Angels & Dragons: On Sorrows, God, and Healing

This collection by theologian and author Molly Wolf, taps even deeper into the mystery of human suffering and pain than her previous books. In these beautifully-written essays, Wolf discusses tragedy, post-traumatic disorder, jealousy, and other issues that rip the human spirit. Wolf doesn't spare herself or her readers - at times the imagery is very, very powerful and quite graphic. This is a searingly honest, deeply personal and redemptive book that establishes Wolf as a new and important voice in Christian theology.

The title brings to mind the statue (Michelangelo?)of The Archangel slaying the Dragon. The book chronicles some of the author's struggles with slaying the dragon of an abusive marriage and living with subsequent PTSD. As one of the editorial reviewers says, the emotional power is so strong that the book should be read in small bites; I read it in small pieces lest I read the whole thing in one sitting and be left hungry, to wait for her next book. In short, the book is excellent; and it shows that Wolf is a major writer of every-day spirituality, both in her weekly "Sabbath Blessing" and now on this new plane. I think she is a product of, and a strong voice for, the quiet spiritual revival which I see taking place in major denominations - a revival which is going beyond institutional preoccupations and leading to a strong personal and community "sense of God." A Christian {or anyone else} who wants to lead a spiritual life in the here-and-now, the dirt-and-the-dust should be reading this and all of Molly Wolf's books.

Those of us with the good fortune to have discovered Wolf's weekly vignettes for the Internet, tying together real life as we know it and spiritual belief, will find her new book different. Different as in, not better or worse, but with a different flavor. In fact, Wolf continues to weave a verbal web, combining elegant metaphor with prosaic observation, all the while illuminating everyday issues of faith. Angels and Dragons is a different beast; not a vignetter, but an attempt through a collection of pieces which oscillate around a theme - that of injury, sorrow and healing. The attempt is more than a success. While the tone of the book differs from Wolf's previous, her ability to weave her own experiences along with others, both biblical and real, retains the central characteristic of clear, evocative writing we have become used to. This is not so much a "take a little bite book", but the fuller menu is even more satisfying.