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Thin Places A Memoir Editorial Reviews
Source: Product Description
In this moving spiritual memoir---Thin Places---Mary DeMuth traces the winding path of thin places in her life, places where she experienced longing and healing more intensely than before. From surviving abuse as a latchkey kid to discovering a heavenly Father who never leaves, Mary's story invites you to a deeper understanding of your own story. She calls you to discover new ways to look for God in the past so that you might experience him more profoundly in the present. What if you could retrace your life and discover its thin places---places where the division between this world and the eternal fades? 'Thin places are snatches of holy ground, tucked into the corners of our world, where we might just catch a glimpse of eternity. They are aha moments, beautiful realizations, when the Son of God bursts through the hazy fog of our monotony and shines on us afresh. He has come near to my life. I will tell you how.'
Thin Places A Memoir Customer Reviews:
Average Rating: 5.0 (169 reviews)
Rating: 5 (Meeting God In The Thin Places Between Heaven And Earth) Was helpful to 20 from 21 votes
Mary DeMuth has written a beautiful Christian memoir. Growing up in the 1970's with her emotionally distant and thrice married mother, the author tries to understand the death of her father and the sexual abuse she endured from local boys. She is heart-breaking confessional in the same manner that Mary Karr was in her memoir "Lit" (without the profanity). She acknowledges her "daddy wound," her emotional neediness, and the parts of her life that have yet to be healed. She examines her painful past in the light of the Gospel. A quick read at 200+ pages, there is much here that will bring the reader back again and again.
Rating: 4 (An Extended "Thin Place" :)) Was helpful to 3 from 3 votes
THIN PLACES is a spiritual memoir -- Mary DeMuth's exploration of her childhood rapes and losses and their ramifications in adolescence and adulthood ... and her realization that while she didn't find Jesus until age 15, He has always been with her.
She relates what she calls the "thin places" of her life -- moments of God's presence that nearly erase the distinction between spiritual and physical. Looking back, she finds thin places long before she knew God; looking ahead, she strives to recognize and appreciate them now as they occur. She organizes her experiences as a series of vignettes around incidents and themes -- some heartbreaking; a few veering toward testimony; all empathic and inspiring. Reading them created thin places of my own.
Rating: 3 (Just okay) Was helpful to 10 from 20 votes
"Thin Places" is Mary DeMuth's memoir in which she recounts the many times in her life where she felt closest to God. Many of those memories are quite painful such as her being raped when she is 5 years old. She tries to make sense of it and finds comfort in her faith. In the different chapters of the book the author reveals her areas of weakness and how she is trying to overcome them through the grace of God. I applaud the author for putting herself out there and sharing some very personal details of her life. However, I was hoping for more of an inspirational story and Thin Places didn't do that for me. Instead, the author comes across as too self absorbed and whiny and most of the book focuses on her own perceived flaws. There was no major insight at the end of the book or any inspirational message, so I just felt like I listened to somebody complain about their life without giving any real insight.
Rating: 5 (Honest and Powerful) Was helpful to 3 from 3 votes
In "Thin Places" Mary describes a childhood filled with pain and loss. Her struggles include a mother who divorces and remarries several times, feelings of hopelessness and unworthiness, a desire for love and acceptance and childhood sexual abuse. Mary is very open and honest about all these events and about her feelings and responses too them. Does she always respond perfectly? No. She often struggles with feeling close to God and wonders why He allowed so much pain and struggle to enter her life from an early ages. But she also finds "thin places" in a variety of ways and places. These thin places are those times when God breaks through her pain and brokenness to show her His love, heal and restore her, and reveals His power and mercy. Mary is living proof that God can use even the darkest and most painful things in our lives to teach us, restore us, and deepen our faith in Him. I highly recommend this book to anyone who struggles to understand God and feels distant and cut-off from Him due to negative circumstances in their lives. Mary is not perfect, but God always is. I think this book will be like a healing balm for readers who are going through a "dark night of the soul" of their own. I could relate to many things that Mary shared. This book is not preachy and offers no guarantee of instant healing. But it definitely has things to teach. This is a book to be read with an open mind, and more importantly, an open heart. I am glad that I read this book.
Rating: 5 (Remarkable and Revealing-Beyond Beautiful) Was helpful to 0 from 0 votes
"Thin Places" isn't your typical memoir. Mary Demuth is radically real and is courageous enough to lay down her life for all to see. The author digs into the depths of her soul and reveals the good, the bad, and the ugly, unapologetically. But, it isn't her life that is ultimately revealed, it's her Savior that is put on display for all to witness; the One who has carried her and brought her to the very place of writing a memoir. The author says she continues to ponder what it means when she reads Hebrews 12:2, yet through the pages of her life she has inadvertently learned exactly what it means, as she keeps her eyes on Jesus while He perfects her faith; she endures the cross, disregarding its shame...intent on fulfilling God's will in her life.
This isn't a book you either "like" or "don't like." It is what it is...it is life. The beautiful thing is that Mary is willing to risk her reputation to reach out and help the hurting who may be suffering through the tragedies that a fallen world brings with it. She shares not only her childhood memories which contain unbearable pain and shame, but the struggles of her adulthood which yield continual confusion internally. Mary doesn't pretend to have all the answers--she's an authentic Christian--she simply points you to the One who holds the answers and is worthy to be trusted.
There is a part of Mary in all of us. Only we're not courageous enough to admit it...much less write a book and publish it for the world to read. You'll find yourself reflecting on the "thin places" in your life, maybe pondering places that you didn't realize were thin, until you look back and realize they were in fact defining moments. They are moments we are given to not only react to life, but to respond to it. You may very well find Mary's memoir to be less of a memoir and more of a mirror. You may "like" or "dislike" what you see, so Mary provides her life as an avenue for you to reflect upon your own and join her in her journey with Jesus.
*I received this book free for review through the Amazon Vine Program.
