Tables in the Wilderness
A Memoir of God Found, Lost, and Found Again
- History & Biography
- Publisher: Zondervan
- Published: 2014
FritzSearch.com earns a commission on purchases made through Bookshop.org links.
Publisher's Description
Preston Yancey arrived at Baylor University in the autumn of 2008 with his life figured out, then slowly each piece of his secure world fell apart: his church, his life of study, his politics, his girlfriend, his best friend, and his God. It was the loss of God in the midst of all the godly things that would change Preston forever. One day he heard God say, “It’s going to be about trust with you,” and then God was silent—and God still hasn’t spoken. At least, not in the ways Preston used to think were the only ways God spoke. Journey with Preston as he navigates becoming a patchwork of Anglican spirituality and Baptist sensibility, of reckoning with a God who is bigger than the one Preston thought he was worshiping: the God of a common faith, who makes tables in the wilderness, who is found in cathedrals and in forests and in the Eucharist, who speaks in fire and in wind, who is so big, that everything must be God’s.
Endorsements (11)
“This book is a gift — to readers, to the Church, and to the spiritual memoir genre. Preston Yancey writes with stunning clarity, wisdom, and grace, and with this debut sets himself apart as one of the finest writers of faith of our time.”
“I don’t know exactly what it is about Preston’s writing, but you manage to find a million points of connection no matter how your spiritual path has meandered. . . . As you turn the very last page, your soul is yearning for God, and you know that he will be found.”
“Preston’s writing is simply gorgeous: clear, elegant, full of emotional honesty. I loved the experiences of curling up with these pages.”
“As a theologian, Preston is in his own category. He’s ancient and modern and skips all the made-up mess in between. . . . He is brilliant, and this book is a prayer that he has prayed for all of us.”
“Many preach grace — Preston practices grace. He loves well and his words engage and dissect the human soul with the precision of a master surgeon.”
“Preston Yancey is an old soul — I’m allowed to say that because I’m older than he is, but actually I’m humbled and proud to call him a teacher.”
“There are frankly not many contemporary spiritual memoirs anywhere nearly this good (nor this honest).”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve read something so beautifully written.”
“you’ll find yourself longing for a seat next to him around any dinner table. . . . Tables in the Wilderness is a literary morsel to be savored for sure.”
“Tables in the Wilderness illuminates the simple but essential truth that our place at God’s table is that of a welcome and beloved guest, being served a feast not of our design but for our delight.”
“For Hilary The first time I kiss my wife . . . To Sam, Grant, Antonia, and Jerry “Best friend isn’t a person, Danny. It’s a tier.”
See something wrong on this page? Report a problem