Light When It Comes: Trusting Joy, Facing Darkness, and Seeing God in Everything

by Chris Anderson

Overview

On finding joy and spiritual meaning in life's small moments

We all have moments of joy, moments that move us somehow, spiritual moments that we can't quite put a finger on. But then we rush on and soon forget. In this book Chris Anderson encourages us to remember and share such moments. What he writes will inspire readers who are hurting, doubting, or searching to find wisdom and meaning in their lives.

Drawing on an ancient prayer tradition, the examen of conscience, Anderson spurs readers to take stock of their own experiences. He shows how the examen can serve as a simple but powerful way to remember moments of light, of struggle, of joy. And however small or fleeting these moments are, through them God is always calling and meeting us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802873996
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	10/18/2016
Pages:	181
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 5.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Chris Anderson is professor of English at Oregon State University, a poet, a retreat leader, and a Catholic deacon. An award-winning writer and teacher, he is also the author of The Next Thing Always Belongs. 

Table of Contents

Foreword: Paying Fierce Attention ix

Preface xii

Part I Trusting Joy

1 Seeing the Light 3

2 Doubting the Light 15

3 Following the Light 30

Part II Facing Darkness

4 Dying to Ourselves 45

5 Holding On 57

6 Laughing at Ourselves 71

7 Learning to Serve 82

Part III Seeing God in Everything

8 Going Wild 97

9 Remembering These Things Are Mysteries 111

10 Completing Creation 126

A Note on the Examen: Prayer as Autobiography 138

Chapter Notes 142

Further Reading 160

Acknowledgments 164

Editorial Reviews

Paula Huston
—author of Simplifying the Soul and One Ordinary Sunday
"Light When It Comes is both a literary gem and a cup of blessing for all who long to experience God's presence."

Thomas Lynch
—author of The Undertaking and The Sin-Eater
"An age that has fashioned faith into bludgeon and cudgel, and traded community for self-righteous indignation, might better be illumined by Light When It Comes and by the grace of Anderson's vital, studious witness. The ties of belief that bind us, each to the other, needn't be rope enough to hang, cruel lash or rein or tether. Rather, lifeline, safe mooring, the holy, miraculous lowering of our hobbled, heart-wrecked selves to the place of our redeeming."

Lawrence S. Cunningham
—author of The Seven Deadly Sins and Things Seen and Unseen
"Chris Anderson offers us a triune gift wrapped into a whole: beautiful prose, pastoral experience, and an authentic believing eye turned to our world. This volume is a grace to be received with abundant thanks."

Methodist Recorder
"Here is a book which offers us tools, a method and a motive, for engaging with something unfamiliar in order to find ourselves more fully aware of the familiar presence of God."

From the Publisher