Even Among These Rocks - A Spiritual Journey - Hardcover

Steven Purcell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1557252734 ISBN 13: 9781557252739

Publisher: Paraclete Pr, 2001

Synopsis

In this rich melange of art, literature, music, and personal reflection, Steven Purcell reveals his own intimate journey through Lent--a path that travels deep within the soul and illuminates the staggering depths of God's love. Weaving spiritual insights with artistic expression--the paintings of Rembrandt and Caravaggio . . . the writings of St. Francis and George MacDonald . . . the music of Vaughan Williams . . . the poetry of T.S. Eliot, Denise Levertov, and John Donne--Even Among These Rocks is a stirring celebration of creativity infused by the Holy Spirit throughout the ages.

In lucid prose and with bold sincerity, Purcell charts the geography of the human spirit and invites us to journey with him in the footsteps of Christ--the journey of poverty and redemption that ultimately leads us home.

Featuring full-color illustrations on every page and rendered in hand-written calligraphy by the author, Even Among These Rocks is a stunning gift book for anyone traveling the path of Christian spirituality.

About this title

About the Author

Steven Purcell was born in the U.S. He has a Masters Degree in Spiritual Theology and Interdisciplinary Studies from Regent College in Vancouver, Canada. Purcell is currently the Director of Conferences and the Study Center at Schloss Mittersill, an international Christian center in Austria.

Reviews

Purcell, conference director for the International Federation of Evangelical Students, has created a fascinating and consistently thoughtful meditation on Lent that also promises to be a beautiful volume, as it is hand-lettered by Purcell himself. Part anthology, part personal journey, it draws upon the art of Caravaggio and Roualt, the poetry of Denise Levertov and T. S. Eliot, and the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, to name only a few. Purcell adds his own reflections on these works and on the meaning of the events commemorated by Lent. Purcell's selections are fit and striking, and his own writing is graceful, profound, and not unworthy of its exalted company. Highly recommended.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Lent is a pilgrimage which Christ personally invites us to make. The journey is not an adventure for tourists who wish to capture snapshots of spiritual insight, but rather an invitation which comes from Christ and draws us to Christ. What is unique about this personal invitation is that Christ invites us to make a journey that he himself has already made. It is the nature of his grace not merely to call us from the outside, but actually to draw us from within. In one sense, the Lenten journey is our journey home into the community of the Holy Trinity and it is Christ, who by his incarnation, leads us there. George MacDonald describes this movement well when he writes that "Christ is the way out, and the way in: the way from slavery, conscious or unconscious, into liberty; the way from the unhomeliness of things to the home we desire but do not know; the way from the stormy skirts of the Father's garments to the peace of his bosom." Our beginning is defined by the lov! e of God, and as St. Augustine prayed, "our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee." By identifying himself with us in our humanity, Christ redeems our humanity and thereby enables us to be ourselves authentically, for the first time. The process of our redemption is never the result of courageous forays into ourselves, but rather, the life-long process of the Son drawing us out of ourselves and into the community of his triune life and the life around us. As we respond to the invitation of Lent we should expect to face two important realities. First, we will be led to remember the life of Christ including his ministry, sacrifice and resurrection. But second, we will be led to face ourselves. The precariousness of this twofold reckoning is described in lines from T.S. Eliot's poem "Ash Wednesday":

Teach us to care and not to care

Teach us to sit still

Even among these rocks

Our peace in His will.

-T.S. Eliot As Eliot points out, the journey of remembering is no place for falsehood. In Lent we are encouraged to care for those things which ultimately matter and to leave behind those things which inhibit our participation in the life of God and the life around us. As we remember with honesty the way things are-who Christ is and who we are as subjects of his redemption-we will learn to "sit still," our peace in his will. This is the invitation of Lent-to move through the wilderness of self-deception into the truth of Christ. Being a Lenten traveler inevitably requires leaving behind those things which have become "home" to us. It involves a separation from the securities and attachments of life for the sake of discovering the truth about ourselves and the Lord who calls us. Nevertheless, having left behind our securities we are not left to cajole, lament, or flatter our way home. No, the offensive paradox of the season is that we're simply asked to respond to the loving invitation of Christ. Any movement we make toward Christ will always be an act of response. And every step taken toward him confirms the mystery that our journey into the community of the triune God is our journey home.

Edition details

• Publisher: Paraclete Pr
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1557252734
• ISBN 13: 9781557252739
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 104