Working on God (Modern Library Paperbacks) [Paperback]

Winifred Gallagher (Author)

Book Description

Series: Modern Library Paperbacks | Publication Date: April 18, 2000

Millions of Americans are finding it more and more difficult to apply the traditional demands of organized religion to their lives, and yet a complete absence of spirituality leaves them uneasy. Working on God is a book for and about such intelligent, independent people, who are seeking to reconcile their spiritual yearnings with their skeptical intellects. Winifred Gallagher, a behavioral-science reporter, began her investigation of religion in our postmodern age with research and interviews and soon discovered a vast, quiet revolution under way among ordinary men and women grappling with the sacred. Both Gallagher's brilliant journalistic inquiry and her very personal journey unfold over time spent in a Zen monastery and a cloistered convent, in small-group discussions and healing rituals, in a Conservative synagogue that shares spaces with a Christian church, and in the birthplace of the New Age. Written with humor, empathy, and a rigorous curiosity, Working on God breaks new ground in depicting the broad-based spiritual movement that is transforming many lives.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Speaking to Americans who are skeptical about religion, but nonetheless feel a spiritual hunger, Winifred Gallagher offers a humorous and profound discussion about the state of national spirituality. Before writing this book, Gallagher made her living reporting on behavioral sciences (The Power of Place). Relying upon her impressive research skills and powers of observation, Gallagher decided to embark on a pilgrimage to resolve her uncertainty regarding the role religion would play in her life. She meditates in a Zen monastery, meets with the head of an African American mosque, journeys to Israel, and enters the protective fold of cloistered nuns. In the process she comes to many provocative conclusions, including the following:

I'm beginning to grasp that religion needn't focus on beliefs, but can at least begin with trust in your own experience of what is, but is mysterious--a different kind of challenge for a neoagnostic.... Most important, I'm already thinking of religion as a process of working on God.

--Gail Hudson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

A self-described "neoagnostic," Gallagher (Just the Way You Are) takes her readers with her as she "works on God," her phrase for trying to find where religion fits in her life. On one hand, she finds the traditional Roman Catholicism in which she was reared too embarrassing for an intellectual to profess. On the other hand, she feels she needs some kind of spirituality to find meaning in life. Her approach is an eclectic one. Sampling Zen Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity, she tries to construct a religion tailored to her individual needs. Ultimately, she discovers her life is so saturated by Christian language and images that she must use them as her starting point. However, she refuses to accept the doctrine of Christ's atonement. Pointing out that many of Christianity's central tenets?Christ's divinity, Christ's participation in the Trinity?were not codified until the 3rd century, Gallagher feels justified in taking for herself the title "Early Christian," as someone who can say only, "Jesus is special, but I'm not sure just how special." Gallagher's honesty and integrity will resonate with those who can acknowledge a "resurrection experience" but who can't quite profess the Resurrection.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Modern Library (April 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375755373
• ISBN-13: 978-0375755378
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #931,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book just makes me feel better, June 8, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Working on God (Hardcover)

Having been raised by atheist parents, I always felt that there was "something more" out there, yet was completely turned off by the dogma, intolerance, and narrow-mindedness I found in the churches I attended. After reading Ms. Gallagher's book, I felt so much better about things - even religion. I always wondered why I felt so peaceful just to be sitting inside the Catholic church before the service started, yet not always agree with what was being said to me in the sermon. I always wondered if maybe I wasn't "getting it" because I could not identify with those people who talked like Jesus was their best buddy and how every decision in their life was governed by Him as opposed to their own free will. I now understand that religion and spirituality is so much more, and that is it OK to reach into the toolbox of religions to use what is best for me. It doesn't matter what religion you follow, if any, because all of them point in the same direction essentially - be good to yourself, be good to others, live in the here and now, know that somehow everything will be alright in the end, and that there is indeed something more out there than just you and your physical body; you are not alone. Thanks, Winifred. I look forwarding to reading your other books.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good shot at a difficult subject, September 10, 1999

By 

Jeff Duntemann "Writer, editor, tinkerer, con... (Colorado Springs, Colorado USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Working on God (Hardcover)

A nice piece of work that takes a good shot at what may be an impossible question to answer: What sort of religion can make sense to the educated person of the 21st century? She goes at it with energy and a nice touch with words, but she doesn't provide an unambiguous answer, and I don't think she promised one, either.

(And a short note to the dude or dudess who penned the review directly below this one: Read James 2:26: "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead." Or do you not read anything that isn't Paul?)

Some quibbles: This is a bicoastal book. The author flits between New York and California, but doesn't seem to be interested in anything lying between, so we get a lot of gonzo stuff that isn't much in evidence in, say, Springfield, IL. Other answers are trying to sort themselves out. Old Catholicism is one, but it hides well. Willow Creek is another--but you'd have to be a Midwesterner to spot it.

On the other hand, it's a good, thoughtful read, and sent me in some interesting directions on my own exploration of the same difficult question. I chose Old Catholicism, and it works for me. I won't be so prideful as to assume that God has only one plan for everyone.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From a skeptic's point of view, July 10, 2000

By 

PeacefulNan "PeacefulNan" (East Central GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Working on God (Modern Library Paperbacks) (Paperback)

That's how Winifred Gallagher, self-avowed neo-agnostic, approaches her exploration of the various religious paths available today. She investigates the whole gamut of spirituality from New Age practices at Esalen to Islam, Zen Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity in its various forms. Although by the end of her journey, she has settled into life as an Episcopalian with Judaic study habits and Zen meditation practices, she admits this is not the path for anyone. Gallagher is essentially an encourager, pushing each of us to explore the spiritual dimensions of life and find a path that resonates for us... a path we can follow with passion. Highly recommended.