“I don’t know how to say what the grace of God is. What I can say is what it’s like for me.” We all know about grace being amazing—after all, there’s a whole song about it—but Patrick Henry reminds us that that’s not all it is. It’s also intimidating, disorienting, demanding, reassuring, and sometimes even just downright mind-boggling. Describing thirty-three different aspects of grace based on his everyday experiences, Henry tells the story of a grace that is wide-ranging and comprehensive—if not always comprehensible. Rather than trying to capture and tame his encounters with God, he lets the mystery of memory speak for itself, exemplifying his mantra that being a Christian is about being “an explorer, not a colonizer.” Flashes of Grace is wise and grounded, earnest and light, faithful and quirky. Henry describes encountering grace in airports, baseball, hazelnuts, and just about anywhere else you can imagine, while engaging with dialogue partners ranging from King Saul and Saint Augustine to Yogi Berra and Captain Picard. For anyone longing to connect (or reconnect) with God, this book provides a surprising journey that broadens perspectives and explores strange new worlds, while loosening stiff spiritual joints so movement can be free and spontaneous. Table of Contents Foreword by Joan Chittister Prologue: Off the Plane, into the Airport Part One: How I Became the Source of This Story 1. Grace in Formation 2. Grace in Perspective 3. Grace in Balance Part Two: Reorienting 4. Grace in Dimensions 5. Grace in Surprise 6. Grace in Politics Part Three: The Bible 7. Grace in “Whatever” 8. Grace in Opening Up and Broadening Out 9. Grace in Verb Tenses 10. Grace in Being Left Behind with The Da Vinci Code Part Four: History 11. Grace in Uncertainty 12. Grace in the Digging 13. Grace in a Future That Ain’t What It Used to Be Part Five: Coming Together after Coming Apart 14. Grace in Ecumenism 15. Grace in the “Cannot" 16. Grace in Reconciling Memories Part Six: Diversity 17. Grace in Variety 18. Grace in a Fugue 19. Grace in Finding an Old Sermon 20. Grace in Christian Autobiography Part Seven: Imaginations: Religious and Scientific 21. Grace in Science 22. Grace in a Hazelnut 23. Grace on Darwin’s Grave 24. Grace in Scientific American Part Eight: Disturbances of Dogma 25. Grace in Coventry Cathedral and on the Hudson River 26. Grace in Art 27. Grace on a Baseball Diamond 28. Grace Where I Don’t Expect It 29. Grace On Board the Starship Enterprise Part Nine: A Spirituality for the Long Haul 30. Grace in the Overlap of “Spiritual” and “Religious” 31. Grace in a Culture of Trust, Not Fear 32. Grace in an Ancient Prayer 33. Grace in the Groundswell’s Bell over the Ebbing Sea’s Roar Epilogue: Letter to Captain Picard Notes “This book stands as a profound look into the mirror of a soul who has been brave enough, wise enough, honest enough to follow the path expected of him up to the beginning of his real self and how he dealt with each idea along the way. Some elements and ideas on this soul’s journey confirmed what he had always known. Some tore him away from his roots and gave him new life. The life that came out of a life so acutely dissected comes from the kind of honesty that will give you, too, a way to look at your own self and all its twists and turns. It will pull you like a mountain climber’s rope up the North Face of your soul. It will stop you in the process of falling. It will show you that every path is eventually the right path.” — Joan Chittister from the foreword “Sadly, it’s unusual to encounter a book on Christian faith that simply conveys the ‘unbearable lightness’ of that faith—not with the dire fixed jollity of the sales rep, but with the wit, realism, and loving wonder that speaks of a lifetime’s delighted discovery, as a woman married for forty years might speak of a partner or a child. Patrick Henry draws on an immense range of learning—as well as offering theological reflections on  Star Trek: The Next Generation —to chart for us a territory where we can explore in confidence, expecting at every turn the completely unexpected and completely committed grace of God in Christ.” — Rowan Williams 104th Archbishop of Canterbury and author of  Being Christian “This thoughtful and thought-provoking book, rich in reference to theologians, historians, biblical scholars, philosophers, and social critics—including those critical of religion—is for anyone who wants to understand what a Christian faith can mean in the present day. If you’re a seeker and a doubter with a liberal and ecumenical bent, this book helps you understand that you’re not alone. The author demonstrates that people like you have long been a valuable part of the Christian tradition.” — Kathleen Norris author of  Dakota: A Spiritual Geography  and  The Cloister Walk “Patrick Henry is a giant of ecumenical imagination, and just the sort of giant you’d hope to encounter on a walk through the theological woods—well-read,