Book Review
Good Enough: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie.
Convergent Books, Feb. 2022. 251 pages.
I found the book Good Enough in the spiritual section of my favorite bookstore, but it looked curiously like it belonged in the self-help section. And if we Christians have established anything over the millennia, it is that we cannot help ourselves.
But Good Enough, by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie, holds plenty of grounding in the Christian tradition to justify its role in deepening spirituality. The book weaves lessons from the Bible and from Jesus’ life into strength to resist the dominant and misguided lessons of our culture.
For instance, the book references the Biblical story of the golden calf, saying that we “are much more likely to do exactly what the Israelites have done: not to have a false image of a false God, but a false image of the true God.” It continues, “We are not apostates. We are idolaters. We fall in love with the things that are almost true. We start taking our gold and pouring it into a cast that we can shape with our own hands, one that inspires us and challenges us, but is not, necessarily, given to us by the one true God. After all, what is idolatry except beautiful things that do not transform us?”
Good Enough questions the “Perfectibility Paradigm,” the American myth that we can solve all of our problems by trying harder and using proper methods and products. The authors say, “Those who drink deeply from the wells of modern self-help culture…take a very precious truth about faith—that we can grow closer to God and become more fully human—and transform it into a capitalistic imperative.”
The authors cut to the heart of our frustrated efforts to save and perfect ourselves. They hit home with my insecure self by writing, “When life goes off the rails, we often believe we are the problem.” But they then push for deeper thought: “What is a core truth of your life, the straightest arrow you can imagine finding there? Now ask yourself: Is it aimed too low?”
The book continually pushes us gently to resist the impossible perfectibility quest, turning instead to spiritual points of reference. Each observation is followed by a blessing and then a “Good enough step”—a small place to start. That approach is particularly highlighted by the story of the St. Therese. Good Enough says of the lesson of her life, “We are often taught that our lives must be big to be remembered. But what if it was enough to scatter flowers? To make small sacrifices? Instead of mythologizing the rich and famous, let’s pause to celebrate all those of us who walk the little way. Blessed are you who show up because you’re on the schedule.” The section concludes with a blessing: “God, bless me in this Little Way, to be able to do small things with great love. One small action at a time, until it’s a bridge…from my little life to Yours with each act of love.”
Good Enough offers excellent spiritual nourishment in a package that is funny on the surface but incisive and serious at its core. Its pages hold too many lessons—about God, about resisting the culture, about our very selves—to describe adequately in a short review. I will say simply that I love this book.
As is often the case in my life, I couldn’t get ‘enough.’
