Time for Hope: Practices for Living in Today's World

by Flora A. Keshgegian

Overview

Time for Hope re-imagines hope in today's world. It begins with the premise that there is a crisis of hope, especially in the West. Global conflicts, ecological threats, economic distress, and political disillusion are eroding optimism about the future. Often the religious response to historical despair is to turn away from hope in history and to focus on a better afterlife or to forego ethical action in a search for pleasure and beauty. This book seeks instead to change thinking about hope in history by exploring the narratives of time that shape and determine how human beings understand their lives.

The goal of the book is to offer a remedy for the crisis of hope. It not only proposes alternative narratives of time, but also presents specific practices and habits that will lead to thinking and living differently. The book outlines a theology of hope appropriate for the historical, social and theological challenges of life today. It tells a life-giving story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826429865
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/15/2008
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Flora A. Keshgegian is a theologian and an ordained Episcopal priest. She is the author of Redeeming Memories: A Theology of Healing and Transformation and numerous articles. She taught theology for five years at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest and served for fourteen years as Associate University Chaplain at Brown University. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at Brown University.

Table of Contents

Introduction1. Divine Comedy: Christian Narratives of Hope and History2. Outside the Lines: Contemporary Threats and Challenges3. Are We There Yet?: Rethinking the Jourbaney4. Black Holes and Fractured Fairy Tales: Trauma and Tragedy in History5. Here and Now: Moments in the Hallowing of Time6. The Habitation of Time: Contours of Hope7. Practices of Habitation: Hope for Life8. Epilogue: Time's Tale

Editorial Reviews

'As eloquent as it is erudite, Keshgegian has written an exhilarating meditation on hope, wonder and justice in our complex and fragile world. Weaving together personal narrative and theological reflection, she invites all of us, lay people, students, activists, and scholars to cultivate new stories and new habits of living, ones that allow us, and all of life, to flourish.'
- Sharon D. Welch, Chair and Professor of Religious Studies, University of Missouri, Columbia, and author of Sweet Dreams in America and After Empire--Sanford Lakoff

'In this powerful tale of time, hope and what makes humans tick, Keshgegian rescripts the Christian narrative of history.... With profound compassion, she translates messianic ends - Catherine Keller, Professor of Constructive Theology, Drew University, and author of The Face of the Deep and God and Power--Sanford Lakoff

From the Publisher