Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is an extraordinary collection of 35 contemporary sermons. If I were to recommend a single book, to convey the best in Judeo-Christian thought on issues of American life and society, this is the book. Some of the sermons are clearly political, because as Rev. Hancock notes in her vibrant introduction, "preaching is indeed a political act." So power structures, race, and gender are frequent topics of reflection. More conventionally religious concerns are also prominent: the nature of good and evil, of spirit, of heaven, of mystery, and of faith. There are sermons that focus on the joy and the grit of daily life: "on community, on dying, on parenting, on grief." There are sermons that some would label feminist: "on the divine feminine, on domestic violence, on the motherhood of God." And there are others on social issues: "on homelessness, on homosexuality, on resistance." Although most of the authors are clergy (Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish), half a dozen are not, including Alice Walker and Kathleen Norris. All of them draw richly on the depth and complexity of their own lives. None are doctrinaire. Some are indignant, some are aggrieved, some are compassionate, some are challenging, some are wise. There are stories and images here that you'll want to share with others. Some of them will curl up in your mind and reappear in your thoughts days and weeks later. Some will reshape the ways you think and feel about others, about life, and about religion. Some will make you laugh; some will trouble you. None of them are simplistic or boring.These are wonderful sermons to read aloud, to small groups for discussion, or to a close friend with whom you share your life. It's also a great collection to give to friends, whether they consider themselves religious or not. The concerns they deal with are often the ones we've grown used to avoiding, or that we deal with unreflectively, with cant or dogma. None of these sermons do that. Somehow all of them strike true chords that resonate with the universal human condition.
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