t know how. And those on the outside of Christianity often see very little that attracts them. Yet God, out of the abundance of his own artistic force, made each one of us unique. Peculiar. Irreplaceable. So why so much pressure to conform?
Bandersnatch* explores this intersection of disillusionment and welcomes readers to a liberating journey, an odyssey of the soul. This process is an opportunity for fellow Christians who are feeling weary or stifled by established norms to find God in unconventional ways, as well as an invitation for people on the outside to reimagine what following the mystery of Christ could be like.
It is organized around four terms viewed through the life of Avant-Garde, Alchemy, Anthropology, and Art. Each expression reveals a diverse facet of God’s unorthodox creativity planted within us, provides a fresh look at the divine nature, and offers a reframed collection of definitions by which to live.
Erika Morrison gives us permission to break free from the expectations and labels that cramp our souls. Then, through the lens of singularity, she encourages her readers to cultivate artful, holistic, contributing lives that matter to both heaven and earth.
*A BANDERSNATCH, WHILE MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE WILD, FEROCIOUS, AND MYTHICAL CREATURE OF LEWIS CARROLL’S CREATION, IS ALSO A PERSON WITH UNCONVENTIONAL HABITS AND ATTITUDES.
247 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 6, 2015
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
October 14, 2015
Honestly, I didn't know what to expect or what to think when I first started reading Bandersnatch. Because I know the author and I are very different (I'm very pragmatic and black-and-white; she seems more free-spirited), I wondered if I would be able to relate to the content of this book. It seemed a little out of my comfort zone, a little out of my wheelhouse, so to speak. I loved the writing from the start - lyrical, yet accessible and inspired -- and the author's love for God was immediately apparent - she has a passion for God and for spreading the word of Jesus' Good News that is contagious - but still, I wondered if the book would speak to me or resonate with me on a personal level. Well let me tell you, it resonated big, and it's STILL speaking to me. I'm not quite finished, but I had to stop in the midst of the very last chapter to post this review. I want to let other pragmatic, black-and-white readers like me know that there is something here for you in this book. Take the leap and dive in! This book is doing someting to me -- opening my eyes, my spirit, my soul - making me think, and sit and stew (in a good way). I highly recommend Bandersnatch, even if you are pragmatic and practical like me.
October 6, 2015
Out today. This is not theology per se, more like Christian self-help, and an ideal read for fans of Glennon Doyle Melton and Rob (“Everything Is Spiritual”) Bell. The title, a creature from Lewis Carroll’s imagination, is Morrison’s shorthand for a troublemaker who flouts conventions. She argues that as Christians we should be following Jesus down the road of “positive nonconformity”: taking an avant-garde approach to life, turning ordinary moments into divine opportunities through spiritual alchemy, taking an interest in the least of these with kingdom anthropology, and making the everyday trials of marriage and parenthood our works of art.
I liked the book best when Morrison illustrated her points with concrete stories from her own life, such as letting their twelve-year-old son go to a survival camp, picking up litter in their dodgy area of New Haven, CT, and befriending the homeless. Her description of Diamond the crack addict is particularly good. Overall I found the book slightly repetitive, which means it feels longer than it actually is, and the language can definitely be too hippy-dippy in places (like “I wish upon a beaming and glittery Bethlehem star that you could make love with God—the Baby, the Man, the Spirit, the Father—in your own singular and not supposed to be the same as anyone else’s way” and “You are embroidered from the sparkling stars in his irises and the holy zephyr pushing forth from its lungs—star flecks and Spirit-breath”).
All the same, I think this book will serve as an important reminder to be true to God by being true to yourself. It’s also refreshing to see Morrison espouse mysticism and pretty much ignore doctrine; this is all about doing what is right and following Jesus on the Way. I could see this being a light, encouraging read for anyone who is a little burnt out and wants to broaden their idea of what Christian faith is all about. (3.5)
Related reading:
• How to Be a Christian without Going to Church by Kelly Bean
• Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome by Reba Riley
I liked the book best when Morrison illustrated her points with concrete stories from her own life, such as letting their twelve-year-old son go to a survival camp, picking up litter in their dodgy area of New Haven, CT, and befriending the homeless. Her description of Diamond the crack addict is particularly good. Overall I found the book slightly repetitive, which means it feels longer than it actually is, and the language can definitely be too hippy-dippy in places (like “I wish upon a beaming and glittery Bethlehem star that you could make love with God—the Baby, the Man, the Spirit, the Father—in your own singular and not supposed to be the same as anyone else’s way” and “You are embroidered from the sparkling stars in his irises and the holy zephyr pushing forth from its lungs—star flecks and Spirit-breath”).
All the same, I think this book will serve as an important reminder to be true to God by being true to yourself. It’s also refreshing to see Morrison espouse mysticism and pretty much ignore doctrine; this is all about doing what is right and following Jesus on the Way. I could see this being a light, encouraging read for anyone who is a little burnt out and wants to broaden their idea of what Christian faith is all about. (3.5)
Related reading:
• How to Be a Christian without Going to Church by Kelly Bean
• Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome by Reba Riley
April 7, 2021
I could swoon about this book for days, and I have been. It was beautiful. Stunning. Engaging. Magical. Powerful. Inspiring. Challenging. Convicting. Life-changing. This book awakened things in me and in my faith that I hadn't ever known how to name or identify before, and it spoke so clearly to my soul and the way my heart and mind work. It was AMAZING.
January 10, 2022
The opening of the book had me optimistic. The author was so approachable, inviting the reader to have a cup coffee curled up on the sofa with her. It was homey and inviting. However, this book didn't have much in the way of original thinking. I guess the author just did what self-help types do- she presented old information in a "new light", but there wasn't really anything inspiring here. I will say that once the author referenced the Holy Spirit as "she", I was suspect. After reading the chapter where she and her husband allowed their 12 year old son to live 2 hours away for 2 months, with virtual strangers, because he had an adventurous spirit that needed to be enriched? I do not care how one explains this, I find it horrible. These are just a few of the personal observations I had to the book. The author's writing was okay. Her meanings were clear. It's sad because I had really wanted to like the book.
October 22, 2015
I'm more familiar with the jaberwocky, but another mythical creature introduced by Lewis Carroll is the bandersnatch. It's a fairly wild creature with unconventional habits, and in this book we're invited to embrace our inner bandersnatches, figuring out who we are deep down rather than just going with society's flow and fitting in.
'Human made systems are taking up space where our identities should be blooming,' Erika Morrison declares. She urges us to examine every box we've ever accepted without question, looking at the beliefs, rules, formulas and assumptions that fuel them.
She discusses a system she calls 'crossing over' in which words, ideas and values which have been typecast by the world are given new, more fitting definitions. For example, the world may think the word 'blessed' equates to wealth and popularity, but when Jesus used it, he meant that a person had come to a point when they realise they really have nothing but him. She focuses on four 'A' words or terms in particular; Avant Garde, Alchemy, Anthropology and Art. I really like her take on 'alchemy.' The world would have us believe it means turning something of base value into something more showy and expensive, but to Morrison, real alchemy is simply noticing the treasures in what is generally passed by as unnoticeable. And to her, the word 'art' encompasses any of the 1000 ways a person might reveal themselves to the world.
She and her homeschooling family carry out these principles in a really hardcore way which I find extremely challenging. Certainly nobody could ever accuse Erika Morrison of not practicing what she preaches. The extreme lengths they take to clean up their city and show their love to others convince me I'd have to be a bandersnatch in a far more low key way. However, as I read, I can't help wondering whether the Morrisons are doing just what Jesus might do if he showed up in the twenty-first century. It's not a book that leaves me feeling completely comfortable, which might show that her intention is working. Then suddenly, the reader is off the hook, when she says that following her example to the letter is the last thing she'd want to tell us to do. A good combination of conviction and grace.
I'm sure I'll delve into it from time to time when I need a shake-up. I can't help wondering what might come next. Some of the passages are so beautiful, I've copied them down to ponder, but they're too long for the scope of this review. Even the author states that she's only half as weird as she longs to be, but her quotes all through make a paradoxical sort of sense.
Why would we want to define our 'thisness' by somebody else's 'thatness' indeed?
Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for my review copy.
'Human made systems are taking up space where our identities should be blooming,' Erika Morrison declares. She urges us to examine every box we've ever accepted without question, looking at the beliefs, rules, formulas and assumptions that fuel them.
She discusses a system she calls 'crossing over' in which words, ideas and values which have been typecast by the world are given new, more fitting definitions. For example, the world may think the word 'blessed' equates to wealth and popularity, but when Jesus used it, he meant that a person had come to a point when they realise they really have nothing but him. She focuses on four 'A' words or terms in particular; Avant Garde, Alchemy, Anthropology and Art. I really like her take on 'alchemy.' The world would have us believe it means turning something of base value into something more showy and expensive, but to Morrison, real alchemy is simply noticing the treasures in what is generally passed by as unnoticeable. And to her, the word 'art' encompasses any of the 1000 ways a person might reveal themselves to the world.
She and her homeschooling family carry out these principles in a really hardcore way which I find extremely challenging. Certainly nobody could ever accuse Erika Morrison of not practicing what she preaches. The extreme lengths they take to clean up their city and show their love to others convince me I'd have to be a bandersnatch in a far more low key way. However, as I read, I can't help wondering whether the Morrisons are doing just what Jesus might do if he showed up in the twenty-first century. It's not a book that leaves me feeling completely comfortable, which might show that her intention is working. Then suddenly, the reader is off the hook, when she says that following her example to the letter is the last thing she'd want to tell us to do. A good combination of conviction and grace.
I'm sure I'll delve into it from time to time when I need a shake-up. I can't help wondering what might come next. Some of the passages are so beautiful, I've copied them down to ponder, but they're too long for the scope of this review. Even the author states that she's only half as weird as she longs to be, but her quotes all through make a paradoxical sort of sense.
Why would we want to define our 'thisness' by somebody else's 'thatness' indeed?
Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for my review copy.
October 21, 2015
Morrison, Erika. Bandersnatch: An Invitation to Explore Your Unconventional Soul. Thomas Nelson – W Publishing, 2015.
Break from the norm. Recover your identity. Express your creativity.
Contemporary Christianity seems to be suffering from an epidemic of sameness. Uniformity. Monotony. Those trapped inside are often afraid to step beyond established norms and express their creativity, and those on the outside often see little that attracts them. Yet God, out of the abundance of his own creative force, made each one of us unique. Peculiar. Irreplaceable. So why so much pressure to conform?
Bandersnatch* explores this intersection of disillusionment by inviting readers on a journey of liberation. It’s organized around four creative terms viewed through the life of Jesus: Avant-Garde, Alchemy, Anthropology, and Art. Each expression reveals a diverse facet of God’s unorthodox creativity planted within us.
Providing a fresh look at God’s avant-garde nature and a new set of definitions by which to live, Erika Morrison gives us permission to break free from the expectations and labels that cramp our souls. Only in embracing our uniqueness can we create artful, holistic lives that matter to both heaven and earth.
*A Bandersnatch, while more commonly known as the wild, ferocious, and mythical creature of Lewis Carroll’s creation, is also a person with unconventional habits and attitudes.
Morrison’s ability to encourage ability and courage to step outside the norm of our society into a place where we can live out our faith. I believe her approach encourages to us to “work out our faith” (Philippians 2:12) by a willingness to cross over into the life and teachings of Jesus in such a way that we lead original and creative lives that draw others to Christ.
The energy Morrison brings to living faith, and her ability to show rather than tell, captures the reader and takes them through the looking glass to a perfected and redefined life and intentional lifestyle that is exciting and god-breathed.
I received a complimentary proof of this book from the publisher through Net Galley for my unbiased review.
Break from the norm. Recover your identity. Express your creativity.
Contemporary Christianity seems to be suffering from an epidemic of sameness. Uniformity. Monotony. Those trapped inside are often afraid to step beyond established norms and express their creativity, and those on the outside often see little that attracts them. Yet God, out of the abundance of his own creative force, made each one of us unique. Peculiar. Irreplaceable. So why so much pressure to conform?
Bandersnatch* explores this intersection of disillusionment by inviting readers on a journey of liberation. It’s organized around four creative terms viewed through the life of Jesus: Avant-Garde, Alchemy, Anthropology, and Art. Each expression reveals a diverse facet of God’s unorthodox creativity planted within us.
Providing a fresh look at God’s avant-garde nature and a new set of definitions by which to live, Erika Morrison gives us permission to break free from the expectations and labels that cramp our souls. Only in embracing our uniqueness can we create artful, holistic lives that matter to both heaven and earth.
*A Bandersnatch, while more commonly known as the wild, ferocious, and mythical creature of Lewis Carroll’s creation, is also a person with unconventional habits and attitudes.
Morrison’s ability to encourage ability and courage to step outside the norm of our society into a place where we can live out our faith. I believe her approach encourages to us to “work out our faith” (Philippians 2:12) by a willingness to cross over into the life and teachings of Jesus in such a way that we lead original and creative lives that draw others to Christ.
The energy Morrison brings to living faith, and her ability to show rather than tell, captures the reader and takes them through the looking glass to a perfected and redefined life and intentional lifestyle that is exciting and god-breathed.
I received a complimentary proof of this book from the publisher through Net Galley for my unbiased review.
October 7, 2015
I promise you won't be disappointed with this read. This book will challenge every fiber or your being, thought patterns, and the core of who you really are. It will require time, thought, a lot of tears, and prayer. It will be one of my forever reads on my nightstand alongside my Bible. Every word beautifully hand crafted with care, intense thought and prayer. I can almost feel the author crying in my arms as she struggles to truly find meaning to her soul and understand the chaos that separates us from this fulfillment. I have walked her very shoes on this journey and feel as though she was sitting in my prayer time and eaves dropping. It is a soul altering book that could have only been Holy Spirit breathed. I can only think of two other books I feel this way about. Hinds Feet in High Places and 1000 gifts. Theses type of books are rare in a superficial world where people strive and strain to build platforms. These kind of authors bend low on the platform of their knees to incline their ear to hear from the King whose footstool is this earth. It will require one to be honest with themselves and brave enough to admit they have missed the mark in all their striving and straining. It requires one to dig deep beneath surface answers into the depths of one's heart with Holy Spirit and becoming one with Him. I invite you the brave, the honest, the humble to come and join us on this bandersnatch journey of exploring what it really means to be you, hand crafted by the creator of the stars.
October 7, 2015
This book is pure gift for the soul looking to find its way back tp pure unadulterated love with its Father Creator. As soon as I started reading, I felt the cosmos begin to shift, bringing me back to my beginnings. I sat outside under the fall sun and closed my eyes and pretended that God invented October just for me, just because he knew how much it would delight my heart. That he painted each leaf just to see my eyes widen and my mouth gape and my hands clap instinctively while I rose to tippy toes. Then I came inside and had a one woman dance party, fully inspired by Erika, her heart, her words. More than telling you what I think about this book, I want you to how this book is changing me, remaking me in all ways my heart longs to be remade. Get this book. And make space for the reworking it will do in your heart.
September 1, 2015
Seeing Christianity through Erika Morrison’s eyes is like cliff-diving into a lagoon after a lifetime of municipal pools. Her stories and insights on a creative Kingdom life are unlike anything I’ve encountered in my evangelical background (how many other Christian books portray the homeless and drug addicted and dirty as priceless reflections of Jesus? or celebrate individual quirks as God's brushstrokes?), and this book can't help but tug out a responsive joy from the deepest parts of our identities. Bandersnatch is the antidote to “normal” we never knew we needed. (I would give this book ten stars if I could. If you're feeling stuck or discouraged or squelched or disillusioned by Christianity, may I recommend that you get this book into your hands as soon as humanly possible?)
December 29, 2015
There are good books and unforgettable books, and Bandersnatch is the latter. It's the rare read I want to give more than 5 stars to. This one deserves all the stars, not because it's pretty or easy or lighthearted but because it draws us into freedom. In a world that lies to us about where we find our true selves (and when we "should" hide them), Bandersnatch is an invitation to investigate how we're made and how we see the world and to embrace those discoveries as part of our God-given uniqueness. And not just so we can feel better about ourselves but so we can contribute to the Kingdom of God, happening now. So we can live this one life to the absolute fullest.
August 11, 2026
This is one of those books that you're not quite sure about when you pick it up, but in the end you are grateful you read it. On the whole, the primary message of the book speaks to the heart of what Holy Spirit has been teaching me for most of my life, be who your Creator made you to be, not what others say you ought to be. In the last six to seven years this has gotten much stronger and in the last couple of years it's been a core of the message Holy Spirit is driving us to share.
I enjoyed Erika's candor and outside of the box thinking, generally speaking. She pushes you to think outside the "norms" of Christianity and what is acceptable in "the Church" and absolutely calls you out to be unconventional (the name YHWH gave my husband and me for the community He's having us build.) I appreciated hearing her own struggles with being in charismatic places the tried to push a particular experience over letting Holy Spirit decide the experience for you, and how that led to an encounter so much more vivid, which so many NEED to hear.
I also appreciate the way she calls out modern churchianity without directly calling it out in the section on anthropology. How frequently we don't see because it doesn't fit the box or mold. And those who are outside the mold feel it so deeply. The country club mentality is real and as she describes these humans she has encountered they would never make it through the doors in most places, even though we like to think they would. Same with parenting, and we're all guilty of this. If someone doesn't parent like us we are quick to pass judgement instead of asking questions or letting non-sin issues be. As she walks through each section, the underlying message to let Creator work through you in how HE sees fit is there and she challenges in beautiful ways.
I really wanted to give this book five stars, but a few areas of weakness keep me from doing so.
First calling Holy Spirit She without an explanation. My recent study of the Scriptures has shown me that this could be possible, but without an explanation, my studies on the whole lead me to use the masculine pronoun as He is part of the Trinity. A young Believer could find this confusing and it would be lovely to know why Erika chose to do this.
Along with this at the end she uses Great Ones and a couple of other plural forms when speaking of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Intellectually I get why she might be doing this, yet YHWH our God is ONE and I see this as going outside what HE has given us to use. Another caveat for those not strong in Scripture.
Second, using "The Message" and calling it a translation. I've always struggled with "The Message" as it didn't feel like reading Bible to me. With that, after looking into how it came about, the fact that He adds and paraphrases so much makes it not a translation, but more of a paraphrase. If she enjoys using the message, there is not issue with that, but it adds even more than our modern translations and at times gets it so different from the Greek, it's problematic in accuracy for translation as it's intended.
Third, if one is not wise and knows YHWH through His Son, Yeshua, and filled with Holy Spirit, it could be easy to be led astray by this book and think that you may live however you want to live. I would not recommend this book for anyone who is a new Believer. I completely believe we need to be unconventional from the modern churchianity of the west, but we must be Biblical in our unconventional living. She does not bring this across well. This book is for mature Believers who know Father, know the Word, and know what it means to follow Him.
Fourth, she talks consistently of leaving man-made systems behind, and yet she consistently uses the man-made system and definition of how the world is made to attempt to glorify the Creator who tells us in His Word that He created with world with a firmament, stationary, and with localized light sources. Her imagination is vast, which likely explains her love of space and fits into her view of vastness, but this is a system that she is still stuck in and for those that believe in the validity of all Scripture is as it says, makes this a weakness for the points she is making.
Lastly, I completely get wanting to "redeem" words and redefine them. It's been happening in our society for decades. But words mean what they mean and they have power. She didn't overstep as much as I was expecting, but using "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" to justify changing definitions doesn't work and this is an area the enemies use to get us to speak death over one another. Etymology would be helpful, but this would be boxing in and why she went ahead with her own definitions. From my research I don't see evil being spoken, which was a relief to me, but still needs to be considered on the whole. She did words throughout, though, that could be problematic.
I would absolutely enjoy having coffee with Erika after reading this book and talking about what she shared in the book. Because the premise is so good and so needed, I give this 4.5 stars even with the issues I had, and only for mature Believers.
I enjoyed Erika's candor and outside of the box thinking, generally speaking. She pushes you to think outside the "norms" of Christianity and what is acceptable in "the Church" and absolutely calls you out to be unconventional (the name YHWH gave my husband and me for the community He's having us build.) I appreciated hearing her own struggles with being in charismatic places the tried to push a particular experience over letting Holy Spirit decide the experience for you, and how that led to an encounter so much more vivid, which so many NEED to hear.
I also appreciate the way she calls out modern churchianity without directly calling it out in the section on anthropology. How frequently we don't see because it doesn't fit the box or mold. And those who are outside the mold feel it so deeply. The country club mentality is real and as she describes these humans she has encountered they would never make it through the doors in most places, even though we like to think they would. Same with parenting, and we're all guilty of this. If someone doesn't parent like us we are quick to pass judgement instead of asking questions or letting non-sin issues be. As she walks through each section, the underlying message to let Creator work through you in how HE sees fit is there and she challenges in beautiful ways.
I really wanted to give this book five stars, but a few areas of weakness keep me from doing so.
First calling Holy Spirit She without an explanation. My recent study of the Scriptures has shown me that this could be possible, but without an explanation, my studies on the whole lead me to use the masculine pronoun as He is part of the Trinity. A young Believer could find this confusing and it would be lovely to know why Erika chose to do this.
Along with this at the end she uses Great Ones and a couple of other plural forms when speaking of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Intellectually I get why she might be doing this, yet YHWH our God is ONE and I see this as going outside what HE has given us to use. Another caveat for those not strong in Scripture.
Second, using "The Message" and calling it a translation. I've always struggled with "The Message" as it didn't feel like reading Bible to me. With that, after looking into how it came about, the fact that He adds and paraphrases so much makes it not a translation, but more of a paraphrase. If she enjoys using the message, there is not issue with that, but it adds even more than our modern translations and at times gets it so different from the Greek, it's problematic in accuracy for translation as it's intended.
Third, if one is not wise and knows YHWH through His Son, Yeshua, and filled with Holy Spirit, it could be easy to be led astray by this book and think that you may live however you want to live. I would not recommend this book for anyone who is a new Believer. I completely believe we need to be unconventional from the modern churchianity of the west, but we must be Biblical in our unconventional living. She does not bring this across well. This book is for mature Believers who know Father, know the Word, and know what it means to follow Him.
Fourth, she talks consistently of leaving man-made systems behind, and yet she consistently uses the man-made system and definition of how the world is made to attempt to glorify the Creator who tells us in His Word that He created with world with a firmament, stationary, and with localized light sources. Her imagination is vast, which likely explains her love of space and fits into her view of vastness, but this is a system that she is still stuck in and for those that believe in the validity of all Scripture is as it says, makes this a weakness for the points she is making.
Lastly, I completely get wanting to "redeem" words and redefine them. It's been happening in our society for decades. But words mean what they mean and they have power. She didn't overstep as much as I was expecting, but using "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" to justify changing definitions doesn't work and this is an area the enemies use to get us to speak death over one another. Etymology would be helpful, but this would be boxing in and why she went ahead with her own definitions. From my research I don't see evil being spoken, which was a relief to me, but still needs to be considered on the whole. She did words throughout, though, that could be problematic.
I would absolutely enjoy having coffee with Erika after reading this book and talking about what she shared in the book. Because the premise is so good and so needed, I give this 4.5 stars even with the issues I had, and only for mature Believers.
May 24, 2018
This is a wonderful, deep book. Radical and yet not radical at all - as it calls passionately to hear the only and true message, the call from God to be who we are have been created to be and to love as we are. To let go of the non-functional (and often that means dysfunctional, too) beliefs and systems and to look after our true, uniquely made selves.
Erika Morrison is as personal as she can be - open, honest, vulnerable, warm, passionate. If I could have a coffee with you, Erika, I would be more than happy (and more than curious! How could you go SO deep?). She is also the bearer of so often forgotten beauty, the beauty of be in love with your Creator - and this love has both ancient and totally modern clothing. Yes, you can love God even now, in these times.
This is passionate, beautiful (as beautiful as any touching poetry of words, and as much touching) is about the beauty of pain, of cross, of being together, too - and the glory of this love. It is stuff of madmen and poets and visionaries and prophets and mothers and workers and misfits and regulars, too. And the call to arms, too.
Beautiful, enriching book - as I say that as a practicing Catholic (who is going to stay the practicing Catholic, as it feels like the rightest thing for me and to me). But I can use and expand the way I profess my love for God, to use my unique gifts and to be the woman I have been created to be.
Thanks, Erika.
Erika Morrison is as personal as she can be - open, honest, vulnerable, warm, passionate. If I could have a coffee with you, Erika, I would be more than happy (and more than curious! How could you go SO deep?). She is also the bearer of so often forgotten beauty, the beauty of be in love with your Creator - and this love has both ancient and totally modern clothing. Yes, you can love God even now, in these times.
This is passionate, beautiful (as beautiful as any touching poetry of words, and as much touching) is about the beauty of pain, of cross, of being together, too - and the glory of this love. It is stuff of madmen and poets and visionaries and prophets and mothers and workers and misfits and regulars, too. And the call to arms, too.
Beautiful, enriching book - as I say that as a practicing Catholic (who is going to stay the practicing Catholic, as it feels like the rightest thing for me and to me). But I can use and expand the way I profess my love for God, to use my unique gifts and to be the woman I have been created to be.
Thanks, Erika.
November 14, 2021
Erika Morrison's BANDERSNATCH is organized around four ideas viewed through Jesus' life: Avant-Garde, Alchemy, Anthropology, and Art. These four themes reveal a different aspect of God's "unorthodox creativity."
I love the way Morrison is encouraging us to find liberation from rigid religion that would attempt to put God in a box and keep us in a cage.
Favorite quotes:
“Glory is already down everywhere, waiting to be invited into our nothing. We cannot escape the encompassing presence of God because it fills the final bit of everything right down to the last atom in a shaft of sunlight receding below the edge of the globe.”
“Here’s how you tell the difference: If a religious system dominates or powers over you and tries to manage your behaviors or beliefs, it’s a human-made system. If a system is designed to come under you and support the growth of your love with Christ and your rare, creative, contributing self—if it seeks to support the health of your heart first, not manage your behaviors or beliefs—then it’s manifested from the Spirit.”
I love the way Morrison is encouraging us to find liberation from rigid religion that would attempt to put God in a box and keep us in a cage.
Favorite quotes:
“Glory is already down everywhere, waiting to be invited into our nothing. We cannot escape the encompassing presence of God because it fills the final bit of everything right down to the last atom in a shaft of sunlight receding below the edge of the globe.”
“Here’s how you tell the difference: If a religious system dominates or powers over you and tries to manage your behaviors or beliefs, it’s a human-made system. If a system is designed to come under you and support the growth of your love with Christ and your rare, creative, contributing self—if it seeks to support the health of your heart first, not manage your behaviors or beliefs—then it’s manifested from the Spirit.”
May 31, 2021
I was unsure of this book at first and it really wasn’t what I was expecting. I was pleasantly surprised and how inspired it has made me. There’s a lot of super rigid and strict Christian content/gatekeeping out there that says that if you don’t use a particular Bible translation or do this exact thing than you shouldn’t consider yourself a Christian. When I was a kid, I worshiped in a more carefree way and didn’t care about those intricacies. I just loved Jesus. It’s okay to still do that as an adult and I’ve started exploring this again because of this book.
January 13, 2026
I drew the fresh copy of this book out at the dinner table and all my friends were aweing at the Bandersnatch title. I’m definitely a bandersnatch myself so I started the read. I never went to church school so I learned so much about Christianity and strengthened my connection and understanding to Jesus even further. The language, vocabulary, and writing are so stellar. I loved the categories of avant garde, alchemy, anthropology and art, all HUGE interests of mine. I loved her stories on helping the homeless and how Jesus/heaven can be found washing the dishes or someone’s feet. True magic can be taught in this one. Author lives relatively local to me. Hope she continues because I couldn’t find anything else by her!
March 21, 2017
I've been waiting for a book like this for a long time. For Christians, there is frequent and familiar talk about living a "Spirit-led" or "Spirit-filled" life. And while formal theologies about what this means abound, rarely has there been a concentrated account of what living such a life might look like; what is the experience of and how does it feel living such a life? This question is important for me, because while I navigate the waters of the abstract and theoretical quite well, to truly learn something - to make it a part of myself - I need to have it demonstrated for me. This is what Erika Morrison does in Bandersnatch, and this is why the book is so vital for me and others like me (and, heck, even those who aren't like me! If I may be so bold). The concepts that underpin her approach to the spiritual life were not in themselves earth-shatteringly new for me, although there were several points when I gained a new and deeper appreciation for them from Erika's poignant expressions. The double refreshment of this work is the movement from theory to practice encouraged by her personal stories and the repeated permission she gives (this is a recurring theme in reviews of the book) for readers to follow suit in filling their singular place in the cosmos by paying attention to - and celebrating - the presence of the Divine in the mundane. In this, Erika paints a beautiful picture of what it means to be intentionally, transactionally, and tranformationally incarnational. Which is prose speak for how to be like Jesus. I trust that my own halting and uneven attempts at this are even now being invigorated as a result of reading this book.
Full disclosure: I know the author. Also full disclosure: she's a gem!
Rating: Near enough to 5 stars to rate it as such.
Full disclosure: I know the author. Also full disclosure: she's a gem!
Rating: Near enough to 5 stars to rate it as such.
February 11, 2026
An unconventional Christian's approach to life.
Not my way, but I can appreciate that this is hers.
Quote
The closer I get to the divine gaze, the more liberated I become. And whenever I am as close to being me as I possibly can be, when I'm living like I'm naked inside, I feel dark things breaking down and chains crashing undone in the atmosphere inside and also all around my body.
Not my way, but I can appreciate that this is hers.
Quote
The closer I get to the divine gaze, the more liberated I become. And whenever I am as close to being me as I possibly can be, when I'm living like I'm naked inside, I feel dark things breaking down and chains crashing undone in the atmosphere inside and also all around my body.
April 23, 2022
Once you get past her unconventional language and start to understand her premise then this is an excellent way to view the Christian life as an individual and how to be the person God made you to be while living out the principles of kingdom life.
February 2, 2023
This book started really exciting and eventually felt a little too fluffy. While there was gems here and there, the prosaic style of writing gets almost tiring to read.
maybe just not quite my cup of tea.
maybe just not quite my cup of tea.
November 29, 2023
Not for me. I gave it two stars because it’s not terrible, it’s just not my cup of tea. I made it to page 46 thinking it had to be at least halfway through but I was only 25% done. Flowery language and too many descriptors makes it a tough read (for me).
September 4, 2019
I loved every moment of this book! It reignited my heart & soul.
October 24, 2020
It was an interesting book. There were some chapters I preferred over others and I'm not sure I'd recommend, but it was enjoyable!
August 4, 2022
Avant-Garde, Alchemy, and Self growth.
May 22, 2023
A new twist on Christianity, worship and how to look at this life. Some good ideas to ponder. The author looks at worshiping Jesus from a different angle than we're used to.
February 6, 2026
This book was pretty good, and had potential, until she referred to the Holy Spirit as "she." I couldn't get past this and quit reading.
October 14, 2015
I don't remember how or when I first stumbled upon Erika Morrison, but I have been a fan and a friend ever since I read the first few words she strung together that caught my breath and made me tear up. She is a gifted writer... she paints and worships and stirs up emotion and challenges you to rise up with the way she lets beauty roll off her tongue and fall into words. This book stretched and challenged me... convicted and convinced me to be more like Jesus - like, for real. It's not easy... but it IS right! You just may find yourself praying prayers like the one I prayed the other day, "Lord - make me more like Erika!" --because this girl? She makes art out of how she lives and how she loves... she holds nothing back, and when I was tempted to bail out or back out, I remembered some of her stories... some of her words from this book, and I breathed in some brave I didn't know that I had and I leaned in and loved on and let me tell you, Jesus was right there in the midst of it! He's in the midst of this book too and as much as you will fall for Erika... you will fall for Him even more! It turns out, He's even better than we think or hope!
Erika takes on some words and shifts the meaning a bit and it will rock your world in how she does it and lives it out! She takes nouns and makes them verbs and, oh my, I hope we all Bandersnatch after reading this book! For the King and His Kingdom!
Erika takes on some words and shifts the meaning a bit and it will rock your world in how she does it and lives it out! She takes nouns and makes them verbs and, oh my, I hope we all Bandersnatch after reading this book! For the King and His Kingdom!
October 6, 2015
Bandersnatch illumines the truth that we are weird and wonderful and beautiful and completely unique artist souls and that our fully living into and out of those creations is the very essence of our life's work here on Earth. The world needs us to be avant-garde, to practice alchemy and to be anthropologists who "gaze at humanity with a love that is an eternity long and wide and high."
Erika declares for us (because most of us don't believe it) that we are artists. We are made to create and the Kingdom of God is depending on our doing just that.
"So take your molecules and your moments and your unprecedented mess and the intoxicated music of your life and make a masterpiece that reflects the truth. Because on the other side of Jesus, art is a revelation of the kingdom, a kingdom revealing God through billions of different kaleidoscopic expressions. Art, your art, is absolutely vital because your art is how Jesus is made known to the world."
With life-giving Spirit wind, Bandersnatch kindles all the beauty and power that has remained hidden and afraid in the dark edges of your soul and breathes possibility and promise into all your longing.
*I received an Advanced Reader's Copy in exchange for my review of this book.
Erika declares for us (because most of us don't believe it) that we are artists. We are made to create and the Kingdom of God is depending on our doing just that.
"So take your molecules and your moments and your unprecedented mess and the intoxicated music of your life and make a masterpiece that reflects the truth. Because on the other side of Jesus, art is a revelation of the kingdom, a kingdom revealing God through billions of different kaleidoscopic expressions. Art, your art, is absolutely vital because your art is how Jesus is made known to the world."
With life-giving Spirit wind, Bandersnatch kindles all the beauty and power that has remained hidden and afraid in the dark edges of your soul and breathes possibility and promise into all your longing.
*I received an Advanced Reader's Copy in exchange for my review of this book.
January 5, 2016
I am a voracious reader. Books stay beside my bed for only a week or so because I devour them. I started Bandersnatch back in October after meeting the author at a women's conference. I only just now finished it. Yes there were the holidays and other events that were time consuming, but the biggest slow down was I didn't want this book to be over. I highlighted passages, wrote in the margins and dog eared my favorite pages.
My biggest issue with books in the Christian faith these days is they are flowery prose with no sustenance. I don't want to hear about Jesus, I want to see him in action. This book is full of some of the most beautiful prose being written today. It also sustains and inspires.
If you want to experience a walk with a Jesus with glasses you've never worn, this book is most deliciously for you. I can't wait to read it again.
My biggest issue with books in the Christian faith these days is they are flowery prose with no sustenance. I don't want to hear about Jesus, I want to see him in action. This book is full of some of the most beautiful prose being written today. It also sustains and inspires.
If you want to experience a walk with a Jesus with glasses you've never worn, this book is most deliciously for you. I can't wait to read it again.
April 6, 2016
I imagine that this book will be a real lifesaver for those Christians, particularly in big American churches, who feel constrained by the unspoken rules of how Christians should behave or act, and who have a bit more of a hippy spirit in them. Erika speaks of how she found value in listening to the Spirit and becoming more like herself in so doing. What I found most interesting was her approach to mission: how she prays and takes time to actually connect with people on low incomes, or homeless people, and stops to see Jesus in them and honour the imago Dei in them – not by ‘examining them’ or valuing them from afar but by really connecting with them. This book was not exactly memoir or typical Christian teaching, but rather a journey round someone’s head – and a very interesting journey it was, too.
January 14, 2017
A book featuring the title of a mythical creature and inviting the reader to "explore their unconventional soul" should be expected to be a bit "out there." Still, I was puzzled and confused at times over the dramatic language and use of imagery. At times it seemed a bit over done.
I would still recommend the book because it carries such an important message today's divisive world when people get caught up in the rules of religion that force conformity. How can we expect such a creative God to not appreciate our uniqueness and individuality? This gave me more acceptance and even appreciativeness of my own unique, however flawed, self. It also helped me see God as a constant companion and cheerleader instead of the "big guy in the sky."
I would still recommend the book because it carries such an important message today's divisive world when people get caught up in the rules of religion that force conformity. How can we expect such a creative God to not appreciate our uniqueness and individuality? This gave me more acceptance and even appreciativeness of my own unique, however flawed, self. It also helped me see God as a constant companion and cheerleader instead of the "big guy in the sky."
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews