Sin Boldly: A Field Guide for Grace

Justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. And grace is getting what you absolutely don't deserve.

Award-winning author and columnist Cathleen Falsani says, 'People regularly ask me why I believe in God. The simple answer ... is grace.' In Sin Boldly: A Field Guide to Grace, Falsani explores the meaning and experience of grace through story and song, quotes and photos.

Falsani says, 'Grace makes no sense to our human minds. We're hardwired to seek justice, or our limited idea of what that means, and occasionally dole out mercy. Grace is another story.' Sin Boldly is an uplifting, multifaceted, and thought-provoking look at what makes grace so amazing.

Justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. And grace is getting what you absolutely don't deserve.

Publishers Weekly

Ranging from Chicago to Kenya, New Orleans to Ireland, Big Sky to Graceland, Falsani dons her investigative cap and scouts for grace. This religion columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times is a charming guide to places and people who reveal grace when and where it happens. Eschewing technical theological definitions, Falsani opts instead to tell how she has experienced grace. And we are vicarious travelers, seeing grace audacious, unwarranted, and unlimited through Falsani s eyes. She marvels at the devotion of young people who crowd to the pope s funeral and at the astoundingly independent women of Asembo Bay in Kenya. She wrestles with anger at a misogynist Tanzanian tour guide and anger at God when her mother and beloved cat face cancer. We traipse along with the author and eavesdrop on her conversations, both external and internal. The result is a pastiche of images meant collectively to reveal God s grace. Though some may find the premise contrived, only a fierce cynic could fail to be drawn in to Falsani s tales and candid reflections.

Cathleen Falsani, author of Sin Boldly, The Dude Abides, and The God Factor, is the award-winning religion columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. She attended Wheaton College and also holds masters degrees in journalism and theology. She lives in Laguna Beach, California, with her husband and fellow journalist, Maurice Possley.