Suffering and the Courage of God

      It’s deeply theological yet very accessible, with many stories from his own struggle with bipolar depression and from his ministry as an Episcopal priest and founder of an ecumenical community learning centre. Chapters include “Exploring God’s Help: From Rescuer to Resource,” “Compassionate Presence: How to be Better than Job’s Friends.” I found it very helpful and beautifully written too.

      Just one quote as an example: “The world with all its pleasures and pains isn’t simply meant to be experienced, still less to be worried about. This world is meant to be prayed, to find voice through us. Every encounter with goodness is a call to praise, every brush with suffering a call to prayer, a participation in the world’s own yearning for God. Every challenge we face is an invitation to enter more deeply into the pattern and power of the always-available divine Life manifested in Christ.”
 

Sep 22, 2008 at 8:24 AM

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More on "The Church Gathered"

“The church is not to drift from one momentary emotional outburst to the next, to resuscitate Pentecost on a weekly basis; rather the church moves immediately to the task of teaching, keeping itself straight about what it is and what it is to be about.”

Sep 11, 2008 at 3:55 PM

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The Church Gathered

As one views modern congregations, many with their hectic round of activities—yoga, ceramics, basketweaving, daycare—one suspects that socialization is being substituted for the gospel, warm-hearted busyness is being offered in lieu of Spirit-empowered community. One wonders if the church needs to reflect again that when all is said and done “one thing is needful” (Luke 10:42), namely to embody, in the church’s unique way, the peculiarity of the call to devote ourselves “to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (2:42).

That's an excellent challenge as we begin this new year together as a church!

Sep 7, 2008 at 7:36 AM

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