Bipolar Faith, by Monica A. Coleman

Honest and harrowing, this spiritual autobiography testifies to God’s persuasive presence in a life that bears family legacies of slavery, alcoholism, abuse, and mental illness. Monica Coleman, who teaches at the Clare­mont School of Theology, uses process theology as a lens through which she can know and trust God. God and Coleman’s depression are the underlying characters in this narrative. She loses God at her grandmother’s funeral and regains God when her mother acts on a courageous decision; she loses God when she is raped and regains God through dance. By the end, hope and healing are apparent: “God is making something new . . . knitting me back together.”