Crossing the Waters

August 8, 2016
Fields is a 38-year Alaskan commercial fisherwoman whose experience on and off the water guides readers through faith’s treacherous depths. To begin this memoir-cum-testament, she shares her often harrowing experiences on the waters as her family fishes for their livelihood season after exhausting season. Fields also parallels her personal story with that of Jesus’s relationship with his disciples on the Sea of Galilee. She traveled to the Jordan River and, once there, found herself on a tiny boat with other fishermen learning the practices of fishing far from home. Throughout her text, Fields describes her life, challenges, and moments of doubt, skillfully pairing her own story with those of how Jesus and his disciples may have dealt with similar concerns during their own times. Readers of faith will appreciate the colorful depiction of both the land and sea that Fields offers, and they will see familiar Bible passages come alive in her contextualized retellings. In this helpful account, Fields displays a remarkable knack for exploring those treasures that lie underneath the surface.