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The Opposite of Certainty: Fear, Faith, and Life in Between
288Overview
—Anne Lamott
“I loved this book.”
—Glennon Doyle
“Extraordinary.” —Caroline Leavitt
“Observant and warm...the finest company.”—Kelly Corrigan
“A beautiful sucker punch, like life.“
—Ron Fournier
“Subtle, powerful, and hypnotic...”
— Martin Cruz Smith
What happens when we can no longer pretend that the ground underfoot is bedrock and the sky above predictable?
All Janine Urbaniak Reid ever wanted was for everyone she loved to be okay so she might relax and maybe be happy. Her life strategy was simple: do everything right. This included trying to be the perfect mother to her three kids so they would never experience the kind of pain she pretended not to feel growing up. What she didn’t expect was the chaos of an out-of-control life that begins when her young son’s hand begins to shake.
The Opposite of Certainty is the story of Janine’s reluctant journey beyond easy answers and platitudes. She searches for a source of strength bigger than her circumstances, only to have her circumstances become even thornier with her own crisis. Drawn deeply and against her will into herself, and into the eternal questions we all ask, she discovers hidden reserves of strength, humor, and a no-matter-what faith that looks nothing like she thought it would.
Beautifully written and deeply hopeful, Janine shows us how we can come through impossible times transformed and yet more ourselves than we’ve ever allowed ourselves to be.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780785230595 |
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Publisher: | Nelson, Thomas, Inc. |
Publication date: | 05/12/2020 |
Pages: | 288 |
Sales rank: | 316,043 |
Product dimensions: | 5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d) |
About the Author
Janine has been published in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and San Francisco Chronicle and is widely syndicated. Hoping to bring humanity into the healthcare discussion by sharing her experience as a mother of a son with a brain tumor, she penned a piece for the Post that went viral. She has been interviewed on national news networks and continues her work as a spokeswoman for healthcare justice.
Janine writes about her imperfect life, what connects us, and addresses the question of what it means to love fiercely in a sometimes dangerous and always uncertain world.
Janine is a graduate of the University of California at San Diego and lives in Northern California with her family and a motley assortment of pets. She attends St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Marin City: all are welcome.
For more information, please visit JanineUrbaniakReid.com.
Table of Contents
Foreword Anne Lamott ix
An Invitation xi
Nine Years Later xiii
1 Tremors 1
2 Chocolate Eggs and Women in Barbie Doll Blouses 5
3 What's Wrong with This Picture? 13
4 On My Knees 19
5 Boze Grozi 23
6 Inside Out 31
7 When the Walls Come Down 39
8 As the Reflex Takes Over 45
9 Quiet, Clear Yes 51
10 The Unseen Reptile 57
11 Awkward Prayer 65
12 A New Solar System 73
13 Magic Rice 81
14 Reality TV 89
15 Dust into Clay 95
16 Purgatory 101
17 Floods and Mudslides 107
18 Precarious 113
19 Jackson Pollock Faith 119
20 Not Lost 127
21 The Next Right Thing 137
22 Take Off 145
23 Until Tomorrow 151
24 Under Water 163
25 Evidence 169
26 It's Not About the Haircut 177
27 The Weight of Air 183
28 Don't Stop Believing 191
29 Mortals Like Us 199
30 The Other Track 207
31 Urban Legends 215
32 Bread 225
33 Expect 231
34 One-and-a-Half-Pound Prayer 239
35 One of the Guys 247
36 The Charm of Hummingbirds 257
37 Just Dance 265
Acknowledgments 271
About the Author 273