Weekly Reader: Unraveled and Made Whole Again by Deanna Wood Priddy: Short Slim But Intriguing Book About Religion and Faith

 

Weekly Reader: Unraveled and Made Whole Again by Deanna Wood Priddy: Short Slim But Intriguing Book About Religion and Faith

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Deanna Wood Priddy's memoirs Unraveled and Made Whole Again is a very short slim book. However, in its brief length it tells an interesting story about Priddy's religious background and how her faith led her through difficult times.

Priddy spends a lot of time describing her childhood as a preacher's daughter going from revival to revival. Her recall is fascinating as she remembers her father discovering religion after a nightmare and goes from being a drywall worker and painter to a minister.

Some of the highlights in Priddy's book are the various revivals. The Reader can practically hear the religious music, see the excited faces, and feel the sweat of hot days, pre-AC buildings and tents, and large crowds.

While some might disagree with the veracity of Priddy's claims such as seeing people get instantly healed, it's not hard to get swept up in her telling of the stories. When she writes about her father praying for a man to be healed from his cancer, it is an absorbing tale. Even more so, when he is not only declared cancer free but lives to a ripe old age. Regardless of personal belief, it is an interesting story and Priddy's writing grabs the Reader's interest.

Priddy also recalls the various travels that she and her family made. Her book is filled with various anecdotes like when they visited Mexico and received assistance from their interpreter and his wife. Also the times where they traveled by bus from one revival to another, but stopped to fish or listen to Kentucky bluegrass are nice chapters. The travels and various people that they meet such as a boisterous gospel songwriter and a belligerent man with a pipe wrench who wanted to shut down the revival are some of the more interesting passages in the book.

The book is good at showing the difference between religion, the rules and standards that are practiced within a building, sometimes the practice that one is raised in without question, and faith, the personal belief system that one has and chooses that helps get them through difficult troubled times. While Priddy was raised by a religious family and household, her personal beliefs are not discussed at first. Throughout her childhood, she is just moved by her parent's beliefs, never wondering for herself. She saw things that could be described as miraculous but never really considered how it affected her life, until she got married and began a musical career.

She began a career in gospel music sending audition tapes to recording studios and married Craig, a saxophone player. Even though she was rejected by The Grand Ole Opry, she and Craig joined a gospel band until the band leader got too affectionate with her. They settled in Missouri where Priddy worked as a teacher's aide.

Priddy's father's death in 1995 was also a time of problems within Priddy's first marriage. A time of infertility before she gave birth to two daughters, frequent moves and job changes, and differing ideologies particularly when one of the churches that they joined began to transmogrify into a cult took their toll on Priddy's marriage. It got to the point where she became angry at everything and everyone, even at God for putting her in this situation.

Priddy's spiritual anger is a perfectly natural reaction and is handled well. This is the voice of someone who spent her whole life following God, never questioning what she had been taught and wondering what it cost. What was in that faith for her if all it got her was an unhappy marriage and lots of unanswered questions.

Priddy's answers became known in personal signs like hearing a man sing "I'll Fly Away" and then she and her daughter seeing a feather. These spiritual signs allowed her to gain a more personal relationship with her God and not just parrot the way she was raised.

Her renewed faith strengthened as her first husband became verbally abusive and forced her to divorce him. She thanks her girls and her God for the strength to get through the divorce, unemployment, poverty, and a prolonged custody battle. She managed to get through those difficulties and her daughters remained with her, developing talents in art and music. She also began a relationship with Kirk Priddy, a former boyfriend and drummer with his family gospel band. This relationship evolved into a romance and happy second marriage as they formed the band, Unbroken. 

Besides her renewed faith, what also helped Priddy was seeking counseling. This was in contrast to her upbringing which insisted that God could fix anything so psychiatry and counseling were unnecessary. Priddy broke from that upbringing when she realized that "God has counselors too." She found one that encouraged her and helped her relieve much of the anxiety and depression that filled her throughout her life.

 Deanna Wood Priddy's book Unraveled and Made Whole Again is brief but tells a marvelous story about how one can find their own faith and strength to move on in even the toughest situations.