"Several things endeared me to Unburdened. I liked its thoroughness, its use of contemporary versions of Scripture, and the telling of true stories drawn from real lives lived in community. Add to that the challenge to the reader to ponder thoughtfully and practice faithfully the exercises suggested by the author. This is a book worth buying for personal use and to give away. I highly recommend it."
--Luci Shaw, poet and author of The Generosity and Eye of the Beholder
"Jesus calls to himself those who are weary and burdened, promising to give them rest, saying that his yoke is easy and his burden light. This beautifully honest book about the promise and demands of forgiveness is a Lenten companion to those words, conveying Christ's rest for our many burdens."
--Jonathan Tran, associate dean for faculty in the Honors College and associate professor of theology at Baylor University and the author of Asian Americans and the Spirit of Racial Capitalism
"Jesus offers us life, abundant life, which is a lifelong journey of unburdening. That's the Lenten experience made available to us in these pages. Carol Penner guides us down the path of repentance and forgiveness as we confront the powers of sin in us and around us, all as part of our lifelong pilgrimage into the wonders of grace, of grace upon grace--the endless grace of God's life with us."
--Isaac S. Villegas, ordained minister and contributing editor for the Christian Century
"The forty-day spiritual trek we call Lent is too often a solitary journey inward in self-exploration. This book offers a journey back to failures, outward to co-travelers, and forward in a search for forgiving, reconciling, and reconstruction of relationships. I suspect that the teacher Jesus would like this book even more than I do since it fulfills his vision of what real spirituality is truly about. Carol Penner is a trustworthy guide for this walk of renewal through reunion with others."
--David Augsburger, professor emeritus of pastoral care and counseling at Fuller Seminary School of Theology and author of The Freedom of Forgiveness and Caring Enough to Confront