Book Review: Chicken Soup for the Christian Woman's Soul
The Chicken Soup for the Soul series was kind of a guilty pleasure of mine as a child and adolescent, and now that I'm off on my own in college, I don't necessarily have to feel guilty about indulging in this pleasure.
For some reason, sitting on the middle school library's floor reading these books felt like something I shouldn’t be doing but it felt amazing and I love them, so when I saw this copy at a library sale, I had to get it.I went to a Christian preschool and a Christian kindergarten but went to public school for the rest of middle and elementary school, and attended cyber school for the rest and, like I mentioned before, I’m now in college.I’ve always been extremely spiritual and believing in the paranormal, supernatural, the other side, life after death, and just all that kind of stuff but I didn’t start believing in God again until I met my fiancé last year.
Reading this book, I have to tell you, I enjoyed it so much that many times I forgot to stop and write down quotes that I like because I just wanted to keep on going and going. I only realized I had no quotes to include in my review when I finished reading and sat down to write this.
The Christian-ness is an important part of my identity and sometimes when I feature religious books on my Instagram I include the hashtag #liberalChristian and #ChristianAlly because my God loves all and I want people to know that despite the huge stereotypical thing that Christians don’t accept everyone, the majority of the religion is not like that, and that that’s not the case. I’m just glad that there’s other people in the world who share the same beliefs and morals as I do but also the same religion. I care for the homeless, I support the LGBT+ community, I am a feminist, and a proponent for racial, social, and every single kind of equality out there. The lanyard on which my keys hang is a GLSEN "I am an ally for LGBT+ students" one, after all. I am publicly for love, all kinds of love, and only love. I believe that the God I believe in loves all, no matter what.
Sometimes I feel like I’m not a real Christian because I’m only just reading the Bible right now for like the third time in my entire life, and because I started properly "believing" so late in life I only picked up again when I was 19. I read the Book of Mormon in sixth grade to better understand my childhood best friend. See, I've always believed in the concept of God and spirituality and kindness, but I didn't really have a name to put to it until recently.
But then I read books like this, and I feel a little better. But I'd feel better if every story was a modern Christian perspective. I wish there was a book about Christian people who go against the negative stereotypes. If anyone can recommend such a book to me, please let me know because I would absolutely love to read it.
My biggest act of rebellion this past month was wearing a cross necklace to my atheist family’s house, and I still don’t know where to go from there.
There is a belief, and I do not know if it exists outside of my house or not, but that belief is that believing in religion, any religion, makes you stupid or someone who doubts science or anything like that, but I truly believe in my heart of hearts that that is not the case. Science is real, (most) scientists are not phony, climate change is real, black lives matter, women and men are equal, LGBT+ lives are just as worthy as the rest of us, modern medicine is not blasphemous, and education is vital because you can't exist on faith alone.
When I was in second grade I got my IQ tested and I scored a 145 so I was placed in the gifted program, and I was given all the accompanying issues with my brain that usually come with slight gifts: intense depression, anxiety, phobias, OCD, you name it, I've most likely got it.
I’m really bad at any math above algebra, and I can’t understand scientific concepts but I can write an essay in 20 minutes and hand it in to get an A, and I can write a book of poetry in a week, a novel in a month, and write and illustrate a children's book in two or three weeks.
My point here is that no matter how low my skills are in most "smart" areas (namely the sciences and math), I’m still not stupid and I can believe what I want to believe, and still live with the morals that I have, and love everybody the way I’ve always loved everybody, and accept everybody the way I always have. I am a Christian, I believe in God, and I am not stupid for being that way. I am a Christian, I believe in God, and I love and accept ALL PEOPLE. I am a Christian, I believe in God, and I will never ever make anyone feel less than others for their skin color, lack of religion, wealth, background, mental handicap, height, accent, ethnicity, opinions, sexual orientation, acne, literacy, demographic, difference in religion, voice, political background, popularity or lack thereof, weight, immigration status, ability level, personal tastes, physical handicap, poverty, social status, age, appearance, education level, online presence, or any other differentiating factor. Good people come from all backgrounds and come in all colors and shapes and sizes. That's what my God is about. And that is the religion I choose to pursue.
I’m laying in my empty dorm room right now. It’s not really empty; just devoid of peopled life except for me. I don’t even have any plants in here, and I’m laying on the second bed staring at the ceiling as I dictate this to my phone because I can’t type as fast as I think on my phone, but can on the computer, though am lacking the necessary energy to get up.
This essay has turned into the complete opposite of a book review but I think it was something I needed to get out and I think Goodreads is a pretty great place to choose for this. I can talk to people with various opinions and no judgment and no hatred so thank you for giving me a chance to rant.
I recommend this book because I love the series. Give any of these books a shot.
I'm sorry for the long and deeply personal sort of essay this turned into, but it seriously needed to be said. Thank you for listening. If you got all the way down here, you are amazing and I love you.
P.S. If you are struggling in any way at all, be it with religion, mental health, school problems, family issues, friend drama, closetedness, talk to me. Email me (veronicanagornycontact@gmail.com). Direct message me on Instagram (@nika.vika.nika). Just don't tweet me or message me on tumblr because I can't remember the last time I used either. I am here for every single one of you. I love you all.
xoxo, Veronica Nagorny
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by Veronica Nagorny 2017
Email: veronicanagornycontact@gmail.com
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Thanks for reading!
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