Everything Happens for a Reason
And Other Lies I've Loved
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Everything Happens for a Reason
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Narrated by:
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Kate Bowler
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Written by:
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Kate Bowler
About this listen
New York Times best seller
"A meditation on sense-making when there's no sense to be made, on letting go when we can't hold on, and on being unafraid even when we're terrified." (Lucy Kalanithi)
"Belongs on the shelf alongside other terrific books about this difficult subject, like Paul Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air and Atul Gawande's Being Mortal." (Bill Gates)
Named one of the best books of the year by Real Simple
Kate Bowler is a professor at Duke Divinity School with a modest Christian upbringing, but she specializes in the study of the prosperity gospel, a creed that sees fortune as a blessing from God and misfortune as a mark of God's disapproval. At 35, everything in her life seems to point toward "blessing". She is thriving in her job, married to her high school sweetheart, and loves life with her newborn son.
Then she is diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer.
The prospect of her own mortality forces Kate to realize that she has been tacitly subscribing to the prosperity gospel, living with the conviction that she can control the shape of her life with "a surge of determination". Even as this type of Christianity celebrates the American can-do spirit, it implies that if you "can't do" and succumb to illness or misfortune, you are a failure. Kate is very sick, and no amount of positive thinking will shrink her tumors. What does it mean to die, she wonders, in a society that insists everything happens for a reason? Kate is stripped of this certainty only to discover that without it, life is hard but beautiful in a way it never has been before.
Frank and funny, dark and wise, Kate Bowler pulls the reader deeply into her life in an account she populates affectionately with a colorful, often hilarious retinue of friends, megachurch preachers, relatives, and doctors. Everything Happens for a Reason tells her story, offering up her irreverent, hard-won observations on dying and the ways it has taught her to live.
Praise for Everything Happens for a Reason:
“I fell hard and fast for Kate Bowler. Her writing is naked, elegant, and gripping - she’s like a Christian Joan Didion. I left Kate’s story feeling more present, more grateful, and a hell of a lot less alone. And what else is art for?” (Glennon Doyle, number-one New York Times best-selling author of Love Warrior and president of Together Rising)
©2018 Kate Bowler (P)2018 Random House AudioYou may also enjoy...
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In Kate Bowler’s bestselling memoir Everything Happens for a Reason, listeners witnessed the ways she, as a divinity-school professor and young mother, reckoned with a Stage IV cancer diagnosis; in her follow-up memoir, No Cure for Being Human, she unflinchingly and winsomely unpacked the ways that life becomes both hard and beautiful when we abandon certainty and the illusion of control in our lives.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Written by: Kate Bowler
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Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day!
- Daily Meditations for the Ups, Downs & In-Betweens
- Written by: Kate Bowler
- Narrated by: Kate Bowler
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
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Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
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Story0 out of 5 stars 0
Kate Bowler, author of the instant New York Times bestseller Good Enough and national bestseller The Lives We Actually Have, wants to encourage people to develop their capacity to feel the breadth of their experiences. Bowler is inviting listeners for the first time to fully embrace the terrible along with the beautiful by offering listeners honest, heartfelt daily devotionals followed by blessings and action steps that lead listeners to feel seen, heard and understood no matter what their day may bring.
Written by: Kate Bowler
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Good Enough
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- Written by: Kate Bowler, Jessica Richie
- Narrated by: Kate Bowler, Jessica Richie
- Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 11
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 9
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Story5 out of 5 stars 9
In Kate Bowler’s bestselling memoir Everything Happens for a Reason, listeners witnessed the ways she, as a divinity-school professor and young mother, reckoned with a Stage IV cancer diagnosis; in her follow-up memoir, No Cure for Being Human, she unflinchingly and winsomely unpacked the ways that life becomes both hard and beautiful when we abandon certainty and the illusion of control in our lives.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I'm so thankful for this book
- By Amazon Customer on 2022-07-08
Written by: Kate Bowler, and others
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Blessed
- A History of the American Prosperity Gospel
- Written by: Kate Bowler
- Narrated by: Kate Bowler
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4
How have millions of American Christians come to measure spiritual progress in terms of their financial status and physical well-being? How has the movement variously called Word of Faith, Health and Wealth, Name It and Claim It, or simply prosperity gospel come to dominate much of our contemporary religious landscape? Kate Bowler's Blessed is the first book to fully explore the origins, unifying themes, and major figures of a burgeoning movement that now claims millions of followers in America.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Well read and informative
- By Mark Dynna on 2018-11-22
Written by: Kate Bowler
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The Lives We Actually Have
- 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days
- Written by: Kate Bowler, Jessica Richie
- Narrated by: Kate Bowler, Jessica Richie
- Length: 3 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1
We live in a world that demands relentless perfection. Happy marriages and easy friendships. Bucket list–level adventures and matching family photos. But what if our actual lives don’t feel very #blessed? Might our everyday existence be worthy of a blessing too? Even an average Tuesday?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Will listen again and again
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Written by: Kate Bowler, and others
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Searching for Sunday
- Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church
- Written by: Rachel Held Evans
- Narrated by: Rachel Held Evans
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story5 out of 5 stars 50
Like millions of her millennial peers, Rachel Held Evans didn't want to go to church anymore. The hypocrisy, the politics, the gargantuan building budgets, the scandals - church culture seemed so far removed from Jesus. Yet despite her cynicism and misgivings, something kept drawing her back. And so she set out on a journey to understand the Church and to find her place in it.
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5 out of 5 stars
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What the critics say
"I fell hard and fast for Kate Bowler. Her writing is naked, elegant, and gripping - she's like a Christian Joan Didion. I left Kate's story feeling more present, more grateful, and a hell of a lot less alone. And what else is art for? Everything Happens for a Reason is art in its highest form, and Kate Bowler is a true artist - with the pen, and with her life." (Glennon Doyle, number-one New York Times best-selling author of Love Warrior and president of Together Rising)
"Bowler's dry humor and raw, personal accounts help make thinking about our common fate bearable." (The Wall Street Journal)
"Bowler's lovely prose and sharp wit capture her struggle to find continued joy after her [stage IV cancer] diagnosis. This poignant look at the unpredictable promises of faith will amaze readers." (Publishers Weekly)
What listeners say about Everything Happens for a Reason
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Marlece Peterson
- 2018-02-23
raw and real and beautiful.
I loved this book from beginning to end. I'm grateful for Kate Bowlers willingness to tell her story. Thank you for this.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bob Rideout
- 2022-07-24
So validating! No sunshine & good vibes needed!
Kate Bowler has a way with words that makes you feel like you are listening to a friend. As someone who has spent numerous years uncovering a medical condition and who now lives in a body that isn’t “optimal” it’s been hard to find a perspective that fit with how I feel. It isn’t until faced with illness , and mortality, that we realize how fragile our lives and bodies are. I have listened to all of her podcasts, and books and can’t wait for the next new one. Thank you Kate for allowing us to exhale and not have to “good vibes only” our way in this toxic positivity world!!!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Guillaume
- 2022-09-02
The best storyteller and author I've encountered!
Thank you Kate Bowler, I'm glad I added this book to the list of books written from you that I've read! You are magic!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Matthew C Rigby
- 2021-12-08
A meditation on death.
This book is uncomfortable, unflinching, honest, and above all, beautiful.
I'm coming to this book late, having enjoyed seasons of Kate Bowler's (and her talented team's) podcast, Everything Happens.
This is written right at the onset of a stage 4 diagnosis, and you feel the uncertainty and immediacy of Kate's words.
It is well worth your time, and I'm so thankful that Kate has written this, and performed it herself.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jake26574
- 2020-09-23
excellent book! must read
this book was really well done and should be read by everyone. it's relatable and really good advice of one person's experience with cancer. well not everyone's experience will be the same the generalizations are.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Josh Ruberg
- 2018-07-09
Great listen! Also interesting to hear the author
Great overall, had a few cries in the car while listening. A few moments of humour may've not been perfectly delivered but somehow brings a lot of laughs to a very real and sad story.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2020-07-10
Good rendition
This audiobook is perfect. The voice over had the emotions that makes the listener to be empathetic. I recommend this for any one who is probing to find some reason in everything. Take life as such and start loving it.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elsa Richards
- 2022-06-18
Required reading
Thank you Kate Bowler for your beautiful words and phrases and insights that helped me feel less alone. I am so grateful I found your book when I did. As I listened, I wanted to live inside the words of this book and to never stop hearing your voice narrate your deep personal heartbreaking joyful horrible story - it was funny at times and brilliant and awful. I’m so sorry you endured this struggle. As I listened I felt like you were holding my hand - reminding me that I was not alone. I listened and your voice and story helped me brace myself white knuckling through the hard road of my own life. I found your book just as my six year old son suddenly went blind from his rare brain tumour. For the first time since my son’s diagnosis, I felt seen - in your words. I have so much more to say. But for now- thank you for writing this book and thank you for knowing we are here needing to hear that we are not alone in the fellowship of the afflicted. (And for helping our friends say more sensitive things when trying to help)
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2023-05-18
So needed
Just what I needed while going through what feels like insurmountable grief. No glossing over the hard, refreshingly real.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dora Friesen
- 2022-06-18
Suffering
Kate shares with deep vulnerability. The scope of personal suffering and for those nearest and dearest to her is instructive. It makes me wonder how I enter into other’s suffering.
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