"We are created to be curious — to wonder, to discover, to question, and yes, to doubt," writes Stephanie Williams O'Brien who leads Mill City Church in Minneapolis and is the executive producer of Lead Stories Media. She correctly points out the bad rap that Christian communities often give both curiosity and imagination (one of the spiritual attributes in our Alphabet of Spiritual Literacy).

O'Brien sees Jesus as the Question Man who challenges us all "to step into the mystery of who he is and what the kingdom of God is." The more Christians mature in the faith, the more they should relish the role of curiosity "to generate new experiences, foster new ideas and innovations, and help us to engage resources we didn't realize were right under our noses."

Many of the treasures of the spiritual practice of wonder unfurl in our lives through mystery. Catholic Joan Chittister notes: "Once we empty ourselves of our certainties, we open ourselves to the mystery." As we grow in the faith, questions, doubts, and seeking take us down new roads which enable us lay down our bags of suffering, loss, conflict, and much more.

In the last three chapters, O' Brien makes a splendid case for taking off our masks, practicing for the long haul, moving through the cycles, and going beyond the shadow of doubt.