Girl Meets God

Book Club: Girl Meets God
How do you connect with this particular spiritual journey? What about your own spiritual journey is similar and different?

Her spiritual journey was a story that I was able to connect with on a variety of levels, but I think the over all take away message was something I connected with the most. I viewed her journey as trying to find her faith on her own, while at the same time using the influences of a majority of people around her to help her on her journey. That’s how my journey has been, with spirituality as well as life. I remember my parents being baptized, so I haven’t been raised in a Christian family my whole life. Due to that, my parents are on their own journey with God, while at the same time leading me. Honestly, I’ve watched them go up and down a lot in their faith, something that has bugged me growing up and still does. The point I’m getting at though is that I’ve had to go through this journey without solid people in faith to guide me. She had to go through this without the support of her parents, something that is different than me, but her journey consisted of various people inputting various ideas to get her to the point of where she is. I’ve moved a lot, connected with a lot of theology from a lot of people, some I agree with, some I don’t. I’ve seen a lot of things in church I agree with, a lot I don’t. Through it all, I am thankful that I had those experiences, just as she is.

What surprised you?
I was surprised by how much hurt she experienced from a Jewish perspective by the Christian church. Reading how much silent hates just expressed to the Jewish population is something that never crossed my mind. The story of the Crucifixion for example, as any Jewish child watches the story will go away knowing that he or she is the bad person. That is something that never crossed my mind. Being a Christian, I try to be as welcoming as possible, really loving everyone I come in contact with. How do Jew’s feel when they come to a Christian church? It’s a question that I will wrestle with.

What are some ways that the author’s gender influenced her story?
A lot of her story was about experiences, experiences in which she was a girl (and still is a girl). With that, I am not sure if I can fully understand how her gender influenced her story since I don’t share those experiences from a girl perspective. I honestly am not sure how her gender influenced her, but I know it did.

In what ways did this book expand or deepen your understand of God?
This book is something that goes along with me in my journey, which is how it has expanded my understanding of God, as it gets expanded everyday by a variety of reasons. One of the major things that have stuck in my mind is the idea of emotions and feelings on earth. There is a part in her book in which she discusses emotions on earth and it hit me, how much more will there be emotions in Heaven! Think of the good emotions in life and how much I desire those. Think how good and rich they feel! Now I think about Heaven and how much more those good emotions will feel! Ugh, I can’t wait.

What conclusions of the author’s do you tend to disagree with?
I’m not sure if I necessarily disagree with anything she wrote. It’s hard to disagree with someone’s experience and feelings, which is what a lot of the book was focused on. Her experiences do get at some points, a lot of points in which I agree with. Some questions I am left with are: How do Christians welcome others/how does the Church welcome others? What does it mean to accept Christi? Is it a one-minute decision or a life long journey? How does the church treat the Old Testament? What does the church do with the Old Testament?

In summary, I thought the book was really enjoyable. I loved reading about the different experiences she went through to get her to the point she is currently at. I’m a sucker for stories, which makes me a sucker for this book. She left me with encouragement, as well as questions that I will continue to wrestle with.