Speakeasy Book Review: Through the Kaleidoscope by Elizabeth Jeffries

I haven't been reading a whole lot of theological books lately. Frankly, I'm kind of done right now with the whole thing. Not with Jesus, but with all the baggage. I'm worn out by the more evangelical stuff. Yet, with a few refreshing exceptions, people like myself who have endured a painful desconstruction, seem to go so far to the opposite extreme that it simply becomes the flip side of the same coin. There's no place for any previously held  practices or language at all. Science is now the almighty - not a way to understand the world created by an intelligent being. Shame on you if you refer to God as 'he' or wish someone a 'blessed day'. Worse it sometimes goes toward a politico-religious arena wherein unless your deconstruction has brought you to hard left activism then you clearly haven't fully evolved.

I took a chance with this book because it seemed as though this author found a way to retain a connection to the concepts of God and Creation while honoring science and the amazing things science has discovered about humans - even seeing God's handiwork within those discoveries. Thankfully, the book delivered.  Ms. Jeffries and I seem to have had very similar upbringings and church experiences. I struggled with an almost identical form of faith-based anxiety. In some places it was like reading my own thoughts from back in those days. I immediately recognized the inner-turmoil she experienced while performing in the church haunted house - that stark presentation of God as the cold-hearted judge who you face at the end of your life, who opens up his Book of Life and sends you to the demons if you don't make the cut. I picked up that message from Jack Chick tracts. To this day those things give me the heebie-jeebies. While in my heart I knew that this portrayal of God could not really be accurate, my brain struggled with it. I was stricken with fear about trusting my heart because, you know, your heart will deceive you. I spent a good portion of my life on a roller-coaster of emotions surrounding my faith. Those chapters, which she contrasts to her discoveries in the world of cell biology, were what captivated me the most because they were so spot on.

I also enjoyed learning some new things about cell biology and DNA. I followed most of it, but some I did not - but that's no fault of the author. She did a great job explaining things in everyday language - I would have to take the time to really focus and pay attention to fully understand some of the concepts, and I'm just way too squirrley in my old age! I thoroughly enjoyed traveling with her through her scientific journey. And I very much appreciated how she pulled it all togther in a way that honors science and faith. I love knowing that, like with life in the spirit-realm, there is depth and vibrance yet to be discove in biology - and that all of it is connected.

This is a book that I will recommend to anyone currently struggling through a faith crisis, deconstruction, whatever you want to call it when the theology you grew up with no longer fits. It would also be a good read for folks who wonder how faith and science can go hand-in-hand.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.