Awake Beloved and Arise by Linda Huntzinger Calhoun
If you’re in the market for an inspirational Christian book that’s as fresh and resilient as the springtime, Awake Beloved and Arise: Transforming Suffering Into Strength (Mountain Muse Studio) by Linda Huntzinger Calhoun will get you singing a song worth singing. In it, Calhoun explores the very nature of suffering: where it comes from, how to survive it and ways to somehow transform it into triumph. Incorporating quotes and studies from scholars, scientists and luminaries, it’s packed with both one-off wonders and chapters you’ll mull over for weeks to come.
Calhoun walks boldly into difficult questions, including the one that turns so many people into religion rebels: “Since this journey is so important, why does it include misery and pain? If God loves us, why does He allow suffering?” The answer? “He has his reasons.” Okay, that’s all well and good, you might say, but that’s not good enough. What reasons? To that, she promptly responds, “Let’s explore them.”
PERSONAL STORIES AND AN INSPIRING MESSAGE
Even so, Calhoun herself steps sometimes away from the limelight, instead becoming a choir leader directing a chorus of individual, unique voices through a selection of spiritual sonatas. The voices — in the more literal sense, the written stories — come together in a pleasant harmony that tells the good news: God knows your personal journey, God understands your singular struggles, and God is eventually the source for peace despite all trials.
This invitation illuminates her book with clarity: Calhoun writes, “On this earth we have a body, and a spirit which gives the body life. Our circumstances are different and our experiences and paths unique, yet God loves all of us profoundly and wants us to fulfill our destiny — here and now, and in the eternities. You are on this earth for a reason.” Who doesn’t want to find out why they’re here?
Calhoun has eight children to whom she dedicates the book with some lovely words: “for the joy and blessing you are, for your strength and perception, for the good you are contributing to the world, and for the opportunity to be your mother and share the journey with you.” This introduction gives the reader an immediate idea of what sort of book they are beginning: something gentle, yet something profound.
A SPIRITUAL TEACHER WHO KNOWS SUFFERING — AND STRENGTH — INTIMATELY
This push-and-pull makes perfect sense in context. The author has plenty of varied experience to mine from. For example, she’s flown through the skies — wait, don’t go anywhere, this is true; she was a flight attendant. Never content to stay grounded, she exercised her creativity as an interior designer. She’s also a teacher and a spiritual leader and completed a Bachelor’s Degree in the Humanities … at the age of 67. This is not a woman to be messed with, but she is a woman who life has messed with. She survived an abusive marriage and is still surviving an incredibly arresting chronic illness called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Without getting too into the weeds, know that sufferers have a significantly increased risk of suicide.
On the whole, the work’s tone is gentle but firm. Regardless of who is telling the story — Calhoun, a guest storyteller, or a tidbit from someone as well-known as Gandhi — it is evident and obvious that strength does not come easily, but does come with practice and patience. As the reader makes their way through the questions, reads the thorough examinations and stumbles upon some solid answers, that source of strength grows closer and becomes more lucid.
Though this is a Christian book, those who do not identify as such but find comfort in a more general sense of a greater power may well get pulled in. If you’re someone who is exploring the idea of spirituality, religion or specifically Christianity, Awake Beloved and Arise proves an ideal way to learn and discover more. If you’re Christian, this will be a welcome addition to your soulful repertoire.
Learn more about Calhoun on her BookTrib author profile page.
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