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Soul Bare: Stories of Redemption
Honesty, authenticity and vulnerability. You want to be a person who reflects these qualities. But sometimes it's just hard to reveal your deepest hardships and struggles. How are Christians supposed to have hope and experience wholeness amid personal challenges and failures? The women and men ofSoul Bare not only intimately understand the risks of exposure, but they are also willing to share their most poignant and painful moments with you. Soul Bare features contributions from the best of today's influential young writers, including
Emily P. Freeman
Trillia Newbell
Holley Gerth
Seth Haines
Jennifer Dukes Lee
and many more
Soak in these powerful reflections, and you will find your own soul soothed. If you need to experience beauty in the brokenness of real life laid bare, this book is for you.
Emily P. Freeman
Trillia Newbell
Holley Gerth
Seth Haines
Jennifer Dukes Lee
and many more
Soak in these powerful reflections, and you will find your own soul soothed. If you need to experience beauty in the brokenness of real life laid bare, this book is for you.
216 pages, Paperback
Published July 5, 2016
8 people are currently reading
475 people want to read
About the author
Cara Sexton
3 books2 followersCara Sexton describes herself as "part monk, part punk." She lives with her husband and four children in beautiful southern Oregon where she cultivates a passion for creativity and inspiration, as she daily gathers the manna of ordinary magic from even the unlikeliest of places. Cara writes creative nonfiction, poetry, and fiction, and her work has appeared in the books Finding Church and What a Woman is Worth, as well as in many magazines and online publications. She has worked as nonfiction editor for Duende literary magazine and is currently writing a spiritual memoir while also completing her BFA degree in creative writing at Goddard College. When she isn't writing, she is probably decorating, daydreaming, kissing freckles, scouring flea markets for vintage trinkets, or preparing for her next big adventure.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 15, 2016
One of my consistent struggles with Christianity is that it can feel as though there is no place for those who struggle, for those who doubt. So many Christian books are written from this struggle-free perspective.
I remember being acutely aware of this in the wake of my miscarriage. The books I found by Christians were books written from the other side, after a couple's struggle with miscarriage or infertility had been overcome and the rainbow baby delivered.
Those books weren't helpful for me.
I wanted to read books by people in the midst of struggle, who didn't have the thing they ultimately wanted, and yet who'd still experienced God's goodness... Or if not his goodness, at least his love.
Worship, too, promotes this theology. We sing about being overcomers far more than we sing about suffering.
For these reasons, I was intrigued by Soul Bare, a collection of essays written by a host of recognizable authors including Seth Haines, Sarah Bessey, Jennifer Dukes Lee and edited by Cara Sexton. The premise of this book is that God welcomes your brokenness; that he is there, in the messy places of suffering. As Cara writes in her introduction, “Do you know that your wounds, too, are welcome? Do you know that the soul-bare places, the sights and sounds of your life that you shelter from public display, belong to him? That he resides there? That he redeems there?”
The essays in Soul Bare are broken into three parts: Letting Go, Leaning In, and Hope and Healing. Each of the sections contain essays that reflect, not fully finished and redeemed stories, but raw, vulnerable, in-process stories of God at work.
As a big fan of Sarah Bessey's, I expected to resonate with her essay, Letters of Intention, and did. It is everything you expect from Sarah: Beautiful, honest, and thought-provoking. In it, she wrestles with her call. In her words, “I've never been more convinced of my calling and yet scared to walk it out. I've never been more attuned to the suffering and yet quick to everyday joy. I've never been so easily wounded, and yet I love being armorless.”
The essay I saw myself most in was Sarah Markley's, Without People Like You. In it, she recounts stories from her childhood in which people categorized her as too sensitive. (I may have been called that once or twice, too.) She talks about wanting to grow out of this in order to be more accepted before concluding, at almost 40 years of age, that “Every person who tries to bully that out of me and every word that tries to create a callus over a raw place stands in the face of the God who intentionally created this sensitive heart. And when I try to protect my own heart by building up strong walls of apathy to guard myself, I'm telling God he's done a bad job with me. I'm at my most confident when I own up to who God has made me to be.”
Another of my favorite essays in this collection was Christina Gibson's, Pain and Holy Ground, in which she cautions people: “There is no way we can fully prepare ourselves for pain. You can brace for impact, but you can't stop it from hurting. Preparing for pain is a waste of time. We're far better off embracing difficulty instead of padding against it through cynicism, escapism or control.” This comes in the midst of a raw essay about Christina's daughter's chronic illness, a story that, like so many in this collection, can't be wrapped up in a nice, neat bow and instead ends with Christina concluding, “I don't want to embrace pain, but I do want to embrace God.”
In the final essay of the book, Lost and Found, it's editor, Cara, confesses, “I've found nothing on the shelves to tell a desperate soul what to do when they once were lost and then they became lost again. Nothing I've picked up seems to go beyond the all-cleaned-up-for-church facade that faith is something you put on your calendar, something you do, something that, if only you search hard enough, you can locate.”
In Soul Bare, Cara has given us such a book. Soul Bare isn't a book that tells desperate souls what to do when they become lost, but it is one that will let people know they are not alone; that there's hope when they're lost; and that no matter how messy life gets, they are loved deeply by the God who created them and will never forsake them.
I remember being acutely aware of this in the wake of my miscarriage. The books I found by Christians were books written from the other side, after a couple's struggle with miscarriage or infertility had been overcome and the rainbow baby delivered.
Those books weren't helpful for me.
I wanted to read books by people in the midst of struggle, who didn't have the thing they ultimately wanted, and yet who'd still experienced God's goodness... Or if not his goodness, at least his love.
Worship, too, promotes this theology. We sing about being overcomers far more than we sing about suffering.
For these reasons, I was intrigued by Soul Bare, a collection of essays written by a host of recognizable authors including Seth Haines, Sarah Bessey, Jennifer Dukes Lee and edited by Cara Sexton. The premise of this book is that God welcomes your brokenness; that he is there, in the messy places of suffering. As Cara writes in her introduction, “Do you know that your wounds, too, are welcome? Do you know that the soul-bare places, the sights and sounds of your life that you shelter from public display, belong to him? That he resides there? That he redeems there?”
The essays in Soul Bare are broken into three parts: Letting Go, Leaning In, and Hope and Healing. Each of the sections contain essays that reflect, not fully finished and redeemed stories, but raw, vulnerable, in-process stories of God at work.
As a big fan of Sarah Bessey's, I expected to resonate with her essay, Letters of Intention, and did. It is everything you expect from Sarah: Beautiful, honest, and thought-provoking. In it, she wrestles with her call. In her words, “I've never been more convinced of my calling and yet scared to walk it out. I've never been more attuned to the suffering and yet quick to everyday joy. I've never been so easily wounded, and yet I love being armorless.”
The essay I saw myself most in was Sarah Markley's, Without People Like You. In it, she recounts stories from her childhood in which people categorized her as too sensitive. (I may have been called that once or twice, too.) She talks about wanting to grow out of this in order to be more accepted before concluding, at almost 40 years of age, that “Every person who tries to bully that out of me and every word that tries to create a callus over a raw place stands in the face of the God who intentionally created this sensitive heart. And when I try to protect my own heart by building up strong walls of apathy to guard myself, I'm telling God he's done a bad job with me. I'm at my most confident when I own up to who God has made me to be.”
Another of my favorite essays in this collection was Christina Gibson's, Pain and Holy Ground, in which she cautions people: “There is no way we can fully prepare ourselves for pain. You can brace for impact, but you can't stop it from hurting. Preparing for pain is a waste of time. We're far better off embracing difficulty instead of padding against it through cynicism, escapism or control.” This comes in the midst of a raw essay about Christina's daughter's chronic illness, a story that, like so many in this collection, can't be wrapped up in a nice, neat bow and instead ends with Christina concluding, “I don't want to embrace pain, but I do want to embrace God.”
In the final essay of the book, Lost and Found, it's editor, Cara, confesses, “I've found nothing on the shelves to tell a desperate soul what to do when they once were lost and then they became lost again. Nothing I've picked up seems to go beyond the all-cleaned-up-for-church facade that faith is something you put on your calendar, something you do, something that, if only you search hard enough, you can locate.”
In Soul Bare, Cara has given us such a book. Soul Bare isn't a book that tells desperate souls what to do when they become lost, but it is one that will let people know they are not alone; that there's hope when they're lost; and that no matter how messy life gets, they are loved deeply by the God who created them and will never forsake them.
September 11, 2017
This review was originally posted on my blog, Rachel Reading. If you'd like more reviews like this, please check it out!
Man, this essay collection really just blew me away and I didn't expect it to.
I was approached by one of the contributors to see if I'd be interested in a copy of the book and I immediately said yes. Sarah Bessey is one of my favorite writers, so seeing her on the list made me know this would be immediate must read. It became a must read for many reasons beyond that.
This book is written as a collection of essays, divided into three sections. The book as a whole is about being honest, and bearing your soul to God and being honest to the world. Often in the church, we're encouraged to only share the good stuff, or the stuff where we saw God show up. This book talks about the times where yes, he showed up, but also the times where it was hard to see him.
Beautifully written, these stories of redemption are ones I know I'll return to many times, and feel so lucky to have snagged a copy. There wasn't a single essay I didn't get something from, and there were many that I am still digesting.
"Ever slowly, painfully human, we begin to see from all sides the truth we were handed: God does have more for us, and often his more looks like less. It can look like loss and pain. From the vantage point of God's kingdom set on the face of this wobbly earth, the very best he has to offer can look like surrender and taste like tears."
Man, this essay collection really just blew me away and I didn't expect it to.
I was approached by one of the contributors to see if I'd be interested in a copy of the book and I immediately said yes. Sarah Bessey is one of my favorite writers, so seeing her on the list made me know this would be immediate must read. It became a must read for many reasons beyond that.
This book is written as a collection of essays, divided into three sections. The book as a whole is about being honest, and bearing your soul to God and being honest to the world. Often in the church, we're encouraged to only share the good stuff, or the stuff where we saw God show up. This book talks about the times where yes, he showed up, but also the times where it was hard to see him.
Beautifully written, these stories of redemption are ones I know I'll return to many times, and feel so lucky to have snagged a copy. There wasn't a single essay I didn't get something from, and there were many that I am still digesting.
"Ever slowly, painfully human, we begin to see from all sides the truth we were handed: God does have more for us, and often his more looks like less. It can look like loss and pain. From the vantage point of God's kingdom set on the face of this wobbly earth, the very best he has to offer can look like surrender and taste like tears."
January 31, 2021
The Title says it all. I’m thankful for the men and women who were brave enough to bare their souls in this collection of stories. Their stories offer me the reminder that life is complicated, messy, wild and beautiful and redemption is much bigger and more complicated than we like to present it in the Christian church. I am encouraged by the raw honesty of believers who have and continue to deeply struggled with their pain and suffering. I am keeping this one on my shelf and plan to revisit it again in the future.
January 17, 2024
Reading this was like a long conversation with good friends who are willing to go deep, who don’t feel the need to fill space with unnecessary words, and who never shy away from the hard parts of faith. I read one or two essays a day over 2-1/2 weeks and was gently reminded of how tenuous and tender our faith can be, of how vital it is to give one another space and grace in the journey, and of how gentle and gracious our Father is to meet us in our frailty with His faithfulness.
March 21, 2017
What a truly lovely collection of essays dealing with life, love, loss, and healing. This book hasn't received anywhere close to the press that some of the "major" christian authors receive, but it's content ranks up there with the best of them. I found myself reading several essays many times - so much thoughtful, honest writing inside this volume. Do yourself a favor and seek this one out.
May 24, 2023
This book is a collection of essays, all of which are windows into the struggles and hopes of their authors. Only a few truly resonated with me, but those that did made me feel heard and less alone in my own struggles. I found the first two collections, “Letting Go” and “Leaning In” to hit much closer to home for me than the third, “Hope and Healing”, which perhaps says something about the current state of my spirit. The church so often discourages us from admitting to doubt and discouragement, let alone anger at God, so these glimpses of heartache are refreshing.
Two stories have really stuck with Me. The first is “Nuance” by Seth Haines. Despite the vast differences between his life experiences and mine, we are asking the same questions about God and his goodness. The second is “Lost and Found” by Cara Sexton. Her thoughts on grace are what I needed to hear.
My biggest issue with the book is the lack of diversity in the authors. I noticed first that none of the authors share my life experiences - out of 31 contributors, all have children and all but one are married. I would have loved a glimpse into the soul of an unmarried, childless person like myself. Upon further reflection, I noted that only three authors are racialized minorities (my guess based off blog photos), two are men, one struggles with chronic illness, and none are queer. So while this book is a beautiful step forward in helping the church speak pain, it will likely be most helpful to the people who look like it’s authors: straight, white, cid-gender, middle-class, able-bodied, married women with children.
Two stories have really stuck with Me. The first is “Nuance” by Seth Haines. Despite the vast differences between his life experiences and mine, we are asking the same questions about God and his goodness. The second is “Lost and Found” by Cara Sexton. Her thoughts on grace are what I needed to hear.
My biggest issue with the book is the lack of diversity in the authors. I noticed first that none of the authors share my life experiences - out of 31 contributors, all have children and all but one are married. I would have loved a glimpse into the soul of an unmarried, childless person like myself. Upon further reflection, I noted that only three authors are racialized minorities (my guess based off blog photos), two are men, one struggles with chronic illness, and none are queer. So while this book is a beautiful step forward in helping the church speak pain, it will likely be most helpful to the people who look like it’s authors: straight, white, cid-gender, middle-class, able-bodied, married women with children.
July 16, 2018
This collection of stories will reach you in profoundly personal ways. We've all been in places and situations like these writers - lost, searching, hopeful, hopeless, grasping at reasons to keep putting one foot in front of the other, celebrating the highs and lows of motherhood, career, life, and trying desperately to redeem our own shortcomings. This is a lovely book, and I go back to it time and time again when I want to feel less alone, more connected to women who have felt the same way I have at one point or another. Really love this little book.
April 16, 2021
Absolutely beautiful. The powerful moments and experiences shared by the various writers draws the reader into reflection and fill the heart with hope. Authentic truth radiates from the pages, lighting up the dark places inside one's heart that have been hidden in shadows for so long. Wonderful, necessary, redemptive book!
September 1, 2022
Beautiful!
August 20, 2016
Soul Bare presents stories from living saints who are committed to vulnerable honesty about the mud in their life, but who also know redemption is coming for them even before the light has dawned. These authors are pastor’s wives, ministry leaders, christian bloggers and writers (mostly women, but a few men as well)—the “chosen ones” we look up to as having it all together. Rather than playing the part, these saints have discovered that freedom is not found in pretense but transparency. Therefore, you will read stories of tragedy where the “why” is still an angry red mark. You will also read stories of crippling internal battles where depression, a sense of failure, shamed identity, and addiction don’t seem to lose their grip.
When we tell our personal tragedies it’s easy to give in to self-pity, exaggerate to garner sympathy, or compete in who has had the worst past as if it’s somehow a boasting matter. This book avoids both extremes. Each story is shockingly honest, but they are also redemptive. Without giving easy answers, they model a moldable softness that looks for the light. Rather than motivating the reader to overcome, these stories demonstrate inter-dependance and heavenly dependance.
Most of us have felt or questioned the same darkness these writers stare in the face. These stories offer a powerful testimony that you are not alone in the battle, that you are not supposed to simply be okay, and that God’s shoulders are wide enough for whatever season of the journey you are trekking. Most of us are tempted from time to time to judge a fellow Christ-follower for not overcoming the way we think they should. These stories are a strong reminder of God’s constant faithfulness towards His children, and that this faithfulness is not limited by our comfort zone. This book will encourage you to be a true friend who remains through the process even when you can’t fix it.
Visit TheWillowNook.com for a Soul Bare GIVEAWAY and the full review!!
*Review copy courtesy of IVP Books*
When we tell our personal tragedies it’s easy to give in to self-pity, exaggerate to garner sympathy, or compete in who has had the worst past as if it’s somehow a boasting matter. This book avoids both extremes. Each story is shockingly honest, but they are also redemptive. Without giving easy answers, they model a moldable softness that looks for the light. Rather than motivating the reader to overcome, these stories demonstrate inter-dependance and heavenly dependance.
Most of us have felt or questioned the same darkness these writers stare in the face. These stories offer a powerful testimony that you are not alone in the battle, that you are not supposed to simply be okay, and that God’s shoulders are wide enough for whatever season of the journey you are trekking. Most of us are tempted from time to time to judge a fellow Christ-follower for not overcoming the way we think they should. These stories are a strong reminder of God’s constant faithfulness towards His children, and that this faithfulness is not limited by our comfort zone. This book will encourage you to be a true friend who remains through the process even when you can’t fix it.
Visit TheWillowNook.com for a Soul Bare GIVEAWAY and the full review!!
*Review copy courtesy of IVP Books*
June 19, 2016
Soul Bare
Stories of Redemption by Emily P. Freeman, Sarah Bessey, Trillia Newbell and more
by Cara Sexton
InterVarsity Press
IVP Books
Christian, Biographies & Memoirs
Pub Date 08 Aug 2016
I was given a copy of Soul Bare through the publisher and their parnership with Netgalley in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:
This book contains stories about Christians baring their souls, imperfections and all. It's about showing others that even Christians make mistakes, but it's also about the Joy of being Christian, it's about overcoming the seeds of false belief often planted in us in Early Childhood and learning the truth.
This book deals with everything from Alcholism to broken homes and so much more but it's also about overcoming those things with faith in Jesus.
Soul Bare tells of a Mother whose daughter has a rare disease that only fifteen other people in the world have, a disease that leaves them with many uncertainties and about parents loosing their children before they even breathed because they were lost in miscarriage.
Soul Bare is Christians showing themselves at the most vulnerable but more than that it's the reminder of Redemption through the Grace of God.
Five out of five stars
Happy Reading
June 7, 2018
In a series of vulnerable essays, individuals share their 'soul bare' moments. It was a quick read and yet the moments stayed with me. There was a quote from almost every entry that really struck my heart and made me think. This book was a long time in the making, and its interesting to see how these people and their stories have grown and changed since the original submissions were gathered. I also like that each person was able to speak in their particular voice. It wasn't edited to create a single voice, but rather a united voice, in many different ways. I am thankful for this piece of writing.
December 12, 2016
This book is a collection of honest and vulnerable stories. Each author in this book shares with the reader their "soul bare" moments, revealing times of great heart-break and suffering. But in each one there is a thread of hope and joy, sometimes that thread is faint or full of colour, either way that thread leads the reader to Christ each time. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I thought each story was unique and gave me a glimpse into some very vulnerable moments that reminded me that we are never alone in the midst of suffering.
March 15, 2017
I didn't expect to love this book so much. I thought it would be "all Jesus all the time." The stories were real and raw. I felt as if I knew the people telling the stories. They were people I could know in "real life" and be friends with. It was a beautiful collection.
Merged review:
I didn't expect to love this book so much. I thought it would be "all Jesus all the time." The stories were real and raw. I felt as if I knew the people telling the stories. They were people I could know in "real life" and be friends with. It was a beautiful collection.
Merged review:
I didn't expect to love this book so much. I thought it would be "all Jesus all the time." The stories were real and raw. I felt as if I knew the people telling the stories. They were people I could know in "real life" and be friends with. It was a beautiful collection.
September 27, 2016
I loved this book; each short chapter a sharing of redemptive story from a different author. Some pages will run parallel with a reader's own story and feed hope. Others run across it with differing experiences and feed compassion! A beautiful collection of snapshots which reflect God's healing powerful grace!
April 12, 2017
Full disclosure: I received a free e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Ms. Sexton wrote her own story and collaborated with several authors for their own redemptive stories. Some of the authors include: Sarah Bessey, Emily P. Freeman, Seth Haines, Holley Gerth, and Jennifer Dukes Lee. There are 3 sections: letting to, leaning in, and hope and healing. Many will identify with their accounts. Ms. Sexton did an excellent job in pulling together the varied chapters.
Ms. Sexton recently received her B.F.A. in Creative Writing from Goddard College.
Recommended for public libraries.
Ms. Sexton wrote her own story and collaborated with several authors for their own redemptive stories. Some of the authors include: Sarah Bessey, Emily P. Freeman, Seth Haines, Holley Gerth, and Jennifer Dukes Lee. There are 3 sections: letting to, leaning in, and hope and healing. Many will identify with their accounts. Ms. Sexton did an excellent job in pulling together the varied chapters.
Ms. Sexton recently received her B.F.A. in Creative Writing from Goddard College.
Recommended for public libraries.
August 16, 2016
Raw and real, these are not the stories we might expect. Honesty heals and truth transforms in the secure embrace of community.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews