Rooted in his own and many others stories. Simple yet complicated theology of love.

What a wonderful guide to loving your neighbor and holding on to hope during these tumultuous times. Bishop Curry is honest and humbling as he shares his own stories, doubts and concerns. It doesn't matter what your faith is (or isn't), everyone can gain something from this book. Highly recommend to all those who fervently pray for a kinder nation.


Personal Disclaimer: Our spiritual growth small group started to read this together back in February 2021. Then due to the pandemic, our group stopped meeting and the book got put aside. I just picked it up again this month on my own. It did not take me a year to read this!

After hearing Bishop Curry speak at Prince Harry and Megan Markel’s wedding and seeing him on several talk shows, I was interested in reading this book and thought that listening to it would be wonderful. I love his thoughts and his writing. His narration is also very good, but not quite what he does when speaking to a crowd or in a personal interview (I’m sure if I had heard this first I would have spoken of it more highly than I do after hearing him when he wasn’t in a recording studio.) this compilation around the theme of love is uplifting, inspiring, and worth reading and probably revisiting.

I love this book & its call to action to love. Bishop Curry’s heartfelt stories enrich each chapter. I’m proud to be an Episcopalian & claim him as our Bishop.

While I was not dangling from the precipice of a mountain peak in regards to my spiritual life, I was teetering and felt my sweaty palms loosing their grip in my personal life. I thought the two be separate spheres, but as Presiding Bishop Michael Curry's "Love Is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times" shows the two spheres are more 'one and the same' than I had thought.

An organized form of religion is not required to have and share a loving and rewarding life. However, there is little to deny that the spiritual grace and power of love (for the self and shared with others) is grander than one can imagine or than one may be able to see.

Curry's book starts as a honorable memoir of those and events that raised and influenced Curry throughout his early life. The book then gradually metamorphizes into a series of essays and guided prompts for readers to take their own beginnings, and with a dash or heaping amount of love added to their pot, influence a ripple effect in their own live. An example of 'E Pluribus Unum' at its finest.

While some may think that the book offers the solution to all the woes we face, and that by the time you complete it you will be right as rain for the rest of your days: It is not. Curry acknowledges, and includes several severe examples, of how it is not. How life, and those in it, can cause us to stop for a spell and consider that all is lost, and that love does not shine down upon me. But with the hope, humor, and gratitude that Curry radiates readers will also share the universal faith that the sun will rise again, and we can say 'with hope, good morning' once more (Maya Angelou).

Although I have been an Episcopalian for a fraction of my life, the church and the community remains an anchor that keeps my heart, mind, and soul at rest in a sea of chaos. My goal is not to convert others by sharing and agreeing with Curry's message. My goal, if anything, would be for you to consider how you, beautiful and brilliant you, can share your love too.

I will part from this review with two quotes that echo in my mind, and will soothe and guide my values and vows as I continue to choose love one day at a time:

"When we are at peace with ourselves, our true voice becomes clear and resonant, among the swift and varied changes of the world" (106).

"It is folly to think I can know the grand plan, how my small action fits into the larger whole. All I can do is check myself, again and again: Do my actions look like love?" (136)

Where ever you find love, and where ever you can share love, embrace it and offer it with the unique and marvelous gifts only you can provide. Should our paths cross, and in turn our unique ripples of love, I look forward to bathing in their light.

In a moment where I thought that I couldn’t find Jesus-loving-humans who wanted to live out a similar conviction I was feeling, I met Bishop Michael Curry and this book. 5 stars because I gave this book my heart to hold for Jesus and it carried it through. Constructive feedback: in my opinion it was bit repetitive when discussing the way of love but I do believe that was purposeful. I also feel like he could have gotten more vulnerable and transparent but chose not to and that felt like a cop-out. Overall, I’m so thankful for this book.

I listened to this on audio book, and Bishop Curry narrates the book himself. I really enjoyed - it was like hearing one great sermon after another. He’s a great storyteller.

The chapter titled: “The Real E Pluribus Unum” was my favorite chapter. The question the chapter answers: “Do I have to love even my enemy?”
Coming out of 2020, this was a question I needed to have Bishop Curry spend some time discussing. As he so pastorally says, “To love, my brothers and sisters, does not mean we have to agree. But maybe agreeing to love is the greatest agreement.”

He also mentions frequently the notion of “kneeling and standing at the same time.” I really liked that active, embodiment language. In leadership training, I often talk about “humble confidence.” In a spiritual context, this book often calls on the same - confidence in God (trust in God, faith that God is good, etc.) but humility in ourselves (we are all children of God, so don’t get too high and mighty).

I won’t be surprised if I pick this up again from time to time to read some of Bishop Curry’s wisdom.

Love is the way.

A message of healing and unity that our world needs to hear right now. Chapters 8 and 9 were especially moving to me. May I work to love my neighbor as Jesus modeled, be willing to listen and learn from those different from me, and humbly share my own story with the world.

Oh what a beautiful book by a beautiful man. We read and discussed the book in a group and I think we all found it very inspiring. Bishop Curry uses stories from his life and deep faith to illustrate what the way of love looks like when we actually put it into practice. In the introduction, Curry suggests the book is a journey into the holy and hidden heart of his own life - those people and experiences that led to his conviction that the way of love can change each of us, and all of us, for the better. The book concludes with an appendix called Love in Action - A Daily Planner, useful for folks who really want to dig in.