Living faith in a time of trial
This strange year progresses with continuing uncertainty. It’s fully summer now, hot and weary. In the garden, my acer is growing steadily, but it looks tired, dry, a little lacking in colour.
It feels, in spiritual terms, that we are being called to plod on, putting one foot in front of the other, and Sally Welch’s recent reflections on pilgrimage in New Daylight clearly struck a chord with readers. She develops the theme in her book Journey to Contentment, published in May. Creating routines and building in daily encouragements seems increasingly important right now, and the pattern of daily Bible reading and prayer is a lifeline for many. Learn more about our upcoming Bible reading notes here.
Just published, At the Foot of the Cross with Julian of Norwich also has uncanny resonance for this season, given that Julian’s ‘Revelations of Divine Love’ were written at a time of pandemic. Emma Pennington draws out themes of isolation… suffering… seeking God’s face, and shares more about the book and the accompanying video series in her recent blog. Julian’s spirituality is strange and challenging – but these are strange and challenging times.
And Mags Duggan’s (surely there must be?) A Better Song to Sing is quite simply a cry from the heart. Her earlier book God among the Ruins spoke into situations of grief and devastation – and we are experiencing plenty of those; A Better Song to Sing addresses the beneath-the-surface but no less poignant needs of all who are weary, disheartened, and wondering whether this is all life has to offer, quietly desperate for the refreshment of Jesus’ living water. Through directing us back to the invitations of Jesus, Mags offers hope without trivialising pain, and claims that indeed, there is more than this… and we can find it in the loving heart of God.
‘Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.’
Psalm 38:9 (AMP)
As BRF's Head of Content Creation, Olivia is into all things editorial, design, production, web and media. To find out what this looks like day to day, follow her on Twitter @OliviaWBRF.
It feels, in spiritual terms, that we are being called to plod on, putting one foot in front of the other, and Sally Welch’s recent reflections on pilgrimage in New Daylight clearly struck a chord with readers. She develops the theme in her book Journey to Contentment, published in May. Creating routines and building in daily encouragements seems increasingly important right now, and the pattern of daily Bible reading and prayer is a lifeline for many. Learn more about our upcoming Bible reading notes here.
And Mags Duggan’s (surely there must be?) A Better Song to Sing is quite simply a cry from the heart. Her earlier book God among the Ruins spoke into situations of grief and devastation – and we are experiencing plenty of those; A Better Song to Sing addresses the beneath-the-surface but no less poignant needs of all who are weary, disheartened, and wondering whether this is all life has to offer, quietly desperate for the refreshment of Jesus’ living water. Through directing us back to the invitations of Jesus, Mags offers hope without trivialising pain, and claims that indeed, there is more than this… and we can find it in the loving heart of God.‘Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.’
Psalm 38:9 (AMP)
As BRF's Head of Content Creation, Olivia is into all things editorial, design, production, web and media. To find out what this looks like day to day, follow her on Twitter @OliviaWBRF.