I first encountered Ruth Everhart‘s writing while reading a friend’s blog post. I knew I had to read her book Ruined. I also knew I could hardly bear to read her book Ruined. When Ruth was a senior at a small midwestern college, two armed intruders held her and her 4 roommates captive and took turns raping them. This is every woman’s greatest fear, or some variation of it.

What surprised me most was that Ruth is a Presbyterian pastor and has been for two decades. What did the healing journey look like that brought her from serious trauma to pastor? And how does one go about putting the shattered pieces of their emotional and physical and spiritual life back together in a way that makes any sense at all after such a horror?

Ruth uncovers the often shallow version of faith many of us grow up with. How does that faith begin to form the foundation for a deeper experience of Jesus, or can it?

No matter what trauma or loss you are experiencing, the themes throughout our conversation on this week’s podcast are transcendent. I hope you’ll choose to listen. It’s probably not a conversation for little ones to overhear, but it’s an important one for all adults!

Thanks for choosing to listen to Faith Conversations and for sharing it with your friends!