Tables in the Wilderness - A Spiritual Memoir

Spiritual memoirs are my favorite genre right now, especially when I read snippets of the journeys of others that help me put words to my own.  Tables in the Wilderness: A Memoir of God Found, Lost, and Found Again, is Preston Yancey’s  journey of a faith that fell apart and what he found through the loss as he fit pieces back together. 

Preston claims to be a lifelong Texan-raised Southern Baptist who fell in love with reading saints, crossing himself, and high church spirituality.  This resonated with me, and I was really looking forward to identifying with his journey, especially since I have recently wrestled with changes in the meaning and practice of my faith at mid-life.  I was a little disappointed to find out Preston is fresh out of college, still in his 20’s.  However, even though his spiritual struggle takes place during his college years at Baylor University, I could relate to the way he found the God who is bigger and more mysterious than he ever thought.  

Preston writes in a style that connects, feeling like a friend sharing his story, albeit a somewhat annoying friend that you tolerate when they get on their high horse or go through spells of feeling whiny or emotional.  He is real and raw.  I would be especially interested in reading how he would reinterpret his journey 25 years from now and where his faith carries him.

I would recommend this book to those who are interested in reading spiritual memoirs, who have wrestled with their own faith and are interested in seeing how others have wrestled and thrived.  I would not recommend this book for the person who feels lost and is looking for answers. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Zondervan Publishing in exchange for my honest review.