Overview

Onward Forward is a book Brian Jeansonne would have written eventually. He wrote it now because ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, confined him to a power chair, silenced his voluntary muscles, and urged him to focus more deeply than ever on life's most essential questions. In this heartfelt and irreverent memoir, Brian chronicles the disease process while exploring metaphysical, spiritual, and emotional concepts such as soul, suffering, contentment, presence, and-most importantly-love. As both narrator and soul guide, Brian writes with raw honesty about the arc of his own faith, as well as difficult periods of depression. He asks and answers life's most difficult but essential questions: What is God? Why do we suffer? How can we best live alongside each other? What does it mean to be content? How can we do better by ourselves and others? What's the role of a parent? A spouse? Are Jesus and rock-and-roll compatible? What can we learn from Ted Lasso? Beginning with a foreword by fellow soul-seeker Alanis Morissette, Onward Forward is an invitation to fully engage with life, to embrace ""the good, the bad, and the shitshow,"" and to run toward our truest selves with abandon.

Full Product Details

9781961624887

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Brian Jeansonne and I are soul twins. Our paths merged through ALS, and because of our friendship and the wisdom and beauty in this book, I'm the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I just finished his book and I'm doing backflips on the inside. It's a post-graduate course on how to live in love with this crazy, wonderful Life. I'll read it again and again. Brian is my pastor, sojourner, and friend. I love him forever."" -Steve Gleason, former New Orleans Saints player and founder of Team Gleason ""With his mind firing, but his body failing, Brian Jeansonne contemplates his stories, where he came from, and where he wants to go in the time he has left. Alarmingly honest and hilariously down to earth, Brian Jeansonne's memoir asks the question: How do you move forward with a life full of circumstances and pitfalls you can't possibly control? Brian survives and even thrives by focusing full-throttle on the ever-narrowing avenues of possibility. While Brian's earthly body is permanently dormant, his entire life force is funneled into the furnace of his brain, where he is vibrantly alive. Cheeky, bawdy, courageous, contemplative, and full of tenderness for his family, neighbors, and humanity, Brian shines his light so we can see that on the open road and in the darkest corners, Love is Everywhere."" -Jenifer Hixson, senior director, The Moth ""Brian Jeansonne's book is an extraordinary achievement in itself, just the physical fact of it, in light of Brian's physical condition in year four of ALS. But the content is even more extraordinary. In one sense, the book reaches a summit of human transcendence over physical suffering, but in another sense, it does not strive for transcendence, instead dwelling wholly realistically on the brutalities and costs of this pernicious disease. At one level, the book is a bracing post-evangelical-pastor memoir; at another level, it is an ALS journey memoir; at yet a third level, it is like reading the missing chapters of the Book of Job. The language of the book is extremely harsh, but the realities that language is trying to process are much harsher. I learned so much. Everyone should read this book."" -Dr. David P. Gushee, distinguished professor of Christian Ethics, Mercer University ""This book is insightful and poignant while being completely accessible and sometimes even raw. I cannot imagine all of the complexities of living with this diagnosis and accepting fate with open arms, but Brian can teach us all a thing or two about being authentic and accepting life and love with open arms. When it all comes down to it, love is the only thing that matters. Brian is right on. This book is for everyone!"" -Julie Stokes, former Louisiana state legislator, nonprofit leader and entrepreneur ""In Onward Forward, Brian gives us a masterclass on a life well-lived and well-loved. His close-up view of living with ALS is shared alongside the lessons he's learned in his roles as husband, father, pastor, coach, and teacher. Brian is able to strip away the rhetoric, the doctrine, and the bs to uncover the true purpose of life, which in its most raw form, is to love. There is a lesson for all of us in these pages."" -Jennifer Fenton Weishaupt, founder, Ruby Slipper Cafe; adjunct professor, Freeman School of Business, Tulane University ""Brian's raw story of the heartbreak, struggle, and loss of living with ALS is also a revelation of the deepened love, unexpected joy, and gratitude his diagnosis made possible. The view of life from Brian's power chair is a gift from this lovely, funny, often surprising book."" -Dr. Stephen Kantrow, MD, pulmonary ALS specialist, professor of medicine, Louisiana State University

Author Information

Brian Jeansonne is a native New Orleanian and a lifelong student of religion, metaphysics, and philosophy. Brian holds a degree in psychology from the University of New Orleans and received his certification as a spiritual director through Sustainable Faith. Brian began his career as a pastor, serving for twenty-one years while continually seeking answers to profound questions. In 2020, he decided to step away from pastorship to work more intimately with fellow sojourners as a life coach and soul care director. This life-changing choice coincided with his ALS diagnosis. Today, he spends his working hours writing at a pace of sixteen words per minute, using his eyes, often accompanied by his dog, Luna, in his lap. Brian lives in New Orleans with the rest of The Jeansonne 7-Kristy plus their five kids: Micah, Jonah, Nate, Lucas, and Zoe Moon.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available