Awakening Faith {a Booksneeze review}

I love having a daily devotional to read that is unique, and one that actually makes me think.  Some I've tried in the past just seem so fluffy and inconsequential, or they are just trying too hard to sound smart so I can't really glean anything from it.

Awakening Faith: Daily Devotions from the Early Church is most certainly not fluff, nor is it trying to impress me.  The one-page devotions are pulled from the writings of the church fathers -- messages written from roughly AD 100 to the late 700s. 

Definitely not fluff.

From the publisher:

In simple, updated language, Awakening Faith by James Stuart Bell provides a year of inspiring readings drawn from the earliest teachers and writers of the church---the Church Fathers. In every reflection you will be refreshed by deep wells of wisdom and spiritual insight.

I received this towards the end of January, and my normal approach to this would have been to just start with the January 1 reading (John Chrysostom, c. 347-407, archbishop of Constantinople) and just double up until I got on track somewhere around the end of February.

However, since this is a review product, instead, I pulled the book out 4-5 times a day for a few days, and read one or two daily readings at a time.  That gave me a pretty good look at the devotions.  I also flipped to the back of the book to read about the 70 or so Church Fathers who are included in this work. Fascinating stuff.

My thoughts: I love that the readings are not over my head.  That was, to be honest, my biggest concern with getting this particular book.  Thinking about reading what Augustine, Ambrose, or Bede the Venerable have to say makes me worry that I'm just not smart enough to comprehend.

The "simple, updated language" part that James Stuart Bell brings to this volume is probably a big part of why this is so accessible. 

I'll confess that I am glad to be down to reading one page a day now, though.  A few moments of my morning leaves me with plenty to reflect on.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. 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: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”