RANSOM NOTES

A series of reflections explores various aspects of modern Christian life.

Ransom’s nonfiction debut consists of dozens of short chapters that cover a surprising range of topics and allusions in order to address the many facets of modern life in the Christian worldview. The author repeatedly reminds her Christian target audience that God so loved his human creations that he sent his own son to surrender his life in order to give them a path to salvation. Her narrative is suffused with sympathy for Christians who believe this inconsistently or imperfectly. “Our faith gets tired,” she concedes, “and our heart aches.” The book’s spotlight shifts from history to pop culture to Ransom’s personal stories, but the two themes running throughout—that faith can be hard, exhausting work and that God is always there to help shoulder the burden—are never far from the surface. “When you are maxed out emotionally from family, work, church volunteering, or even just worshipping, listen to God,” the author writes in a typical aside. “Find time for rest.” Roman Catholic readers will notice the Protestant nature of her sentiments (“I cannot earn my salvation through overcoming my faults. Salvation is a gift, freely given, but I must accept that gift”). And some of Ransom’s conclusions are deliberately soft (a lack of solid scriptural knowledge is floated as a possible explanation for the 21st-century loss of religious faith among young people rather than, say, a rise in scientific literacy). But the caring, sympathetic tone of all her chapters tends to bridge such fissures. After every anecdote or rumination, the author stresses community, humanity, fellowship, and humility in the face of life’s challenges: “We absolutely cannot be a Lone Ranger in life. We were made by God to…care for one another.” This unifying tone of empathy remains the book’s most memorable feature.

A vibrant and compassionate call for Christians to remember that their faith is a gift.