For Such a Time as This
Hope and Forgiveness after the Charleston Massacre
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کتاب های مرتبط
- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
- دیدگاه کاربران
نقد و بررسی
April 15, 2019
In this emotional memoir, hospital chaplain Risher explores her life and reaction to the 2015 massacre at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church, in which her mother, two cousins, and a friend were murdered. She begins with her reaction to learning about the massacre and follows through to the murder trial of Dylann Roof, when family members of the dead were allowed to address Roof. Nadine, Risher’s younger sister, accepted the invitation and used the moment to forgive Roof. The moment stuck with Risher, because she knew “that God commands us to forgive, but I was not ready to forgive this monster who killed my mother.” Risher also recalls her upbringing in Charleston with four siblings, meeting Myra, leaving for college in North Carolina, hitting a rocky patch with drugs, and getting help from her loving mother. At the end, Risher writes of how she eventually came to forgive Roof, which was a long and difficult process: “I had to work hard spiritually to walk toward religion.” Frankly considering what it means to forgive, Risher provides a gripping testimony in this unflinching memoir.
June 1, 2019
In simple, conversational language, hospital chaplain Risher documents her life prior to and after the moment her mother, two cousins, and other dear friends were brutally gunned down by white supremacist Dylann Roof. At Roof's trial, she learns that he visited Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC, at least three times prior and that he was welcomed into their Bible study with warmth--only to later open fire as participants lowered their heads in prayer. The funeral of Emanuel's pastor, Clementa Pinkney, was the scene of President Obama's moving and impromptu singing of "Amazing Grace," a moment of national significance in the struggle against America's rising white supremacist movement. Risher's journey from sorrow to forgiveness is complicated by her vocation: she should forgive, but it's a hard-fought battle. Her victim impact statement ("I pray those nine angels will visit you every night in your cell to have Bible study with you") begins her arduous path toward forgiveness. VERDICT A timely witness to the power of one.--Sandra Collins, Byzantine Catholic Seminary Lib., Pittsburgh
Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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