A breakthrough work of spiritual formation that gives us a fresh vocabulary to experience an ineffable God. What if God is not just above us but also beneath and between, alongside and among? What if God comes into us, and is thus within and throughout and around--all while yet beyond? In lush and literary prose, writer Varina Buntin Willse invites us to encounter the omnipresence of God through the lens of the lowliest of all parts of speech: the preposition. The result is nothing short of revelatory. With echoes of Barbara Brown Taylor and Sue Monk Kidd, Beneath and Between guides readers into a new metaphorical universe, in which our experiences of God transcend the predictable grammars of faith. Hidden right there in plain sight--in scripture, in liturgy, in prayers and poems and writings from various wisdom traditions--dwell little words that offer stunning epiphanies. Ideal for group study and personal reflection, this book is rich and provocative in the most reverential way, offering more dimensions of the divine than doctrine usually affords. It is as if Willse has taken a crowbar to a crusty, heavy old door and pried it open, letting a rush of fresh air come pouring through. For the contemplative and the confused, for the confident Christian and the heartbroken one, for the skeptic and the seeker, for anyone who feels left behind or excluded from expressions of faith: Find in these incandescent pages an expansive view of God and a companion for your spiritual journey. This is a book to savor.
Varina Buntin Willse is an award-winning author of spiritual and narrative nonfiction with degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Oxford University. She has penned six legacy books, provided content strategy to over one hundred companies, and helped to establish a new high school where she then served on the faculty. Founder of the mindfulness platform Ponder Effect, she leads spiritual retreats and regularly speaks on matters of the soul. She and her family live by a creek in Nashville, Tennessee.
Introduction Chapter 1 | ABOVE Chapter 2 | BENEATH Chapter 3 | NEAR Chapter 4 | WITH Chapter 5 | ALONGSIDE Chapter 6 | BEFORE Chapter 7 | FOR Chapter 8 | THROUGH Chapter 9 | INTO Chapter 10 | WITHIN Chapter 11 | THROUGHOUT Chapter 12 | AMONG Chapter 13 | BETWEEN Chapter 14 | AROUND Chapter 15 | BEYOND Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes
"If you have let the world lock God into a dark box, this is a book for you. If you have let the world lock you--your faith, your wonderings, your soaring love--into a dark box, this radiant book is also for you. It will lead you straight to a wild, uncontained God whose lavish love can be found not just beneath and between but within, among, beyond, and in every other place love can reach. Which is to say, everywhere." --MARGARET RENKL, author of The Comfort of Crows "If we accept the ancient recognition that 'God is love,' then relationship (and relationality) is at the heart of divine being. With that in mind, I'm surprised no one has entered the mystery of God through prepositions until now, but what a joy that Varina Buntin Willse has done so. Beneath and Between is both broad in its scope and deep in its exploration, and every chapter hums with insight and invitation. Read it and let your soul be nurtured." --CARL MCCOLMAN, author of The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism and Read the Bible Like a Mystic "Where faith might have the tendency to become rote in word and in concept, Varina Buntin Willse offers an enlivening creativity that transforms the most humble slivers of our theological language--prepositions--into vessels of profound, fresh truths. Willse's warm curiosity invites readers to consider how paying careful attention to God's manifestations, whether within, throughout, or among us, leads us to a fuller understanding of God's presence. This work of 'outsider theology' is a blessing to all of us who long to experience a living, breathing, multidimensional God who cannot be contained in a box and who shows up in the most surprising places." --KRISTIN T. LEE, author of We Mend with Gold: An Immigrant Daughter's Reckoning with American Christianity "In gorgeous prose reminiscent of Annie Dillard, Varina Buntin Willse takes us by the hand and whispers this secret in our ear: The smallest, humblest words are actually portals to the infinite. Through reflections, theology, and prayers, Willse invites readers to linger in these portals, where every beneath, before, and beyond is right there waiting to offer an encounter with mystery. Beneath and Between is a beautiful and wise book for anyone seeking a view of God that is enveloping, expansive, and electric." --BONNIE SMITH WHITEHOUSE, PhD, author of In Our Hands and Seasons of Wonder "God talk can be such a loaded, tricky Gordian knot, but with her humble prepositions, Varina Buntin Willse effectively slices the knot. Her central insight about prepositions works as a narrative vehicle and organizer, while her personal stories of childhood and mothering take readers into the ripe territory of spiritual autobiography, a challenging genre to pull off but one that Willse executes beautifully. The way she weaves interspiritual voices, telling biblical references, and the sheer fun of playing with words is altogether fresh. Like Barbara Brown Taylor, Varina Buntin Willse is capacious in mind and heart. With so much revelation to encounter in every chapter and so much beauty to digest in the writing, you will likely want a pen handy when you read this book. It goes that tender and that deep." --GORDON PEERMAN, DMin, author of Blessed Relief: What Christians Can Learn from Buddhists about Suffering
