A Severe Mercy by Sheldon VanAuken a book review

We first meet a young man who has lost his father and his childhood home. We walk with him through his memories. He’s searching for something to make life worth living, something good, and true, and beautiful. All the books he’s read tell him it’s found in great love. He’s heard that some have found it in the love of God, but that’s not for him – he doesn’t even believe in God. He’s too smart to fall for that fairy tale.

We learn right away that he does find a great love, and he marries her, and then she dies. In fact, his wife’s death is given away on the back cover. Most of the book is about “Davy” (Jean Davis), their friendship, their love, their journey through a life of shared interests, seeking and appreciating beauty in all things. Above all, it is a story about the greatest love of all, being pursued by a living Savior.

At Oxford, these pagans meet philosophers and physicists, intellectuals of all sorts, and some of them are Christians, but to Sheldon’s surprise, he finds he likes them anyway. The joy of Oxford was that everything could be debated, no subject was forbidden. They spent their days studying great minds of the past and their evenings debating the great minds in their midst. On the topic of Christianity, an unbeliever might scoff and say, “I just don’t get how you can believe this cock & bull story about a resurrection from the dead” and everyone would laugh and go on with a hearty debate about the thing, always remaining in good spirits, and as good friends.

Those Christian friends encouraged Sheldon to read C.S. Lewis, who happened to be a professor at Oxford at the time. When Davy announces that she believes, and wants to go to church, Sheldon goes along. They both enjoy the beauty of the cathedrals, the high church liturgy, and the bells that ring throughout Oxford. But Sheldon doesn’t believe. He isn’t convinced. He’s stuck on the Resurrection. How can it be? He writes to Lewis, and Lewis in turn does more than respond, but invites him to lunch where they eat and drink and debate theology. This friendship grows over many such lunches, and many such letters.

Sheldon soon finds himself in a predicament. If Christianity is false then he would be a fool to fall for it, but if it is true then he must submit to it for to do otherwise would be to “reject my god.” Ever the rationalist, he finds himself standing on a ledge over an abyss – the leap of faith forward, without absolute proof, is foolhardy. But he also realizes that to take the leap back to unbelief, without proof, would be a mistake far greater. It’s an all or nothing crisis.

A Severe Mercy is a beautifully written story of one man’s experience being pursued by a relentlessly loving God.

Finding Hope: From Brokenness to Restoration by Heidi Goehmann; a book review

"Hope isn’t really hope until you need it,” Goehmann says in her book titled Finding Hope. Christ is the hope that comes in the brokenness of our lives. The brokenness of sin – our own, the sin of those around us, original sin, and the labor pains of a fallen world. Christ is there in the midst of it, redeeming us, redeeming the whole world.

This is the gist of her message woven throughout this hundred and fifty page book. The hope she speaks of is the hope we see in Romans chapter 5, where we read, “…suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit…” (See Romans 5:3-5)

The world needs this hope, we need this hope, to know that brokenness can be healed. When we are honest about our brokenness we unveil if from the shame and blame that cloaks it, and we bring it into the light so it can be healed. Brokenness makes us ask God “Who am I? Because if I am Yours, then why all of this?” Brokenness makes us ask “Am I worthy of being loved?”

Goehmann, a licensed clinical social worker and mental health care provider, says we need to learn to name the brokenness, and part of that is being honest about how we feel. When we hold in our emotions – our bodies take the brunt of them in stress, tension, and inflammation. We get into trouble when we let our emotions boil over onto others – our feelings should not lead the way in our decision making, and yet in our brokenness, they often do. The Holy Spirit is our Counselor and God’s Word is our guide. These speak truth, hope, and love when our emotions speak all sorts of other things.

We walk a broken journey with an unbreakable Savior, Goehmann is quick to remind us.

When we gather around God’s Word, we are reminded of Christ, who speaks hope over brokenness. With His Word and by His Spirit, we can walk through brokenness. We rejoice in hope, in the glory of God. Even in Christ, the race we run in this life is not easy. Imagine how hard it is to walk through this life of brokenness without Christ. That is why we share Christ with others. To give them Hope. We raise the banner of Christ for the world to see. We raise it over the darkness and brokenness that surrounds us and our neighbors.

We cannot avoid brokenness; to try to escape it is to heap unrealistic expectations of perfection upon ourselves and those around us. We often work to make our families “appear” to be without brokenness, and this is dishonest. It prevents us from getting the help we need, forces us into isolation, and causes increasing anxiety. It also forces us to carry shame and leads us to avoid relationships with other Christians who can comfort us with the hope that is in Christ.

The light of Hope is more clearly seen when we confess our sins and acknowledge our need for a Savior. Perfect people do not exist in this world but forgiven and loved people do. God brings hope to us all and gives us an Identity in Him. We look out into our broken communities that need the Hope of Christ, and we ask the same question that Jesus was asked in Luke chapter 10, “Who is my neighbor?” and the answer is the same as it was then, “The person in the ditch is your neighbor. The one who needs compassion is your neighbor. The broken, the bruised, the one in need – that’s your neighbor.” (see Luke 10:25-37)

Goehmann urges us to see Christ in all things. She reminds readers that “Our broken things are never left untouched by God.” He may not return things to the way they once were, the things of this world never last, but He sends His Son to give us eternal healing.

Finding Hope ends with a series of discussion questions to go along with each chapter, from brokenness in ourselves, and our relationships to brokenness in our neighborhoods and communities. She points the reader over and over again to the One who makes all things new.

Brokenness impacts everything. But it doesn’t get the last word. Christ does.

Chili from leftovers, Frugal Win

 

We have a weekly meal calendar that we follow. You can see those details in this post. 

Mondays we have stir fry - this week it consisted of rice, hamburger, and Mexican street corn.

Tuesday night is tacos. This week we did straight tacos, beef with taco seasonings, lettuce, tomato, sour cream and shredded cheese.

Both meals had just a bit left in the pan - this happens when our oldest still at home eats at work. There is just about enough for one adult serving. 

Wednesday is soup night. 

I can get these in various flavors for about $2.50. 

I follow the directions on the package and then add to the crock pot in the morning. I also had a bit of homemade salsa left in the frig and added that as well.

I will serve it with bread and butter for dinner. 

Altogether, it will feed the eight of us who are usually home for dinner for less than $5, and that is a definite Frugal Win.