Description
Book SynopsisA guided tour of spiritual autobiography that grants readers new insights and appreciation of the genreThe genre of spiritual autobiography has flourished ever since Augustine essentially invented it in the fourth century. In Our Hearts Are Restless, Richard Lischer--himself the author of two spiritual memoirs--takes readers on a guided tour of the genre, examining the life writings of twenty-one figures from the expected (Thomas Merton) to the surprising (James Baldwin); from the sublime Julian of Norwich and Emily Dickinson to the outrageous Anne Lamott.Lischer is a perceptive reader and an engaging guide in the art and craft of spiritual writing. Our Hearts Are Restless shows readers how history''s most brilliant spiritual writers have sought and found a pattern of meaning in the face of tragedy, conflict, and the responsibilities of daily life.
Trade ReviewLives--we learn to live by attending to lives. In our hunger for coherence we are tempted to simplify the lives of others as well as our lives. In this beautifully written book Richard Lischer's truthful account of lives, Christian and non-Christian lives, testifies to the complexity of what it means to live well. In this time when it is by no means clear what it means to live honesty as a Christian, Lischer's account of these lives gives us a way to go on. This is a book of wisdom that took a lifetime to write. * Stanley Hauerwas, author of Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir *
Lischer has a storyteller's genius, a pastor's instinct for emotional authenticity, a preacher's eye for tracing gospel truth, a scholar's skill at critical inquiry, and a Christian understanding of love and suffering. As he opens up these faithful lives, he shows how true is John Donne's dictum: 'The art of salvation is but the art of memory.' * Ellen F. Davis, author of Opening Israel's Scriptures *
A book holy and humane, reverential yet playful, absorbing but provocative, challenging and deeply affirming. After reading you feel wiser, more compassionate, more perceptive, more comfortable with your own struggles and shortcomings—but above all, eager to revisit your own yearnings and searchings, and recognise in them the loving patience of the Holy Spirit. Richard Lischer has shown us where treasure is to be found, and reignited our desire to find it. * Sam Wells, Author of Humbler Faith, Bigger God *
This is an odd but oddly compelling book...Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, general readers. * Choice *
There is much to ponder in this humane and challenging book. * Paradigm Explorer *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Artistry of the Soul Search and Surrender 1. Augustine: Restless Traveler 2. Augustine: Traveler's Rest 3. Thomas Merton: Journey Through Purgatory Revelations 4. Julian of Norwich: Seeing is Believing 5. Emily Dickinson: Camera Obscura How Goes the Battle? 6. John Bunyan: The Uncertainty Principle 7. Agnes Beaumont: Persecution and Defiance The Stripping of the Altar 8. Peter Abelard: Ruined 9. Heloise of Paris: What Will Survive of Us is Love 10. Etty Hillesum: The Radiance of a Yellow Star 11. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Last Lessons 12. C. S. Lewis: Surprised by Death 13. Reynolds Price: An Illness and a Healing Pilgrimages 14. Thérèse of Lisieux: The Little Way 15. Harriet Jacobs: Witness 16. Dorothy Day: A Life for the Poor 17. Kathleen Norris: A Revised Itinerary New Every Day 18. Anne Lamott: Adventures with Jesus 19. Heidi Neumark: A Ministry in the South Bronx Nomadic Faith 20. James Baldwin: Autobiography as Exorcism 21. Dennis Covington: A Snake Handler's Faith 22. Richard Rodriquez: The Long Way Home
