Rating: 
Summary: Report from the front lines of Faith
Review: Christian living is not a matter of assent to a certain set of truths, nor of wearing "WWJD" bracelets and a big smile. Christian living is the often heart wrenching process of walking each day -- each hour -- in the presence of the living God. Nora Gallagher is not a theologian -- she's a journalist -- and Things Seen and Unseen is a reporter's notebook, a journal of life in the Christian front lines. Her church family falls into division, and pulls together over the selection of a new pastor. The soup kitchen in the parish hall draws criticism from the neighbors -- and from members of the congregation. Gallagher's beloved brother, Kit, grows ill and moves toward death. None of this is earth shattering, but as Christians, we all live in a shattered -- and reclaimed -- world. Gallagher reminds us of that mysterious reality on each page. Some things are seen, and other's unseen. Gallagher reminds us that what we see often depends on where we look. For that, her book is a treasure.
Rating:
Summary: This is what faith is really about!
Review: Gallagher has written a beautiful book, giving us a year-long chronicle of her faith, using the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church as her guide. She shows us that faith encompasses the whole human person--doubt, pain, loss, and joy. She reminds us that God's in it all, for better or worse--"God is not too good to hang out with jet-lagged women with cat-litter boxes in their dining rooms, or men dying of AIDS, or, for that matter, someone nailed in humiliation to a cross." This is real faith--faith that faces life rather than hiding from it. Nora reminds us that prayer is not simply the words we say to God, but what happens when we throw our lives into God's work. For her this involves helping the homeless, working in a soup kitchen, caring for dying friends... Her book has a lot to offer and remind us. So buy a copy and share it with your friends... it's what I've done. ;) ...and as for the reviewer below who states "I'd only recommend this book if you are a feminist or leftist" I ask, Wasn't Jesus both?
Rating:
Summary: This is what faith is really about!
Review: Gallagher has written a beautiful book, giving us a year-long chronicle of her faith, using the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church as her guide. She shows us that faith encompasses the whole human person--doubt, pain, loss, and joy. She reminds us that God's in it all, for better or worse--"God is not too good to hang out with jet-lagged women with cat-litter boxes in their dining rooms, or men dying of AIDS, or, for that matter, someone nailed in humiliation to a cross." This is real faith--faith that faces life rather than hiding from it. Nora reminds us that prayer is not simply the words we say to God, but what happens when we throw our lives into God's work. For her this involves helping the homeless, working in a soup kitchen, caring for dying friends... Her book has a lot to offer and remind us. So buy a copy and share it with your friends... it's what I've done. ;) ...and as for the reviewer below who states "I'd only recommend this book if you are a feminist or leftist" I ask, Wasn't Jesus both?
Rating:
Summary: read and re-read
Review: I read this book when I want to share someone's imperfect faith journey. Nora struggles and grows in her faith over the course of a year. I see myself in her and in her liturgical trip. I found this in the National Cathedral bookstore and didn't realize how it has caught on across the country. I look forward to more of Nora's books in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Elegant, eloquent -- a must-read
Review: I read this wonderful book when it was first published and I continue to recommend it to anyone who seeks a deeper understanding of what it means to live a life of faith. Thought-provoking and beautifully written, Gallagher's book is an outstanding exploration of Christianity. By turns probing and funny, poignant and inspiring, Things Seen and Unseen is a book to treasure. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful, loving journey
Review: I reviewed this book on November 19, 1999, and gave it 5 stars back then. If I could, I'd award it 10 stars. I have re-read THINGS SEEN AND UNSEEN several times since then and it NEVER disappoints. I am sorry to see an obviously fundamentalist reviewer give it only 3 stars, but, Jerrod, all I can tell you is that when I want to read a book that strictly "agrees with what the bible says", I read the Bible. Everything else is someone's experience of their faith described on paper, which is as it should be. When I pick up a book about a person's spiritual journey, I come to it prepared not for a perfect regurgitation of Biblical quotes, but of that individual's unique relationship with God. I have a unique relationship with God, don't you? Or do we prefer to have our faith force-fed to us? We have souls AND minds- best not to waste either God-given gift. I have given or recommended this outstanding book to many friends, including several priests and others in ministry. It continues to be, as my rector put it, a seminal book in my faith journey.
Rating:
Summary: read and re-read
Review: I use this book for a course I teach on American religion. Gallagher provides an account of her experience as a seeker, as someone on her own restless quest, in terms that many students can relate to. Her world of uncertainty is one we can all understand. But she points beyond mere "spirituality" to the meaningfulness of Christianity lived within a liturgical cycle, in a community with a tradition and a sense of vocation to serve God and humanity. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Journey Towards Faith
Review: Ms. Gallagher's year long journey with faith was very inspiring. The book covers her year at Trinity Episcopal Church and her growing faith. The chapters follow the Christian calendar and each is filled with insight into the season as well as her personal journey. A very rewarding book.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: Nora Gallagher is a beautiful writer-she has that special ability to make any set of words into a gorgeous phrase without it seeming too "overwrought." Her prose is simply beautiful, and so is the subject of this book. Gallagher, as she walks us through a year in the Church calendar, reflects on what it means to be one of the faithful in this day and age, and reminds us that Christ died for sinners, not for saints; that God is love; that it is the undeniable duty for every Christian to practice charity in the name of God. These are lessons we all too often forget in the struggles of everyday life and in the struggles of the church. Thank you, Nora Gallagher, for invading my head and forcing me to reflect on all of these things, seen and unseen. Y'all won't believe this, but instead of writing my senior seminar paper on architectural history one night, I stayed up until 4am reading this book; the following Sunday, what was in the lectionary, but the scripture the title is taken from-of things in the church seen and unseen. Awesome book, I bought three to give away as gifts at the great price.
Rating:
Summary: An intensely personal affirmation of faith
Review: Nora Gallagher shares with us a year in a faith community without sentimentality or pulled punches. The triumphs and tragedies of the members of her church become as real as those of your friends and family. You will learn more about the power of faith in the 21st century by reading this book than you will by reading any number of treatises by Theologians. I was moved to tears with regularity but emerged heartened by the strength shared by her community. Excellent!
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