Shauna Niequist's Bread and Wine

Shauna Niequist's Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table  is, at least for me, like a hot cup of tea at seven or eight in the morning in an arm chair next to a frosted window during the holidays.  You're comfortable and you're surrounded by (mostly slumbering) family. Life is still. And you can breathe and reflect.  It doesn't mean that your pain and fear are gone, but you have the prospect of bringing them into perspective; all while enjoying the comfort and familiarity of where you are in that moment.

Ms. Niequist's third collection of essays, a memoir really, is to be released this Tuesday.  For those who've read her first two books, you can expect more of the same Shauna: honesty and a very good grasp on what matters, all while acknowledging that life is messy and the best of intentions are often lost, twisted and turned by the fact that sin is ever-present.

For those who are unfamiliar with Ms. Niequist, she is the daughter of Bill and Lynne Hybels.  The couple helped found Willow Creek some years ago; Bill is the head pastor there and Lynne is an accomplished advocate for those without a voice.  Shauna's writing personally resounds for me as her setting is familiar: Chicago and southwestern Michigan.  While I do not live there anymore, I can envision both fairly well.  Shauna turns both into characters equally present with the people populating her essays.

The book follows a similar format to, among others, Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table  and Gesine Bullock-Prado's My Life from Scratch: A Sweet Journey of Starting Over, One Cake at a Time  with the obvious exception of a clear presence of the Spirit in Shauna's writing.  Shauna tackles subjects ranging from discouragement, struggles with self image and food to the need for community, the simple joy of our differences and the mystery of our every day lives.  Shauna does not shy away from her battles, including her miscarriages, and her honesty is the true gift of the book. A particular passage in the book regarding a difference of opinion between her and her husband as to when a group should move from the dinner table to the family room particularly resonated for me.  The bit captures the essence of marriage, connected differences, bounded by love and duty, a team not of one mind, but of one purpose.

We're taught, as Americans, to talk, but to quietly shield - to market ourselves in a manner that contains a good element of the truth, but good Lord, do not tell it all!  Be civil. Be guarded. Keep the swarmy portions hidden and do not talk about them.  I'm just as guilty of this as the next person.  I live an onion life, which is to stay that I have layers of revelation.  If you're in my sixth layer, I may tell you about some of the reasons why one of my great challenges is a failure to trust.  But because you're only at that level, and not two deeper, I won't share a stronger, more painful, reason.  Elements and shades of truth.  Shauna tackles this, not directly, but with grace and humor through each of her essays, nudging her readers to accept life with its triumphs and its warts.  To be brave and bold and not locked away in a personal castle.  For this reason alone, the book is very valuable.

The very nature of Bread and Wine  lends itself to bite-sized readings.  An essay in the morning with breakfast, one with your quiet time, one while working out, etc. The essays themselves are full of love and question, pain and light, life and tragedy, triumph and mystery.  In short, she writes from her heart about her life.  While the book clearly channels her particular life experiences, and it would be fake, devaluing, and insincere for her to do otherwise, there is something in the collection for all to connect with.  Clearly, most of us do not have a lake house to retreat to, for the summers or otherwise (or jobs that would allow for such) - but, as noted above, her honesty about the human condition is something all, if they're being honest and haven't hardened their hearts nearly beyond repair, can connect with and learn from.

The book is also filled with tempting recipes, some of which we tried out with the Hatchers a couple of weeks ago.  Unfortunately, for reasons explained in my prior post, I was only able to truly try one of the four recipes we tackled.  With that said, I walked away from our attempt feeling that Shauna would approve as the evening led to grace, laughs and a deepening of friendship.

The common theme for the essays is, as the subtitle indicates, life around the table and the theme is perfect for the content.  If you feel a need to step back and take a searching look at your own life or if you just need a healthy dose of freeing honesty, especially if you learn through example, Bread and Wine  is a fine read to guide you through that process.