Rachel Held Evans

My heart is heavy tonight because of the death of Rachel Held Evans. You absolutely must read her blog and her books if you haven't discovered her work yet. She was only in her late thirties when she passed into heaven early this morning after complications from the flu, an infection, and reactions to an antibiotic. She leaves behind a husband and two young children.

I found her writing as I was starting my own questioning of faith and church. She was a good bit younger than I, but was asking out loud questions I was having. I was deconstructing my faith because of chronic illness and it felt so comforting to see that others were dissatisfied with the stock answers of our childhood faith.

I loved all four of her books, but found Searching for Sunday particularly appropriate as I grappled with my future with Evangelicalism. I appreciated her approach to each sacrament with grace and a touch of humor. And it made it a little easier to slip out of my childhood faith tradition into the mainline PCUSA.

Read her blog and her books. You'll be glad you did. But, right now, pray for her family. No one deserves to lose their wife or mother like this. I just can't even imagine . . . Jesus, keep them close . . .

Catherine