a book bathed in light

Remember my Anne Lamott story? I LOVE ANNE LAMOTT! And since April, when besite L and I saw her lecture, we've both been eagerly anticipating Lamott's newest book: Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers.  I ordered a few copies (Christmas presents), and was so excited when the package was in my mail box! The book is short and sweet, Lamott in succinct. As the title suggests, Lamott shares three prayers that she finds imperative: "Help," "Thanks," and "Wow," explaining that in our lowest places we ask for help from a higher power, but for many people the prayers stop there. She shares her experience the "help," phased, but also goes on to share how prayers shouldn't stop there, but rather continue with gratitude, "thanks," and prayers of awe, "wow."

In true Lamott fashion, you hear her voice as you read, the book infused with her humor and ability to create an honest, open dialogue with the reader. What I love about Lamott is that she's not a pious, perfect person; raised by atheists, she didn't find her way to God until as an adult she bottomed out: a drug addict and alcoholic, she then became pregnant and a single, working mother. She is years sober, her son now in his 20s, and yet she struggles still. And it is her struggling that makes her voice so compelling and so damn real!  While this book isn't my favorite Lamott, I still enjoyed it and heard her in it...My favorite Lamott, hands down: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

"In prayer, I see the suffering bathed in light" --Anne Lamott