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40 of 41 people found the following review helpful: A Different Kind of Christianity, April 8, 2007 By  O. Brown "Ms. O. Khannah-Brown" (Twopeas, WA) - See all my reviews          ***** This is a book about a different kind of Christianity, one based on love and reminiscent of Jesus---authentic and moving---for all of those who are turned off by the religious right and what today passes for the "Good News". It is refreshing and eye-opening to see a secular leftist lesbian experience a radical conversion to Christianity based around feeding others' physical, spiritual and emotional hunger through food pantries. Jesus said "Feed My sheep", and the author does this, and chronicles her journey. She is the kind of Christian I want to be, not hate-based or fear-based or dogma-based, but faithful to the actual Gospel, which is violently at odds with the way faith is sometimes practiced today. She is Episcopalian, and her sexual identiy as a lesbian (which she retains after her conversion) is peripheral to her story about feeding hungry people. She ministers to "the poor, the weak, the sick and the lonely", and the book chronicles how all this comes about. This is a great read, one that will make Christians open their eyes, and people of other faiths respect someone who has lived her life in love. *****  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful: hunger and holiness, May 14, 2007 By  Daniel B. Clendenin (www.journeywithjesus.net) - See all my reviews       Sara Miles describes herself as a blue-state, secular intellectual, a lesbian, and a left-wing journalist who developed habits of deep scepticism from covering revolutionary movements in Central America. Her grandparents on both sides were missionaries, but in reaction to that upbringing her parents were actively hostile to religion. So, it's a bit of an understatement that she also describes herself as a "very unlikely convert." But at the age of 46 Miles walked into Saint Gregory's Episcopal Church in San Francisco, partook of the Eucharist, and experienced a radical conversion. She had never heard a Gospel reading, never said the Lord's Prayer, and knew only one person who went to church. Today she is on staff at Saint Gregory's. That was some eight years ago and only the beginning of further conversions. Building upon her life experiences as a chef, her conversion through the Eucharist, passion for the poor, and the founding vision of St. Gregory's, in 2000 Miles started a food pantry at her church that gave away free groceries (not meals) with no questions asked and no forms to fill out. Each week food for about 400 families was placed around the eucharistic altar. Such was the open communion and unconditional acceptance that she experienced at Saint Gregory's and intended to extend to anyone who was hungry. Through connections with the San Francisco Food Bank, and the generosity of unexpected donors, the miracle of the loaves multiplied and Miles went on to jump start nine more food pantries around the city. Mundane food for the body became not only a sign of God's kingdom but, as theologians would say, the actual thing signified. Those who received wanted to give. Care for broken spirits accompanied bread for hungry bodies. If you have spent any time in church you will especially appreciate Miles' candid descriptions of the disruptions and divisions that the food pantries caused at Saint Gregory's. At one point more homeless, schizophrenic, and drug-crazed hungry people came to the food pantry than artsy, proper worshippers to the church services. While Miles saw this as a blessing, others saw it as a curse of sorts. With her story of radical Christian conversion and the incarnation of daily discipleship Miles will join other feminist authors who have earned a broad readership because of the authenticity with which they have written about loving Christ, the church, and the world--Joan Chittister, Nora Gallagher, Anne Lamott, Kathleen Norris, Marilynne Robinson, and Barbara Brown Taylor come to mind. When I finished her book my mind kept returning to Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 4:21, "The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power," and in Galatians 5:6, "The only thing that matters is faith expressing itself in love."  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful: Take this Bread...and this book!, July 20, 2007 By  The Inveterate Reader (New York, NY) - See all my reviews This book came recommended by Anne Lamott from the Sun Valley Writer's Conference newsletter. I am so glad I took her up on her suggestion. Sara Miles' conversion story is one of the best books of biblical exegeses I have had the pleasure to read. Her childhood was liberal and void of relgion. But the hunger to be spiritually fed was always present. In her thirties she stumbles across an episcopal church in San Francisco and for the first time takes the bread and wine of the Eucharist. Her feeling of being fed by Christ - being welcome to sit at His table - is profound and life changing. She passionately shows us how we are all welcome to Christ's table to be nourished and fed despite our brokenness, weakness, intolerance, and just plain humanness. And we are called to nourish and feed others, those that are easy to love and those that are not. She makes her experience of being fed and feeding others visceral and real - all are welcome, no questions asked. I found this book insightful, funny, and inspiring.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)