Jaded by Varina Denman

Book Review

I was hooked before I finished reading the prologue.

Jaded by Varina Denman immediately resonates with our individual story no matter where we are in our journey.

Ruthie, judged and shunned by the church, has a calloused heart toward others and toward God. She associates Him with the hypocrites she calls Christians and has been given no reason to think or believe otherwise. The church, instead of representing love to her has squashed her as one would squash an unwelcome bug at a picnic. Although amplified because of the actions of the church, Ruthie’s struggles with feeling unlovable and unworthy are struggles we can all relate to. On some level we have all been hurt. School bullies, slights from friends, inconsiderate spouses. Betrayal cuts to the core when it comes from those who wear a badge that says, “you can trust me, I’m a Christian.”

When the Cunninghams move to town, The real spirit of Christ lived out by this family woos Ruthie to think, just maybe, not all Christians are like the ones she knows. She begins to believe that she is loveable and her heart softens toward those who inflicted the pain and forgiveness creeps in.

Trouble brews when Dodd Cunningham, the new pastor, begins to question the actions of the church toward Ruthie and her family. Dodd believes in the church. He is like any of us who desperately want to believe in the best of those who wear the name of Jesus. The established elite, eager to maintain appearances, influence, and power manipulates information, facts, and circumstances to hide their egregious actions.

Our hearts pound as we turn page after page needing know how this impossible situation can be redeemed. Will Ruthie be able to see that not everyone in the church is self-righteous? Will she open herself to the love that is there for her if she’ll but step into it? Will Dodd take off his rose-colored glasses and consider for a minute that not all is as it seems? Will there be justice?

Jaded will cause our heart to hurt. It should. It’s gritty and raw, sharing the honest emotion of the harm church done wrong can do. It is stuffed with our own hopes and desires that the love of God can redeem all things.

Jaded is our story of forgiveness, reconciliation, and above all, our story of learning to live into being the Beloved of God.