The scandal of holiness : renewing your imagination in the company of literary saints
Publication Information
Grand Rapids, Michigan : Brazos Press, a division of Baker Publishing Group, [2022]
Physical Description
xii, 226 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
Summary
How do we become better people? Initiatives such as New Year's resolutions, vision boards, thirty-day plans, and self-help books often fail to compel us to live differently. We settle for small goals--frugal spending, less yelling at the kids, more time at the gym--but we are called to something far greater. We are created to be holy. Award-winning author Jessica Hooten Wilson explains that learning to hear the call of holiness requires cultivating a new imagination--one rooted in the act of reading. Learning to read with eyes attuned to the saints who populate great works of literature moves us toward holiness, where God opens up a way of living that extends far beyond what we can conjure for ourselves. Literature has the power to show us what a holy life looks like, and these depictions often scandalize even as they shape our imagination. As such, careful reading becomes a sort of countercultural spiritual discipline. The book includes devotionals, prayers, wisdom from the saints, and more to help individuals and groups cultivate a saintly imagination. Foreword by Lauren F. Winner.
Contents
- Foreword / by Lauren F. Winner
- Introduction
- Holy foolishness
- Communion of saints
- Creation care as a holy calling
- Liberating prophets
- Virgin, bride, mother
- Contemplative and active life
- Sharing in His suffering
- Ars moriendi
- Conclusion.