The Edge of the Divine: A Review

August 3, 2010

Recently, I was asked if I would review Sandi Patty’s new book, The Edge of the Divine. I don’t often do reviews, but I decided to check out Sandi Patty’s website and saw that her upcoming CD has a hymn that I love. I love a good hymn. Have I said that? It’s true. Gets me in touch with my roots or something.

Anyway, so I agreed to the review and they sent me the book. And I read it.

At one time, I was a huge fan of Sandi Patty. Her voice is outstanding and every time I hear her sing, I generally have tears or goose bumps, usually both. Then life happened (for me and her) and I moved on to other things.

The Background

If you don’t know her story, back in the 90′s, she was at the height of her Christian music singing career when she had an adulterous relationship with one of her backup singers, divorced her husband with whom she had 4 kids and married the other guy (who also had several children from a previous marriage).

I’m not sharing that as gossip — she has been very open and repentant about it — but I share it as background to my review.

The other background is that The Edge of the Divine is about her struggle with weight, her decision to have bariatric surgery and her spiritual journey in the midst of it.

I have not had an adulterous affair nor have I struggled with my weight. So, as I’m sure you can imagine (or maybe as you might be able to relate), I started the book with my pride fully and fantastically intact and I was poised for a hearty finger-pointing.

Much to my shame.

Lesson #1: “But by the grace of God go I.”

OK, so I haven’t had an adulterous affair, but let me tell you, if not for God’s grace, that could have so easily been part of my story too. (Again, another post.)

And I’m sure I’ve done things Sandi Patty hasn’t done that have brought just as much grief and sorrow to our Father. Given her career, her sin happens to be exposed to the world while I can keep mine hidden. And let’s be real, hidden sin is sometimes the most deadly.

Lesson #2: I struggle with food too.

I don’t have a weight problem, it’s true, but I have and do struggle with gluttony.

What’s gluttony? Habitually eating to excess. One of my very first posts on this blog was about this very thing, in fact. How interesting is that?

But you know, I’m a master at hiding my gluttony too. After all, no one has to know when my 6’2″ frame stretches any weight vertically before it stretches it horizontally.

God speaks through lives. Do we listen?

I believe we all have something to learn from someone else’s story. In fact, there’s danger in looking at another and being glad we don’t sin like they do. But chances are, if we are even thinking that, we are probably more guilty in the first place.

It won’t rank as one of my favorites of all time, but by the end of the book, I appreciated Sandi’s story. I certainly learned a lot about bariatric surgery and appreciated getting a peek into the everyday life of someone I admired greatly. Most importantly, I was grateful to hear the whispers of my Savior as I stand on my own Edge of the Divine.

Related posts:

1. Week in Review
2. eating
3. A Pastor’s Wife Kills
4. Hi, I’m Amy. I’m Stuck in a Rut.

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