Let’s Talk About Doubt: A Story of Doubt, Faith and Life in Between

In this thought-provoking debut, Wordsworth recounts her quest to understand religious doubt. Wordsworth grew up with an outwardly impeccable Christian faith: she boasted “perfect [church] attendance from the womb onward,” attended Christian youth groups, and otherwise “ticked every Christian box possible”—but had long felt spiritually empty. At 21, she attended a worship leaders conference where she felt so alienated by other attendants’ “certainty, passion, [and] faith” that she broke down, an event that spurred her investigation of her religious doubt and, eventually, efforts to forge a new relationship with God. Wordsworth shares short, diaristic meditations on her inquiry (on losing her faith: “I’m not sure how much longer I can go on... going to church is emotional torture”) before landing on a reframed day-to-day practice that recognizes God in common “moments of goodness” and accommodates some doubt as a natural part of religious identity. This offering provides a deeply candid look into a mind at war with its faith, and Wordsworth’s raw emotion will resonate with readers who have found themselves in similar situations. The doubting Christian is sure to find solace in Wordsworth’s story. (Mar.)