Things Seen and Unseen : A Year Lived in Faith

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Summary: A woman's personal journey gives universal spiritual insight
Review: THINGS SEEN AND UNSEEN: A Year Lived in Faith Gallagher, Nora. (New York: Knopf, 1998) "I came to this church five years ago a tourist and ended up a pilgrim," writes Nora Gallagher in the first chapter of her new book "Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith". In the particularity of her pilgrimage the reader is invited into the universality of "the longing a soul has to find its shape in the world" -- a longing Gallagher explores in the context of her life in the parish of Trinity Episcopal Church, Santa Barbara. Her story of this year lived in faith -- one Advent to the next -- offers insights for all spiritual seekers: struggles between the ideal and real, the power and pain of authentic community and the search for a practical mysticism that bridges the "thin place" between those things seen and unseen. By giving us a glimpse of the sacred in the ordinary of her own life (in the tradition of Madeline L'Engle and Kathleen Norris) Gallagher challenges us to do the same in ours, and we are the richer for it. Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and currently living in Santa Barbara, Nora Gallagher has reported for Time and Life magazines and her articles have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Village Voice, Mother Jones and the Utne Reader.