{"id":865,"date":"2014-02-24T10:39:00","date_gmt":"2014-02-24T10:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/02\/new-book-wrestles-with-depression.html"},"modified":"2014-02-24T10:39:00","modified_gmt":"2014-02-24T10:39:00","slug":"new-book-wrestles-with-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/02\/new-book-wrestles-with-depression.html","title":{"rendered":"New Book Wrestles With Depression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/a>Struggling with Depression?<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
New Book Talks Honestly about How Not to Lose Faith<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
As a magna-cum-laude Harvard grad, tenured professor, in-demand preacher, and author of popular as well as academic books and blogs, Monica A. Coleman is what most people would call \u201ca success.\u201d Behind her impressive achievements, however, is a story that many of her friends and colleagues knew nothing about\u2014her ongoing struggle with severe depression.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In\u00a0Not Alone: Reflections on Faith and Depression \u2013 a 40-Day Devotional<\/i><\/b>, ($14.95 Inner Prizes Inc, 2012) she opens up her life to offer the hard-won wisdom that she\u2019s obtained as she\u2019s wrestled with God and depression. While avoiding easy answers, she shares the struggles she has faced, in order to give hope to those who deal with similar challenges, so that they will be better equipped to explore and reflect on their own experiences and faith. Above all, she writes to let them know that they are not alone.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Not Alone<\/i><\/b>\u00a0takes the form of 40 days of meditations in six sections:<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Breaking the Silence\u00a0<\/i>is about coming to one\u2019s own terms with a depressive condition. It\u2019s about shirking shame, telling the truth, naming yourself and singing your own song.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/a>Feeling It Deeply\u00a0<\/i>discusses the experience of living with depression. It\u2019s about feeling impatient, broken, empty, lost, quiet and desperate. It\u2019s also about feeling full, heroic and grounded. Sometimes it\u2019s about not feeling anything at all.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Letting Others In\u00a0<\/i>is about looking, walking, moving, eating, connecting, communicating, creating and even resting with others\u2013and inviting them to do the same with us.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Touching Love, Beauty and Joy\u00a0<\/i>is a reminder that living with a depressive condition is not all sadness. In the ordinary moments of our lives, there can be joy, laughter, happiness and gratitude.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Knowing Yourself as Complete and Whole\u00a0<\/i>talks about how messy wellness really is. We heal as we amble through desire, rest, memory, medication, affirmation, new skills and new rituals.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Embracing Death as a New Beginning\u00a0<\/i>grapples with the tension between looking back and moving forward as we search for peace and comfort. It ends with an epilogue on why the resurrection matters in the encounter of depression and faith.\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cAs a minister and a professor of religion, I know a lot of ideas about God and suffering,\u201d says Coleman.\u00a0 \u201cI also know there are no easy answers for why or how. And I\u2019m honest about that. Sometimes I feel God\u2019s presence. Sometimes I\u2019m angry. I think that\u2019s okay. It\u2019s all part of the journey.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Monica A. Coleman is Associate Professor of Constructive Theology and African American Religions and Co-Director of the Center for Process Studies at Claremont School of Theology in southern California.\u00a0An ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Coleman has earned degrees at Harvard University, Vanderbilt University and Claremont Graduate University. The interdenominational preaching magazine\u00a0The African American Pulpit<\/i>\u00a0named Coleman one of the \u201cTop 20 to Watch\u201d \u2013 The New Generation of Leading Clergy: Preachers under 40. \u00a0She has been featured as an expert in religion and mental health on NPR, blogtalkradio, Huffington Post and Huffington Post Live.\u00a0She blogs on faith and depression at\u00a0www.BeautifulMindBlog.com<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Not Alone: Reflections on Faith and Depression \u2013 a 40-Day Devotional<\/i><\/b>\u00a0(Inner Prizes, Inc., $14.95, 208 pages, 5 \u00bd x 8, paperback, ISBN: 0985140208) is available in paper and eBook format at online booksellers.\u00a0 For press kit and book excerpts, click here.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Struggling with Depression? New Book Talks Honestly about How Not to Lose Faith As a magna-cum-laude Harvard grad, tenured professor, in-demand preacher, and author of popular as well as academic books and blogs, Monica A. Coleman is what most people would call \u201ca success.\u201d Behind her impressive achievements, however, is a story that many of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Book Wrestles With Depression<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Struggling with Depression?New Book Talks Honestly about How Not to Lose FaithAs a magna-cum-laude Harvard grad, tenured professor, in-demand preacher,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/02\/new-book-wrestles-with-depression.html\" \/>\n<meta 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