Wrestling with Angels by Carolyn Arends

Carolyn Arends is a Christian music artist who also writes books. I don’t listen to much Christian music but I was able to attend a concert of her at Christmas time and while I enjoyed her music what I enjoyed more was her story telling. She is a natural story teller which also comes out in the songs that she writes.

The book is about faith and doubt. It’s a personal story but with universal application and appeal. The stories revolve around her questions and sometimes the answers that she arrives at during her questioning. There’s a lot of biography in it and some of my favourite stories were ones that included Rich Mullins a friend of hers and a favourite musician of mine.

Carolyn’s wrestling with questions that I think we all have. One of the final paragraphs in her book will give you a clue as to the kind of writing you will encounter if you pick this book up to read. Speaking of Pascal’s “God-shaped vacuum” quote she says, “calling this vacuum God –shaped may seem like a leap, unless of course you encounter a God whom you cannot prove exists, but nonetheless fits the hole in your soul like a key in a lock.”(pg. 232). I like that.