To Be Broken and Tender: A Quaker Theology for Today

by Margery Post Abbott

In To Be Tender and Broken, Margery Abbott weaves together a brave and beautiful personal narrative with Quaker history and theological reflection in response to questions and struggles about belief, language, social issues and other deeply-felt concerns that unsettle and divide our meetings and the wider Religious Society of Friends. Research underpins each chapter with a rich and wide range of classic and contemporary Quaker writers; her analysis is both original and evocative. She asks how, for example, do Friends answer that of God in light of the heinous acts that daily erupt in our world? What strength might a liberal Friend draw from the experience and meaning of the cross to make sense of our lives? Abbott shows us what is possible when we are willing to enter conversation without expectations about where our conversations might lead. Our willingness to listen, to risk being tender and broken, allows the Light within to move us to places we could not have imagined.This is a book Friends of all persuasions have been waiting for.-Barbarajene Williams, elder for the Way of Ministry program

260 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2010

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for the book club at my Meeting and believe it will generate a fruitful discussion.

To Be Broken and Tender is written in the first person and is a memoir of the author's personal Quaker experience and theology. I, perhaps unfairly, wasn't expecting this and overall did not find the book very engaging. The author also uses a great variety of terms for God/the Light which I ultimately found more confusing than inclusive.

That said, I appreciated the way the book encourages Universalist and Christ-centered Friends to build relationships and share in an on-going and accepting dialogue. The book also includes many excellent quotes and suggested queries for consideration at the end of the narrative.

[Rhiannon Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This intriguing book has elements of both a 'popular' - accessible and spiritually-focused - book and an academic - systematic and rigorous - theology. Abbott uses her own experience and Christian resources to explore classical and more modern concerns, reaching conclusions which often feel timeless. The overall tone of care and thoughtfulness slips in only a few places (by the end, the repeated mentions of Buddhist ideas along with disclaimers about her lack of understanding and engagement with them made me wonder why they were included at all). I haven't used the study guide, but this is a book likely to appeal to theologically-interested liberal Quakers and to spark good discussions.

[Luke Hillier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm being a bit generous with the fourth star, but I really appreciate what the book was able to do despite its shortcomings. The book offers plenty of thoughtful reflection and writing around so many spiritual topics ranging from suffering, nonviolence, prayer, solitude, atonement, and on and on...to the point where its far-reaching breadth began to feel like a hindrance more than an asset. Essentially, the structure of the book is one short meditation after another, and although some common language and thought runs throughout to offer a loose linking, they don't necessarily build in ways that feel cohesive or satisfying. The book may actually be stronger as a devotional (and there is a study guide with queries for each chapter included), but read straight through its choppiness read a bit tedious for me.

That said, I did enjoy it. Post Abbott is a deeply thoughtful writer and you can tell that her words are chosen with deliberateness and care. I think she presents (what I'd assume to be) a great snapshot of what a contemporary Gen X Friend in the West Coast looks like, without ever ascribing her experience or perspective onto a whole. A true highlight of her story is the sort inverted spiritual path she describes; I'm so used to the "exvangelical" narrative that it was refreshing and meaningful to read about someone who grew up as a liberal, more vaguely theistic Quaker and grew to appreciate and incorporate Christian theology as they grew up. Likewise, her consistent faithfulness to the leading she describes to be a bride between liberal and evangelical Quakers as evidenced, in part, by her generous readings of the latter was really striking and hopeful for me amid the intense divisiveness of the Church at large. Her frequent inclusion of writings from early Friends as a conversation partner and potential corrective for her more modern inklings and sensibilities stood out to me as well. In these ways, I really valued Post Abbott's posture as a writer and a religious person more generally, and think they reflect the value of her Quakerism even more than her writing does. The book is has plenty of insightful nuggets, and while it is consistently good, my own tastes found it far less frequently great. An extra star for the title and reflections around it, because the notion of faith being described through all the various meanings of "broken and tender" will stick with me and felt really compelling.

[Juanita]

Because I would like to read it