PostTraumatic Church Syndrome, Reba Riley
PostTraumatic Church Syndrome, Reba Riley
5 Rating(s)
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Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome
A Memoir of Humor and Healing

Author: Reba Riley

Narrator: Reba Riley

Unabridged: 10 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/18/2015


Synopsis

Written with humor and personality, this debut memoir recounts a woman’s spiritual quest of experiencing thirty religions before her thirtieth birthday. Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome is for questioners, doubters, misfits, and seekers of all faiths, and tackles the universal struggle to heal what life has broken.

On her twenty-ninth birthday, while guests were arriving downstairs, Reba Riley was supposedly upstairs getting dressed. In actuality, she was slumped on the floor sobbing about everything from the meaning of life to the pile of dirty laundry on the floor.

Life without God was crashing in on her. And she was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. She uttered a desperate prayer, and then the idea came to her—thirty by thirty. And thus she embarked on a year-long quest to experience thirty religions by her thirtieth birthday. During her spiritual sojourn, Riley:

-Was interrogated about her sex life by Amish grandmothers

-Disco danced in a Buddhist temple

-Fasted for thirty days without food—or wine

-Washed her lady parts in a mosque bathroom

-Was audited by Scientologists

-Learned to meditate with an urban monk

-Snuck into a Yom Kippur service with a fake grandpa in tow

-And finally discovered she didn’t have to choose a religion to choose God

In a debut memoir that is funny and earnest, Riley invites questioners, doubters, misfits, and curious believers to participate in the universal search to heal what life has broken. Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome takes you by the hand and reminds you that sometimes you first have to be lost in order to be found.

About Reba Riley

Reba Riley is an author, speaker, former Evangelical Poster Child, and lover of all things sparkly. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she plans to write more books...once she recovers from Post-Traumatic Memoir Syndrome. She blogs about spiritual health and healing for Patheos.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Andrea on June 22, 2015

[I received this book free from the publisher through NetGalley. I thank them for their generousity. In exchange, I was simply asked to write an honest review, and post it. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 2......more

Goodreads review by Rebecca on July 08, 2015

Full Disclosure -- I'm a rabbi. I am fascinated by people's search for faith, for God, for a relationship with the Divine. So I've read a LOT of spiritual memoir. This book does NOT disappoint. The author speaks from a place of raw, self-deprecating honesty. It was like sitting down with one's best......more

Goodreads review by Amber on September 01, 2015

To summarize my thoughts on this author's "journey" I would use the words she received from one of the spiritual leaders "And this 'journey' of yours sounds shallow, transient, and unable to offer any insight of lasting value. I'd be surprised if you learned anything from being a religious tourist."......more

Goodreads review by Scott on December 18, 2015

"Why do so many people believe that if I seek the truth with an open mind, I'll end up thinking exactly as they do?" – Reba Riley Over the course of a year, Ms. Riley carries us through her journey to reconcile with a spiritual injury she received while growing up in a fundamentalist evangelical chur......more

Goodreads review by Keith on October 13, 2015

Ironically, as a librarian, I don't get to read much for fun. Books come home with me and never get opened before they're due back because I'm too busy with other things. But when I saw this book mentioned in Library Journal, I knew I had to read it. Still...when I actually got my hands on it, I wor......more