This is a book about faith…

Along with ‘Bird by Bird’, ‘Travelling Mercies’ is one of my favourite books by Anne Lamott. In it she takes us on a journey through her struggles with addiction and her challenges and joys as a single mother to her son Sam, and shows us how her human wranglings eventually led her towards a devout and down-to-earth faith in God - and in herself. The book is filled with funny anecdotes, illuminating insights, heart-breaking accounts of her struggles with alcohol and drugs, and larger-than-life descriptions of the people she encountered on her path. Through all of this, she shows us how an ordinary, messy life can be stuffed with grace, hope and meaning - if we can only let ourselves see it.

“I don’t know why life isn’t constructed to be seamless and safe, why we make such glaring mistakes, things fall so short of our expectations, and our hearts get broken and out kids do scary things and our parents get old and don’t always remember to put pants on before they go out for a stroll. I don’t know why it’s not more like it is in the movies, why things don’t come out neatly and lessons can’t be learned when you’re in the mood for learning them, why love and grace often come in such motley packaging.”

Hers is an irreverent, against-all-odds faith, not an easy bumper-sticker faith - "…my coming to faith did not start with a leap but rather a series of staggers." It’s what pulled her up from the floor and - through her everyday encounters with the world around her - allowed her to start experiencing the small miracles and moments of grace that underpinned her life. It’s funny, it’s touching, and it will make you think about your life in a different way. Having had my own struggles with addiction and my own battles with faith, this book felt like a true tonic.