Book Review – Thin Places by Mary DeMuth

I wanted to scoop up the 5-year-old Mary and cradle her in my arms, along with every other young innocent. I wanted to throttle those who stole her innocence. I clutched the book to my heart.

I wept.

And yet redemption and grace and beauty shine through the pain. And forgiveness in spite of the pain.

From Amazing Grave to Amazing Life, Mary courageously bares her life and her heart as she recounts the thin places in her life. Snatches of time where she caught gossamer glimpses of God at work in every circumstance. Even though she wasn’t able to see Him at the time.

Perhaps God chose Mary for such a time as this. To come alongside the way-too many who struggle with the aftereffects of childhood sexual abuse. To come alongside those who feel rejected and neglected, shamed and blamed. Those who live in fear and frustration.Who feel they take up too much room. Who strive to fill their fatherless holes or stretch for perfection or search for approval in all the wrong places and in all the wrong ways. Who need to have control. Who need to find rest.

Mary does not offer easy answers. But she offers hope. She realizes that painful memories can be thin places and that comfort can come from El Roi, the God who sees. She is a “wrestling pilgrim, following painstakingly after Jesus, one who has experienced the “kiss of the King.” She wants you to know that Jesus is near even in the most horrific circumstances and that He can bring beauty out of ashes.

I read this book twice in a week. And I found myself pondering my own thin places. And praying that because of my own failings, my children and other loved ones will also catch a glimpse of the holy.

Caution: Do not start this book if you only have time to read for thirty minutes. You will not be able to put it down.

Attention writers: This is a spiritual memoir published by Zondervan. Watch how Mary pulls her story together. Consider her use of tense and verbs. Revel in the music of her prose.

Copyright © 2009 by Sandra Heska King

NOTE: Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”