The Fog of Faith by Dr. Leona Stucky

In an emotionally charged memoir, The Fog of Faith: Surviving My Impotent God, author Dr. Leona Stucky suggests that religion may indeed offer hope, though not always in the ways we expect.

Raised in a Mennonite farming community, and one of seven children, the author began questioning religion in her late teens. Her loving mother contracted MS, becoming wheelchair-bound, and her father struggled to cope without his wife’s participation; farm work was grueling, and money was scarce. Stucky tried repeatedly to escape her abusive and threatening boyfriend, discovering that the law often sided with her abuser. She felt hopeless, deriving scant comfort from her Mennonite faith, but there were fortuitous circumstances that gradually moved her toward a brighter future.

Stucky’s writing style engages from the start, with passages ranging from erudite theological speculation to homey reminiscences. Her narrative occasionally bogs down in detail, which detracts from the central theme, but overall, her stark recollections are gripping. Family photographs enhance her story, so this is a well-designed book, though the cover doesn’t reflect that.

Now working as a pastoral counselor, she hopes her experiences and the wisdom she gained will offer assistance to women trapped in dangerous relationships, or persons lost in a “fog” of seemingly contradictory religious messages, and in this way The Fog of Faith is both instructive and inspiring.

Book Links