Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor [Paperback]

Jana Riess (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2011

This wry memoir tackles twelve different spiritual practices in a quest to become more saintly, including fasting, fixed-hour prayer, the Jesus Prayer, gratitude, Sabbath-keeping, and generosity. Although Riess begins with great plans for success ("Really, how hard could that be?" she asks blithely at the start of her saint-making year), she finds to her growing humiliation that she is failing--not just at some of the practices, but at every single one. What emerges is a funny yet vulnerable story of the quest for spiritual perfection and the reality of spiritual failure, which turns out to be a valuable practice in and of itself.
 
Praise for Flunking Sainthood:


"Jana Riess may have flunked at sainthood, but she's written a wonderful book. It's both reverent and irreverent, and it will make you want to become a better Christian -- or Jew, or Muslim, or Zoroastrian, or Jedi, or whatever you happen to be." -  AJ Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically

"Flunking Sainthood is surprising and freeing; it is fun and funny; and it is full of wisdom. It is, in fact, the best book on the practices of the spiritual life that I have read in a long, long time."  - Lauren Winner, author of Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath

 

"Jana Riess reminds us that saints are different from most of us: They are special, we are barely normal. They get it right, we rarely get it. They see God, we strain to see much of anything. And, Jana is no saint. Rather than climbing to the pinnacle and sitting on a pedestal to tell us how it could be, Jana slides right next to us and reminds us that sainthood is overrated. With humor and insight she whispers to is that our lives matter just as they are. She prods us to never let our failures hold us back. She calls us to something greater than spiritual success - ordinary faithfulness. Flunking Sainthood is the book I'm giving to my friends who are seeking to make sense of their emerging faith." - Doug Pagitt, author of A Christianity Worth Believing
 
"Warm, light-hearted, and laugh-out-loud funny, Jana Riess may indeed have flunked sainthood, but this memoir assures us that she is utterly and deeply human, and that is something even more wonderful. Honest and sincere, she will endear you from page one."   -- Donna Freitas, author of The Possibilities of Sainthood
 

"With a helpfully hilarious account of her own grappling with godliness, Jana Riess proves to be a standup historian well-practiced in the art of oddly revivifying self-deprecation. She loves her guides, historical and contemporary, even as she finds them alternately impractical, harsh, or "infuriatingly jolly." The book is freaking wonderful--a candid and committed tale of prayers that resists supersizing and spirituality that has no home save the glory and the muck of the everyday."--David Dark, author of The Sacredness of Questioning Everything

"Jana Riess's new book is a delight--fun, funny, engaging and a powerful reminder that the greatest work in our lives is not what we'll do for God but what God is doing in us."   --Margaret Feinberg, margaretfeinberg.com, author of Scouting the Divine and Hungry for God
 
"Flunking Sainthood allows those of us who have attempted new spiritual practices-- and failed--to breathe a great sigh of relief and to laugh out loud. Jana Riess's exposé of her year-long and less-than-successful attempts at eleven classic spiritual practices entertains and educates us with its honesty and down-to-earthiness. In spite of Jana's paltry attempts at piety and her botched prayer makeovers, God showed up in the surprising, sneaky ways that only God does. Jana is the kind of girlfriend I like to have--hilarious, smart, stubborn, irreverent, and totally gaga over God." --Sybil MacBeth, author of Praying in Color

Editorial Reviews

Review

It's clear from the start of this sparkling and very funny memoir that Riess means well. But as she readily admits, she's a spiritual failure. She intended to devote an entire year ("a year-long experiment") to mastering 12 different spiritual challenges, including praying at fixed times during the day, exhibiting gratitude, observing the Sabbath, practicing hospitality according to the rules set by St. Benedict, abstaining from eating meat, and amply demonstrating her generosity. But nothing turned out as planned. Rather than being moved by Therese of Lisieux's The Story of a Soul, she instead dismisses the saint as a "drama queen." And Reiss is unregenerately practical. The best month to fast, she reasons, is February, at the height of winter; conveniently, it's also the shortest month of the year. Furthermore, at best, she's a "lukewarm vegetarian." Although her spiritual quest falls far short, she can still proffer spiritual lessons. Anyone who has failed to live up to expectations, which means most everyone, will love this book.

Booklist, September 15, 2011

STARRED REVIEW - Publishers Weekly - Punchy humor and unpretentious inquisitiveness combine in this absorbing memoir in which former PW editor Riess (What Would Buffy Do?) commits to both adopting and studying a new religious practice each month for a year, while simultaneously reflecting on her spiritual progress. Choosing such diverse disciplines as fasting “like a Muslim during Ramadan,” exploring lectio divina, observing an Orthodox Jewish Sabbath, practicing Benedictine hospitality, and engaging in the Liturgy of the Hours, the author shares frustrations and insights in a manner likely to amuse and comfort readers, especially those who have attempted such exercises and also found them challenging. For example, Riess’s description of her internal dialogue during Centering Prayer, concludes, “ ‘Shut the hell up!’ yells Spiritual Mind,” while her experience of practicing mindfulness, with annoying help from the never sainted Brother Lawrence, leads to a sympathetic observation that he’s “an underappreciated housewife.” Supporting quotes from saints and writers (St. John Chrysostom, Dorothy Day, Thornton Wilder) pepper the text. The author’s declared “failures” make her a sympathetic witness, while such “successes” as her description of how “[g]ratitude practically tackles me,” prove genuinely moving. A witty, inspiring read.(Nov.)

About the Author

Jana Riess is the author or editor of nine books, including What Would Buffy Do? Although she is a spiritual failure and was never able to climb the rope in gym class, she has a doctorate from Columbia University and teaches religion at Miami University. She blogs at http://blog.beliefnet.com/flunkingsainthood/.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Paraclete Press (November 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557256608
• ISBN-13: 978-1557256607
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,225 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jana Riess is the author or editor of nine books and the creator of The Twible, a snarky 3-year Twitter Bible project. Although she is a spiritual failure and was never able to climb the rope in gym class, she has a doctorate from Columbia University and works as an editor in the publishing industry. So she's not a total loser. She blogs for the Religion News Service at http://www.religionnews.com/blogs/jana-riess.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Saint Jana October 3, 2011

By Kevin Barney

Format:Paperback

I first learned about this project from a Facebook update Jana had written, in which she alluded to a Muslim-style fast she was undertaking for a new book project. I was a little bit confused, because it was February, and Ramadan did not fall in February that year. She explained to me that she picked February to make the challenge of the fasting easier, since it is a short month with short days. (This is clearer in the book, where the inspiration for fasting was clearly the Christian Desert Mothers and Fathers, and she follows Muslim practices just because the practices of the Desert Saints were so very extreme.)

The original plan was for Jana to spend a year reading great spiritual classics, but overachiever that she is, Jana decided not only to read spiritual classics, but to actually try her hand at the spiritual disciplines they encouraged. So she spent one month coming up with the plan and the next 11 months trying to live the disciplines. Here is the timetable of her year immersed in these practices (from the Table of Contents):

Januwary: choosing practices
February: fasting in the desert
March: meeting Jesus in the kitchen...or not
April: lectio divination
May: nixing shoppertainment
June: centering prayer, er, The Jesus Prayer, Look! a squirrel!
July: unorthodox sabbath
August: thanksgiving every day
September: benedictine hospitality
October: what would Jesus eat?
November: seven five three times a day will I praise you [imagine the seven and five are struck through]
December: generosity

The original idea was for her to write about her experience accomplishing these various spiritual disciplines. But there was a problem: On some level, she failed at all of them. She seemed to think at least briefly that the whole project was a disaster and the book would have to be scrapped. But her editor wisely told her no, there is also a virtue in sharing your failures, not just successes. That was a wise editor. I'm sure I enjoyed the book immeasurably more than I would have if it were just Jana conquering every mountain. The stories are accessible, because we can well imagine ourselves going through these experiences just the way she did. Her editor came up with the name "Flunking Sainthood," which is now not only the name of the book but of Jana's blog. I love the name, and it's apparent that Jana does as well. A huge part of being a good author is having good editors, and Jana has been blessed on that score.

Personally, the chapters I enjoyed the most were the ones featuring the most concrete and understandable practices, such as fasting, cooking with Jesus, giving up shopping, keeping the Sabbath, hospitality, going veggie, fixed-time prayers, and generosity. The other ones were more abstract and harder for me to wrap my mind around, just as they were hard for Jana to grasp as well.

I don't think I've ever actually met Jana's husband, Phil, but she has written about him enough that I feel as though I know him as a friend. Which is why I felt his pain by proxy at this little trick she pulled on him as she was setting out the plan for the year:

"And then, of course, there has to be a month where I don't have any sex, I explain matter-of-factly. "That will be in November."

"Okay. Uh huh." There is a pause before his head snaps over to me with an alarmed expression. "No, wait, what did you say?"

"I said that in order for this to be authentic, there has to be a month where I give up sex. I mean, look at all the saints. Most of them were celibate their whole adult lives. Abstaining for a month is the least I can do. I think I can make it, so long as I have chocolate."

"But...but..." I definitely have his full attention now. "Are you serious?"

It would be great fun to see how long I can keep this going, but eventually I put him out of his misery and admit that I'm bluffing. He is immensely relieved, which makes me realize I've scored one point at least: anything else I subject the poor man to this year will seem like small potatoes compared to the forced celibacy I could have inflicted upon him. I will remind him of this fact should his enthusiam for my project ever flag.

Some Mormons may read this and be curious about why Jana would need to spend a month learning to keep the Sabbath. I mean good Mormons do that every week, right? Uh, wrong. Every Latter-day Saint should be required to read that chapter at least, so that they have some idea of what "keeping the Sabbath" really means in the Orthodox Jewish context. Our petty observances are a trifle compared to what they go through for the day. I really enjoyed reading about all the ways she had good intentions, but had not fully thought through everything, such as undoing the alarm in the morning so her dog could go outside and do its business. Within the space of mere minutes she had struck out three times on her Sabbath observance.

But on p. 99, it brought a tear to my eye when Jana and Phil laid their hands on their daughter Jerusha's head to give her a Sabbath parental blessing. I'm not sure how much Jerusha appreciated it at the time, but just that image was powerful and filled me with a fair amount of sacred envy for such a tradition.

I also got a kick out of the details of shredding toilet paper as described on p. 101. You have to rip up pieces of toilet paper in advance, because cutting or ripping is not allowed on the Sabbath. And Jana has a helpful tip for us: always shred way more than you think you might need, because you can still use it later, but if you don't shred enough, you're in trouble!

I won't share with you the details described in the epilogue, which I found both touching and powerful. Suffice it to say that all of that failure in the end may not have been failure after all. You'll just have to read the book to know what I mean.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Read for the Less-than-Saintly October 27, 2011

By Schroder

Format:Paperback

It's not often that a book makes me both laugh and cry, but the early chapters of this were so funny, and the ending so heartfelt, that "Flunking Sainthood" tickled my funny bone AND tugged at my heartstrings. The author takes on (and fails) lots of different spiritual practices including an Orthodox Jewish Sabbath, a Ramadan fast, Benedictine hospitality, and a generosity project to raise money for charity.

Riess wants to push her limits but also not go too far, so she says she won't be plucking her eyes out for God (a la St. Lucia), living on top of a pole for 37 years (St. Simeon the Stylite) or parading naked in the town square (St. Francis).

I liked Riess' honesty and humor, and the quotations about spiritual growth in every chapter (from Billy Joel's "I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints" to thoughts from Dorothy Day and the Desert Fathers). This is a good book for people who are interested in spirituality but also want to keep it real and not be all holier-than-thou.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes a great gift October 4, 2011

By Love2Read

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I can't pick my favorite chapter. Reading about fasting, keeping the Sabbath, gratitude and other weighty matters, I don't know how Jana Riess makes it funny, but she just does! It doesn't matter if you're a Christian, a Jew, a Sikh, a Buddhist or whatever, this book will entertain you AND teach you a few lessons about yourself. This will make a great gift for your friends and family who have everything. Enjoy it and buy a copy for a friend while you're at it!