Amanda Held Opelt

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Amanda Held Opelt

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Amanda Held Opelt is a songwriter, speaker, and author of the books A Hole in the World and Holy Unhappiness. She writes about faith, grief, and creativity, and believes in the power of community, ritual, shared worship, and storytelling to heal even our deepest wounds. Amanda has spent 15 years serving in the non-profit and humanitarian aid sectors. She lives in the mountains of Boone, North Carolina, with her husband and two young daughters.

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Amanda Held Opelt Launching my new book Holy Unhappiness!
Amanda Held Opelt Listening to music helps!
Average rating: 4.35 · 1,340 ratings · 285 reviews · 3 distinct worksSimilar authors
Wholehearted Faith

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4.41 avg rating — 7,419 ratings — published 2021 — 11 editions
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A Hole in the World: Findin...

4.43 avg rating — 747 ratings6 editions
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Holy Unhappiness: God, Good...

4.25 avg rating — 487 ratings6 editions
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* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Waiting on the Wo...
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Amanda Opelt Amanda Opelt said: " A beautiful way to experience the seasons of Advent and Christmastide. "

 

Amanda’s Recent Updates

Holy Unhappiness by Amanda Held Opelt
"I listened to this in the audio version. it was well read. I appreciated the insight on some things, as a Christian, I struggled with. Made a lot of sense."
Holy Unhappiness by Amanda Held Opelt
"This book felt, in some ways, like a modern day rendering of Psalm 73 which starts about by affirming that God is good to His children, then gives voice to broken expectations, confusion, and disillusionment before returning to the fact that the pres" Read more of this review »
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Moonshiners and Prohibitionists by Bruce E. Stewart
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This book was a bit more in the weeds than what I was originally looking for, but I got a lot of great information from it!
Holy Unhappiness by Amanda Held Opelt
" Oh I’m so glad you liked it!!! "
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The Cost of Ambition by Miroslav Volf
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This book could be a dense read at times, but there were some hugely important takeaways along the way.
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A Theology of Play by Kevin Gushiken
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This book wasn't quite as theologically as comprehensive as I was looking for but it was very practical and an approachable read. ...more
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A Theology of Play by Kevin Gushiken
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This book wasn't quite as theologically as comprehensive as I was looking for but it was very practical and an approachable read. ...more
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Becoming Melungeon by Melissa Schrift
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This book gave me a lot to think about especially as it relates to cultural appropriation and the way the Melungeon narrative fits within the larger "local color" movement. I guess my critique would be that the author treats the construct of Melungeo ...more
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Closing the Food Gap by Mark Winne
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This is a research driven book, but I really appreciated the wit and eloquence with which the writer presented his case. A great overview of the various interventions around food insecurity.
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Just Food by James McWilliams
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The tone at the beginning of the book was a bit harsh, but overall this provided some robust answers to questions I had about our food supply. I appreciated a realistic approach with innovative ideas for sustainability.
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“Our inclination to explain away suffering is an indication of how reticent we are to simply lament as a society, to admit our weakness. When our understandings of cause and effect, control, and reciprocity are all disrupted, it's humbling. Bewilderment is an experience we aren't accustomed to in our culture. But this humiliation and bewilderment are at the heart of the death wail. They are the ingredients of grief. Death is humiliating. It's mortifying. It's incomprehensible. So many of the psalms of lament begin with the question, 'Why?' And there isn't always an answer.”
Amanda Held Opelt, A Hole in the World: Finding Hope in Rituals of Grief and Healing

“Sometimes we have to allow grief to have its way with us for a while. We need to get lost in the landscape of grief. It is a wild and rugged wilderness terrain to be sure, but it is here that we meet our truest selves. And we are met by God. The wilderness makes no space for pretense or facade. The language of platitudes and trite niceties are of no use to us in the wilderness. In the wilderness, we speak what is primitive and primary. We say what is true. We say what is hard and heartbreaking. We wail.”
Amanda Held Opelt, A Hole in the World: Finding Hope in Rituals of Grief and Healing

“The death wail is unsophisticated. It is not curated. It cares not what others think of it, and it has no desire for an interpreter. It is a language meant not for communication but rather for expelling the darkness. When it breaks free, one loses all sense of propriety and performance. The wailer slips into a world of inconsequence, succumbing to the sorrow and finally expressing with unbridled veracity what is true and real about all that is being experienced: I am destroyed.”
Amanda Held Opelt, A Hole in the World: Finding Hope in Rituals of Grief and Healing




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