THE WAY OF GRACE is a book of poignant loss, resounding resilience and abiding hope. There, maybe I’ve said it all, but of course I haven’t. What’s the real story? Glandion Carney is an Anglican priest in Alabama, recently retired from a pastoral care church appointment. This seems a long way from his roots in Berkeley, California, and as a church planter in the Christian Reformed Church. It shouldn’t matter, but it seems to: that he’s African American, and the Alabama parish has been largely white.

Maybe reflective of Carney’s varied ministry and experience, including international speaking, the book’s prose includes allusions to and quotations from a refreshingly wide array of authors: Hannah Hurnard, Teresa of Avila and Fenelon, Tullian Tchividjian and Twila Paris.

"This slim book covers so much ground, always within the framework of Carney’s 2008 diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, which gradually but too quickly stole his energy, physical balance and dexterity, stamina, and clarity of thought and speech."

This slim book covers so much ground, always within the framework of Carney’s 2008 diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, which gradually but too quickly stole his energy, physical balance and dexterity, stamina, and clarity of thought and speech. For a season he wallowed in self-pity. “I also dulled my pain and soothed my sorrow by drinking too much alcohol.”

On one level, Carney’s journey is downward, toward debilitation and inevitable mortality. You can visualize the scenes: a priest stumbling at the altar; a once-hearty, self-sufficient man being humbled but grateful in an airport, realizing he’s at the mercy of strangers who offer physical assistance; a husband fumbling to button a starched shirt and ultimately relying on his wife for such basics. Here’s a strong, independent adult being broken down, back to a childlike dependence.

On another level, Carney’s journey leads the reader upward, to a dependence on the everlasting arms of God. The way is defined by various aspects of grace: the grace of acceptance, submission, trust, community, simplicity and hope, even while having the grace to be content.

He writes with an underlying foundation that rings true. It’s solid, yet, even in the last chapter, he expresses his own inadequacies, admitting, “I’m just a little boy who used all his tickets at the fair and has failed to set aside money for the bus ride home.

“I’m not sure what’s ahead for me, and I find I am increasingly like that frightened boy longing to get home.” He briefly relates the story of Jacob wrestling with God. And finally, “My story began --- and ends --- with grace. Sin and discouragement continue to grip my life, but God’s grip is stronger.”

He admits it might seem trite that he ends THE WAY OF GRACE by quoting the overused “Amazing Grace,” but he succeeds in prompting me to read the four cited verses as if they were fresh. Thank you, Fr. Carney.