Permission To Speak Freely: Essays And Art On Fear, Confession, And Grace (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
Near the beginning of this book Anne Miller (then Anne Jackson) wrote, "Fear wants to stop our stories." From that origination point she does her best to make sure that her story is not stopped by that fear. This book is part cafe' conversation, part confession, and part testimony. And when I say is it "part" something I mean that it is a collection of parts, pieces, life snapshots, and memoirs that are all working together in the way a group of left-handed people would attempt to reach around a blind corner; that is to say, they fully accomplish their goal but they do so in ways that at times have to be seen as awkward. But that in no way is a criticism, in fact it is this gangley lumbering that gives the book its charm. The chapters at time feel as if Miller sat down to write something else and then thought, "wait, I remember this time when..." and then proceeds to fully make her point but in wonderfully unexpected ways. She is honest in this book. Honest about herself, about life, about Christians, about the church. What must be realized however, is that while truth is an objective reality honesty is very personal, and therefore subjective. There were a few places where I probably disagreed with her conclusions (not many, and not ardently), but in those moments I never thought for a second that she wasn't being honest, forthcoming, and straight. In this book honesty is the place where we are authentic and real and being right or wrong comes along after.I would highly recommend this book to church people who are tired and to anyone who values honesty. There is redemption in the pages of this book, a subtle, sneek-up-from-behind-you kind of redemption that lures you in with its conversational tone and then leads you to a table in the back where you sit down to eat dinner opposite a mirror. Anne's story is anything but graceful, but it's full of grace. She speaks in a language that church kids will understand, resonate with, be tempted to look down on, and then tearfully realize is their own.I am grateful for having read this book. This book is beautiful and ugly. On the one side, it can be considered in the same context as those hand-crafted notes, poems, and pictures that are included in its pages. The paper, the feel of the embossed cover, and the words as they fitted together are all part of Jackson’s craft in writing. In fact, “beautiful” is a word she uses as she describes the result of confessing broken and discouraged lives.On the other side, this book is ugly. Who would think that upstanding, Christian, young women could be addicted to pornography, willing to live behind a façade of “being good”? Who would think that a depressed and cocaine-riddled young woman could start a movement that would inspire Jackson to tell the story? In Christianity, there is an ugliness of self-righteousness that needs to be confessed and buried. There is also an ugliness of sin that needs to be confessed and for which we need to be accountable. If we are to love as we have been loved, we need to accept the ugly side of people’s lives – and, if we are honest, of our own lives.Jackson pulls no punches. While the book is largely autobiographical, it is more an example of what lies beneath the surface of too many Christians. The book is, as she writes, the “gift of going first” in confessing something that is normally withheld by fear but, once said, opens the way for others to realize that they are not along and need not fear exposing themselves by their own confessions. The book does a service to women – as well as men – who need to know there are resources for help. We need to be comfortable in these uncomfortable situations to love the unlovely.Reading this book will show that we are not alone in sin and we need not be alone in confession. Adopting the love of others, as instructed as a central part of Christian faith, will make us each stronger.
What do You think about Permission To Speak Freely: Essays And Art On Fear, Confession, And Grace (2010)?
I was hoping it was going to be a collection of the art and not the memoir that it was.
—vidhuravinath
Love her concept of "the gift of going second."
—blossom
Spoke to me on a deep level. It speaks true.
—richo
