54 pages • 1 hour read
How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith
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Book Club Questions
General Impressions
Gather initial thoughts and opinions about the book.
1. What are your overall impressions of How We Learn to Be Brave?
2. What did you like most about this book, and what did you dislike?
3. Compare How We Learn to Be Brave to another self-help or spiritual text. How are they similar, and how do they differ?
Personal Reflection and Connection
Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.
1. Reflect on any aspect of How We Learn to Be Brave that made you emotional or reminded you of your own journey with faith.
2. How do Budde’s views on leadership align with or pivot away from your views on leadership?
3. Discuss a “decisive moment” from your own life that taught you about bravery.
4. Examine a time when you had to persevere, and describe what you learned about yourself from the experience.
Societal and Cultural Context
Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.
1. Discuss how How We Learn to Be Brave frames issues of dwindling church attendance, specifically in the Episcopal denomination. What does Budde say about this issue, and are there aspects or solutions that she misses?
2. How does Budde connect examples of bravery and perseverance from religion and the past (the Bible, the civil rights movement, etc.) to the current moment? How does she reshape historical examples for a modern world?
3. How does Budde’s engagement with the modern political landscape (Trump’s presidencies, the Biden administration, etc.) shape her construction of the text?
Literary Analysis
Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.
1. How does the image of water play an important role in a number of Budde’s examples (her clarity while swimming, Jesus’ baptism, Remen’s plant that she waters)? What does water represent?
2. How does Budde’s use of different churches as settings (the church in Toledo, the church in Minneapolis, St. John’s in Washington, DC) inform her discussion of faith and courage? How did each church shape her journey toward bravery, faith, and leadership?
3. How does Budde’s blend of personal narrative, historical analysis, and theological discussion shape the structure of the narrative? Which type of writing do you find most effective or impactful?
4. How does the bookending structure of How We Learn to Be Brave (beginning and ending with Trump’s appearance in front of St. John’s) inform the development of Budde’s discussion of bravery? How is her discussion of the incident different in the Epilogue than in the Preface?
Creative Engagement
Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.
1. In a second book, written after Trump’s re-election and Budde’s 2025 inauguration homily, what do you imagine Budde would write about bravery just two years later? What new insights do you imagine she would have?
2. Make a playlist that captures the mood of the journey toward bravery, from the peaks of inspiration and decision to the valleys of letdown and failure.
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