Practicing Resurrection: A Memoir of Work, Doubt, Discernment, and Moments of Grace

Nora Gallagher’s compelling story of a woman at a crossroads, discerning what to do and how to live after her brother’s death, is a continuation of the spiritual journey she chronicled in her acclaimed book, Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith.

When her beloved brother, Kit, dies, Gallagher finds her own life no longer makes sense. Stretched between meetings, always ten minutes late, increasingly drained of surprise and humor, Gallagher realizes she’s lost more than her brother. She’s lost her “own wild life,” and a sense of the sacred in the world.

Gallagher sets out to find “a new way to spend” herself. Practicing Resurrection describes the often un-
settling, sometimes comic, and finally redemptive process of discovery as Gallagher discerns a possible call to the ministry, and explores her marriage, her work as a writer, and the natural world. It extends to the full meaning of life after a death as Gallagher finds that experiences of “resurrection” are not believing “six impossible things before breakfast.” The surprising end portrays a vision of ministry redefined and a marriage honestly renewed.

A beautiful and often harrowing account of the exploration of a vocation and of new life after loss, this powerful memoir will inform and inspire anyone trying to discern the signs of a “call” to what might be a deeper purpose, and how to act on it.

Nora Gallagher’s best-selling memoir, Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith, received outstand-
ing reviews. Her essays, book reviews, and journalism have appeared in many publications, including
the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, DoubleTake, Time, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Village Voice, and Mother Jones. She is also the editor of the award-winning Patagonia: Notes from the Field,
a collection of literary essays on the outdoors. She and her husband live in Santa Barbara, California.