Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion Paperback – February 5, 2008

Truly one of the most powerful books I have read about communion and the wild, messy, chaotic, uncertain, but beautiful, rich life of following Jesus. Sara masterfully and almost poetically weaves a stunning story about sharing love, life and bread. They say the church is currently undergoing another reformation and I believe Sara is standing at the heart of it. She brings wise, spirit-filled insights about what needs to die in the way we do church and what needs to open up and be reimagined. Thank you for a soul-stirring read!

take this bread is one of the best left-of-center spiritual memoirs i've read, ever.sara miles is a self-described liberal, an intellectual journalist who spent much of her life covering wars from the side of the oppressed (often in stark contrast to u.s. policy). she grew up in a staunchly athiest home (though both of her parents were children of missionaries, which ends up playing into her story in surprising and deeply satisfying ways), and was, as she says, the last person her friends would have expected to start talking about jesus.sara walked into a san francisco church one day -- called, one might way; compelled, she wasn't sure why -- and took the eucharist. and something clicked, in that moment. she had an encounter with jesus that she was never able to dismiss or shake off. eventually, her connection with jesus became a compelling call to feed others, as she was fed. sara started a food pantry, literally ON the alter of her extremely nervous church. the book walks through her multiple conversions, and those of the people around her, many of them already professed christians.the comparisons to anne lamott are easy (especially to anne's first spiritual memoir, traveling mercies). both are brilliant with words; both are liberals from san francisco, who grew up in book-loving, athiest, intellectual homes; both are liberal in every sense of the word; and both are deeply in love with jesus and passionate about following his lead. this -- i think -- is what seperates both anne and sara from classical liberals, who spent a good deal of their time distancing themselves from jesus.but sara miles and anne lammott are not the same. sara doesn't have annie's wit, which, while i absolutely adore annie's wit, makes this book somewhat more compelling, and a bit less like a collection of witty, liberal, jesus-y essays. if annie's "theme" is her self-loathing and insecurity, sara's strong-willed theme is: food. food weaves its way through every chapter of the book: from her childhood, to her experiences as a chef in new york, to her connections with people in the third world, to her intitial and ongoing experience with jesus, to her establishment of one, then many, food pantries. it's hard not to read this book and not simultaneously hanker for a chunk of some cheese you can't pronounce, and want to give that cheese to someone who wouldn't otherwise experience their next meal.wonderful, wonderful reading. challenging at points. highly edible. deeply nourishing.

My church'es weekly book study group has picked this book, "Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion" to study for this quarter. We have only read three chapters so far. We like the author's writing style, and are really enjoying reading and learning about a non-traditional Christian journey. There are some great study questions in the back of the book, also. Though it's early in our sessions, I believe this book lends itself well to a study group. This woman has had an amazing journey as a compassionate Christian, and has not had an easy passage, since she is part of the gay community, and wanted to cut corners in helping the poor and hungry, without getting bogged down in all the paperwork, permission, etc.

Growing up along the banks of the Ohio River, my family attended church whenever the doors were open. We were fervent churchgoers, and I always enjoyed once-per-quarter Communion Sunday. Not only were sermons shorter--usually--but the mysterious Welch's grape juice and tiny crackers were passed around. Deacons marched down the aisle to receive the crackers and juice, dispersed across the sanctuary, only to return to the altar. Some magical words were said, and after a moment of silence the click of plastic glasses as they were placed in the communion-shot-glass holders on the pews filled the sanctuary.I'd be lying if I said that one reason I didn't walk down the aisle to "accept Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior" was to get to be like grownups. I too wanted to get in on the magic. So, when I read that Sara Miles was an atheist, and then first participation in the Eucharist "utterly short-circuited my ability to do anything but cry" I knew what she was talking about.Years after my own conversion and venture into college, I began to develop a deeper Eucharistic theology. For me, Eucharist is one of the few places I find connection and palpable presence with God. Like Miles, I find inspiration to work and pursue justice via the sustenance provided at the table. When I have not participated in the feast of the table for weeks, I find my entire life sags and wanes. The Eucharist centers me, and fuels me.Sara Miles's conversion was not "walking down the aisle" or a moment of inner conversion, but participation in ritual. Hers is not a story that speaks from on high, but from deep below--the pits of humanity. Miles would begin a feeding campaign, and throughout the book the talk of food continually returns.Miles's memoir speaks to polarization currently felt within the American Christian experience. Whether theologically or politically, Christians build walls of conservative or liberal identity, and then refuse to engage what lives outside those walls. Communion, Eucharist, challenges those beliefs. Communion provides the space for all to be welcomed, and to remember that all belong in the body of Christ. Moreover, for the church-at-large, doing away with meaningful ritual must not occur. For Sara Miles the Eucharist began a life centered on the life and mission of Christ.Miles tells the story early in her memoir of time spent working in Mexico. On the Church holiday Corpus Christi, plainclothes thugs armed with guns and batons supplied by the Mexican police descended upon marchers outside her residence. They killed at least 25 people. For her and others that day would become known as "Corpus Christi massacre," the murder of the body of Christ.We need the Eucharist to remind us of the love and compassion Jesus lived into. We need the Eucharist to remind us that whether we are conservative, liberal, or apathetic we comprise one body. The hate spewed from both sides slowly pricks and bludgeons the body of Christ.Take This Bread reminds me that I don't need to agree with every person. In fact, I don't want to agree with every person. But, I want to be able to break bread with people and share in the moment of fellowship. For those that speak unbearably harsh words against humans because of their sexual identity or political affiliation, I find it hard to be loving and welcoming. Yet, the harder pill to swallow is the fact that we share in the same body of Christ, and yet hate remains the outcome of their actions.In the words of the 7th century mystic Isaac of Nineveh, Miles recalls, "Did not our Lord share this table with tax collectors and harlots? So do not distinguish between worthy and unworthy. All must be equal for you to love and serve."May this be our prayer. May it be so.

Beautiful autobiography.

I appreciated the honesty in which she wrote this book and how much of it mirrors my own thoughts and growth. I felt guilty many times in my own ministry and to hear Sara having those same thoughts encourages me greatlyThank you for sharing your Love-story

Very well written -- she is a journalist after all. Wonderful transformation in her life.

'Take this bread' is a story of Christ's transforming power in a life. Sara Miles tells her candid, open narrative in a refreshing way. There's no sense of glamour or hype to this reader but rather a sense of walking a fascinating journey. Reading the crucial part in the book, to which the title refers, brought a strong sense in me of feeling as if I was there. If you like narratives of faith, if you enjoy hearing of journeying with God, if you grow in your faith by recognising God in the lives of others, if you need to be refreshed yourself again and reminded of the power of Christ to transform lives, I cannot recommend Sara Miles 'Take this bread' highly enough. May you be changed as she was though the act, and the narrative.

Brilliant stories of blessing and thanks giving, stories of Eucharist in life and suffering and joy. Stories that move your heart and mind.