Sara is wise beyond her years. She gave a voice to many of my own thoughts. As a woman in my 70s I carry a lot of anxiety not least of which is whether I will live to see our country heal. I hold much anxiety concerning my children and grandchildren and the world they will live on. The picture Sara painted of praying on the porch for her son resonated loudly for me. I’m still processing this book and will read it again when my hard copy arrives. (I read an advanced digital copy) Thank you Sara for an insightful read that made me feel seen.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC. A knowledgeable and insightful book that's well written.

A vivid, visceral, disturbing and ultimately redemptive journey through the heart of anxiety, not to come out the other side, but to find God there in the depths.

✨Thank you to Baker Books for the Advance Reader Copy✨

I’ve followed Sarah’s deep and wise commentary on current events since the pandemic days. She has a way of sharing bold truth that makes you take a second look at your inner biases and comfort zones.

Nervous Systems centers on three areas that are sources of anxiety for today’s Christians:

The Body
The Church Body
The Body Politic

The Body is an intimate and honest look at aging and illness in our physical bodies.

Sarah discusses our cultural obsession with delaying or concealing the inevitable, but the majority of this section focuses on her anxiety in the role of caregiver to aging parents. Truthfully, I was unable to finish this section because the stark, repetitive descriptions of this season of life were feeding my own anxieties for the future.

The Church Body examines the signs of instability/anxiety within the American church.

This section is an expanded update of the conflict Sarah addressed in her first book, Orphaned Believers. Can the decision to stay and work change in our chosen places of worship, the local body of broken believers, counterbalance our urge to checkout of organized gatherings in order to remain unaffiliated with those that embrace Nationalism?

The Body Politic is the part of the book where I found myself reading through the eyes of my most cynical exvangelical friend.

Sarah observes how the growing decline in support of pluralism has positioned Christianity in a fight for dominance, preying on the fear that a religiously diverse country weakens America.

Just as in her previous book, Nervous Systems immediately sold me on the premise. I have people in my life who are seeking stability in these areas, and likewise my own anxieties to grapple with.

In the days following my read, I find myself facing the same question as when I read Orphaned Believers. How shall I recommend this book?

Does the reader need to have a similar Christian upbringing in the 90’s and early 2000’s to relate? Do you need to be someone who normally reads memoirs to embrace its incredibly personal and poetic contents alongside the research? Most importantly, will it give readers the space to consider an opposing viewpoint?

I’ve come to the conclusion that the best way to read Sarah’s writing is as if you are sitting down to catchup with Sarah over coffee (or whisky). She was clearly getting organized before you arrived. The table has a stack of books she’s been reading, some printouts of articles she highlighted, and her Bible has visible tabs. Her phone is nowhere in sight, and she’s clearly not on her first cup of coffee.

Sit down and compare notes on what you’ve noticed about life and church and politics lately. Sarah’s thoughts are well-educated and poignant, and I fully expect your conversation to meander widely from the world at large to what’s happening in her family life.

As you swing from the teachings of St. Ignatius to the rise of tradwife influencers, grab hold of what you want to think more deeply about on the drive home.