Archive
Manitoba Author Redefines Biblical Fiction
Although she’s probably not the first to do so, Betty Sawatzky‘s book I Am the Prodigal, I Am the Eldest, veers from the common path of re-configuring a classic Biblical narrative and instead uses the characters from a parable Jesus taught.
And why not? This is a great story to begin with. Think of the number of Prodigal Son sermons you’ve heard in your lifetime and you get the idea.
Publisher marketing:
When Jesus shared the story, He was speaking to the Pharisees and Sadducees, leaders in the synagogues who lived strict lives in obedience to the laws of the Torah. They harshly judged others who failed to meet their strict standards and showed little grace and mercy.
By taking a closer look at the culture and traditions of the Israelites in Jesus’ day, we can dig more deeply into the meaning of this story—and yes, the story of the prodigal son is about so much more than a wayward son coming home.
In the novel, we meet Aziel, an adventurous young man whose desire to experience life at its fullest pulls him away from the security of his family and community. This beautiful rendition of the famous parable reveals just how much our heavenly Father and His Son love us.
At the author’s about page, you’ll see what I’m sure is only some of her challenge-filled personal journey followed by some Q&A about the book, including:
Q: What makes your version of the Prodigal Son story different from others?
A: I’ve always been intrigued by this parable that Jesus shared with the leaders of the Jewish faith. But in delving deeper into the culture of ancient Israel, I realized there was so much more to the story. We lose its full meaning due to a lack of knowledge and understanding of the times.As I dug deeper, I had an Aha! moment when it all came together. But I shrugged it off for three years, wondering whether I could write the book. Still, I imagined the chapters, characters, setting, and storyline and sought to digest and sort it out.
Q: What inspired you to finally sit down and write?
A: I was listening to CHVN, a contemporary Christian radio station out of Winnipeg, when I heard about the Braun Book Awards. I thought, “Why not? Go for it!” That was in early February. My husband chuckled at my goal of writing a novel in just over a month, but I was determined to finally get this story down on paper.Within hours of the deadline at the end of March, the book was written and in the hands of Word Alive Press! No, I didn’t win the award. However, I finished the novel I had longed to write for the past three years. It was really an incredible experience! …
Q: What’s next? Will there be a sequel? Will this turn into a series?
A: I’m already working on the next book, in which the two main characters, the prodigal and the older brother, find themselves in a disastrous situation that takes them to places they would never have envisioned…
Christian Book Shop Talk found out about this book through a recurring “Canadian Authors Spotlight” post on the Facebook page of Kennedy’s Parable bookstores — their business is very proactive in promoting homegrown writers — not through any publisher publicity. I found the title intriguing and also worked behind the scenes to get Betty’s last name — Sawatzky — spelled on the Word Alive Distribution site the same way it appears on the book’s cover! (It was wrong for over 4 months, and took two tries.)
Betty Sawatzky is a reporter and part of the sales team of Golden West Radio which operates 38 stations in rural communities across the Prairies. She is also Unit Public Affairs Rep with Cadets Canada.
■ For more insight into the author and book, watch this 12-minute interview:
Trade information: 168 page paperback from Word Alive Press 9781486624805 | $12.99 US from Ingram, Anchor Distributors |$16.99 CAD in Canada through Word Alive Distribution | also available in hardcover from Ingram 9781486624829 $25.49 US
Consumer information: Available to order wherever you buy books.
Hamilton Author Explores the Grieving Process
As the Pastor for 18 years at Mount Hamilton Baptist Church, Leanne Friesen had interacted with many who were dealing with loss. But when it hits home, these things tend to become personal. Her book, Grieving Room: Making Space for All the Hard Things After Death (note: not The Grieving Room) released in February in hardcover from Broadleaf Books and is already into its second printing.
Here is the publisher description:
People long to reduce the enormity of our grief. “Time heals all wounds,” they tell us, or “At least she isn’t in pain anymore.” Yet no matter how hard others try to stuff our grief into a process or a plan, grief cannot be willed away.
Leanne Friesen thought she knew a lot about bereavement. She had studied it in school and preached at memorial services. But only when her own sister died from cancer did she learn, in her very bones, what grieving people don’t need–and what they do. In Grieving Room, Friesen writes with vulnerability, wisdom, and somehow even wit about the stark and sacred lessons learned at deathbeds and funerals.
When someone dies, we need room for imperfect goodbyes, she writes, and room for a changing faith. We need room for regret and room to rage at the world. Room for hard holidays and room in our schedules. We need room for redemption and room for resurrection–and we also need room to never “get over it.”
In this poignant account of a sister’s mourning and a pastor’s journey, Friesen pushes back against a world that wants to minimize our sorrow and avoid our despair. She helps those of us walking with the grieving figure out what to say and what not to say, and she offers practical ways to create ample space for every emotion and experience. Reflection questions, practices, and prayers at the end of the book offer guidance and ideas for individuals and groups.
In a world that wants to rush toward closure and healing, Grieving Room gives us permission to let loss linger. When the very worst happens, we can learn to give ourselves and others grieving room.
The table of contents reveals that the book is organized around 15 grieving “rooms” or “spaces” that are either needed or experienced in various degrees.
For an excellent overview of the book, watch this interview Leanne did with 100 Huntley Street. (Fast-forward to the 9:47 mark; the interview runs about 12 minutes.)
From this point on, since this a trade blog, I want to ‘talk shop.’ I found it unusual that this American-published book by a Canadian author has no representation within our Christian book trade sphere. There is a Canadian distributor, Jaguar Book Group, which many of you reading this may not have dealt with before. This compounds with the American penchant for first-edition hardcovers. A straight 1.4000 conversion of its $26.99 US list — for example, if you purchase from Ingram — would make it $40.99 in Canada. The Jaguar price, $36.50 is more merciful! No representation also means there weren’t review copies in circulation, so I went with the publisher description.
That critique — which has nothing to do with the book’s content — aside, I’ve met Leanne in her other role as Executive Minister of the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ), that denomination’s top job; and have heard her speak on two occasions. I expect this book is meeting a real need right now, hence the need for a second printing. Take some time to watch the interview linked above.
Broadleaf Books| 256 pages, hardcover | 9781506492377 | 26.99 US (Ingram) 36.50 CAD (Jaguar)
Multi-Faith Leaders Respond to Social Justice Issues
It’s not every day that I get to spread the word about a Canadian author who also lives in our hometown, but that’s the case today.
Author Karen Hamilton is the former General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches and is an award-winning author, particularly in the field of interfaith dialogue. That well equips her to write a book of this nature.
Her book, Faith as Protest: Answering the Call to Mend the World (Novalis, 2023) includes representatives from ten faith groups who highlight different social justice issues each is facing, and how they respond as individuals, as a group, and in solidarity with the broader religious community. Salvation Army, United, Roman Catholic and Anglican voices are heard along with Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, Baha’i, Sikh and Hindu spokespeople.
A short introduction and conclusion serve as reminders of the delicate balance it takes to bring such a diverse group of people together between the pages of a single book, especially in a world as polarized as ours is currently.
The 112-page paperback retails for $21.99 CDN. Stores and consumers may order from Novalis. Learn more about initiatives to bring hope and healing in our ever-changing world. Faith still has a role to play.
ISBN: 9782896888719
Castle Quay Inks Distribution with Anchor/Word Alive
Two of the foremost imprints for Canadian Christian authors — Word Alive Press and Castle Quay Books — will soon be sharing warehousing and distribution. An announcement published Monday at Rush to Press (Evangelical Christian Publishing Association) shared the news:
Toronto/Palm Beach (June 2023) – Castle Quay Books is pleased to announce their new partnership agreement with international book distributor Anchor/Word Alive Distribution who will now provide sales, marketing and distribution services for their entire book line in the United States and Canada.
The full article quoted heads of both companies;
“We are pleased to be working with Anchor/Word Alive Distribution in both the USA and Canada,” said Larry Willard, founder and CEO of Castle Quay Books. “We were looking for a prominent, reliable, quality provider of sales and distribution services for our imprint and we feel we have found it with Anchor/Word Alive.”
Jeremy Braun, managing director for Word Alive said, “We look forward to serving the customers of Castle Quay Books in Canada and are pleased to offer our strong network of retail and trade connections to allow us to meet the needs of the entire community.”
as well as Anchor:
“We are glad to partner with Castle Quay Books to meet their distribution and fulfillment needs in North America,” said Karen Fulton, Director of Operations for Anchor Distributors. “Our location just south of the Canadian border coupled with a well-developed supply chain provides an excellent solution for Castle Quay Books to continue bringing their excellent message to the North American reader.
Click here to read the article in full.
The piece also noted that Castle Quay is no longer just Christian books, but publishes 20 different subject categories.
Ingram Christian Wholesale (formerly known as Spring Arbor) lists the Top 5 demanded titles by Castle Quay as:
- A Devotional for Mothers and Sons – Sandee MacGregor
- My Journey of Faith – Charles Mulli
- Counterfeit Code – James Beverley
- Certainty – A Place to Stand – Grant Richison
- Save My Children – Emily Wierenga
and Top 5 for Word Alive Press as:
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Workbook – McLaughlin
- Understanding the Revelation – Michael Scantlebury
- Not Only Just a Really Good Human – Dwight Onley
- God is That You – Tina Pitamber
- The Real Welcoming Church – Stewart Brown
Ingram data as accessed 11/JLY/23 at 15:30
Joe Amaral Introduces Two New Titles
Joe Amaral has been a featured speaker throughout Canada, has led tours to Israel, hosted First Century Foundations, and is a frequent guest on 100 Huntley Street. He has three books with Faithwords/Hachette Book Group and has published these two independently. They are available from joeamaral.org, with trade terms available to bookstores. Each of the books below is $20 retail.
Get Off Your Ash — Ashes are all that remain after something is completely burned and destroyed by fire. For some, it’s a relationship, for others it’s your self-worth which was destroyed because of what somebody said or did to you.
In ancient times, ash was used as the international symbol for loss, pain and suffering. People would cover themselves in it to let others know what they were going through. We may not wear ash on our bodies today, but we sure do carry it around with us.
Jesusly: The Act of Being Like Jesus — As we follow Jesus through the Gospel of Luke, we discover the often hidden and deeper meaning behind many of his teachings and actions. As followers of Jesus, it’s important to know which Jesus to follow. Hollywood has portrayed him one way and modern Christianity showcases a completely different Jesus than we find in the Scriptures.
Luke shows us a Jesus who has no problem breaking barriers and going outside of the accepted social norm if it means meeting the needs of a person who has felt abandoned and rejected. Imagine a world where people loved people the way Jesus did.
Short Devotional Invites Readers to “Seek Him”
edited from the author’s press release:
J. M. Kellsey is a seeker of God whose faith started young in rural Alberta and has gone throughout Canada as a military spouse and mother of four. In each season, God is the steady rock who shepherds her and her family.
She has always been delighted and inspired by scripture and hopes to inspire others to draw near to God. It is for this reason she now releases Seek Him (published by WestBow Press), a collection of short devotionals with scripture reminding people of the eternal truth that their fullest life is walked with God.
She writes, “These short devotionals are designed not because they have theological depth but because we sometimes slide past the most basic of truths God designed us for relationship with him. Our fullest life comes when we take the aid of Christ and walk with God. This journey starts simply: acknowledge God by seeking him.”
Each scripture pulled from different places in the Bible reminds readers to slow down to that place where they embrace their Heavenly Father who loves them and invites them to find a greater life in his ways rather than their own.
“It is said that when God repeats himself, better pay attention. This call to seek him is echoed throughout the scripture. This devotional is made to be a bell chiming this important concept God desires for us not to miss,” Kellsey says. When asked what she wants readers to take away from the book, she answered, “I hope they will find a greater life lived in God’s ways rather than their own.”
Seek Him is available to retailers from Ingram at standard terms.
Paperback | 72 pages | ISBN 9781664286177 | $9.95 US
Learn more at seek-him.com
Alberta Author Invites Readers to Embrace Life and Hope
Embrace Life, Embrace Hope: Cultivating Wholeness and Resilience Through the Unexpected
From the forthcoming titles list at Ingram:
Fern E.M. Buszowski invites you to consider ways to embrace life and embrace hope through the unexpected.
Is life not turning out the way you planned?
Do crises push out all hope making it seem impossible to grasp?
Drawing from personal stories the author invites you to consider ways to Embrace Life, Embrace Hope through the unexpected. Whatever crisis you or your loved ones are going through, she extends an invitation to join her as she shares her walk toward hope and wholeness. She uniquely weaves concepts and practices from different fields to help you learn new ways to:
- cultivate sacred space for your soul;
- be inspired to live well even in difficult places;
- create space for your heart, body, mind, and soul to flourish;
- build resilient ways, uncover wholeness and hope; and
- not just survive but thrive.
A cancer survivor, counsellor, and retired pastor of counselling and soul care, Fern has dedicated her life to equipping and empowering others to grow, develop, and find hope. She has written and designed training programs and resources: Soul Care Companioning, Unstuck, Sojourning, and peer-led programs for leaders. Fern lives with her husband Steve in Alberta…
Visit her website at www.hopeblooming.ca.
186 page paperback | Word Alive Press | $14.99 US; $19.99 CAN | 9781486623693
Alberta Author: Meeting Jesus in the Middle of ALS
Canada’s population is spread out along a thin line and communications are always challenging. We found out about this book and its author browsing the Ingram listings for Christian books releasing in March. I’ll let author Stephanie Morales-Beaulieu tell you about this autobiographical book herself:
Anything But Ordinary is a refreshingly vulnerable real-life story of the broken road that led an ordinary Filipino immigrant and mechanic to a life-changing encounter with Jesus that was anything but ordinary, providing insight into what living by faith looks like when life isn’t working and a spotlight on the legacy of faith my father left behind when he passed away from ALS.
The Author Spotlight page at Word Alive books states:
Stephanie Morales-Beaulieu is a lover of God’s Word and shares that passion online, from the stage, in her living room, and anywhere else God opens the door.
Through losing her dad and learning how to hold onto God’s promises came a passion to make the transforming power of the Word accessible to those new to it, overwhelmed by it, or longing to be changed by it.
Her first book, Anything But Ordinary: Finding Faith that Works When Life Doesn’t, won the 2022 Braun Book Award for Non-Fiction from Word Alive Press.
She is the creator of Bite-Size Bible Study® and has authored A Roadmap to Trials: Journey through James, Walk in Love: Ephesians, and most recently The Flourishing Life: The Parable of the Sower. She is a born communicator with a contagious love and enthusiasm for Jesus.
As a wife to Mike and mom of four littles, she shares from her wealth of relatable stories that will inspire you to see everyday life through the lens of truth. She is authentic and funny and you will wish she lived next door.
Stephanie and her husband are planting a church in Airdrie, Alberta. She is a coffee-sipper, brunch enthusiast, and crafter. When she’s not writing, you can find her building Duplo, visiting with friends, or playing a game with her family.
The page also contains an interview with Stephanie about her writing and about the book.
Anything But Normal: Finding Faith that Works When Life Doesn’t, a 352-page paperback, is available through Word Alive for Canadian stores at $20.99 CDN or through Ingram at $20.99 US using ISBN 9781486623211.
The book blurb concludes:
For anyone feeling discouraged and blindsided by life’s difficulties…
For anyone struggling with their humanity who thinks heroes of the faith don’t…
For anyone thirsting for a genuine encounter with a God who is real…
For anyone looking for not a perfect, but a faithful example of following Jesus…
For anyone yearning to know perfection isn’t required in order to have impact…There is hope.
This book serves as a powerful reminder that the birthplace of inspiring faith is often the soil of impossible struggle, and when life isn’t working, you can hold onto the God who always is.
Calgary Author Confronts ‘Christian Materialism’
Wesley Hynd is a church planter and pastor in Calgary. He holds an MDiv from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando and according to his bio, “loves to think deeply and challenge the status quo.” He is involved there with a cross-cultural Christian organization serving new Canadians.
His book, Jesus Take All of Me: Learning to See God as Beautiful in Every Part of Life, is self-published an available to retailers through Ingram at full trade terms. The back cover blurb describes its aim:
What does it really mean to follow Jesus? Is it just a set of intellectual facts about the cross, forgiveness of sins, and an afterlife? Or is it something more than that? Why is it that the lives of Christians and those who are not Christians seem to look so similar at times in the Western world? If someone followed you around live-tweeting your daily decisions and values, who would they say that you follow? These are some of the questions Wes Hynd has been wrestling with for 15 years as he has sought to identify some of the ways in which Western culture has subtly influenced our Christian faith, including in our:
Time
Career
Family
Friendships
Money
and Emotions
Released date: December 1; 284 pages, paperback; 9781738717019; $21.99 US; 90-second book trailer on YouTube. Book website: jesustakeallofme.com.
Nova Scotia Writer Wins Book Award
Jonathan Geoffrey Dean, author of Salt & Light: The Complete Jesus has been awarded as the winner in the Christian Nonfiction category for the 2022 NYC Big Book Award.
He is a New Testament scholar, researcher, award-winning author, political leader and thought leader. Salt & Light; The Complete Jesus is his reaction to Jesus. He is a partner in an investment advisory firm and lives in Nova Scotia, Canada, with his wife Lynn.
He won in the category of Christian Nonfiction. From the press release:
The competition is judged by experts from different aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters. Selected award winners and distinguished favorites are based on overall excellence.
For the first time ever, after years of research using the complete body of early Christian literature and new and exciting discoveries by modern scholarship, the real Jesus emerges. Dean offers an eminently readable yet powerful portrait of the authentic Jesus full of astonishing facts for both believers and skeptics alike. So come along for an utterly fascinating journey and meet the historical Jesus, learn about his mission, and discover his teaching!
Salt & Light contains numerous colour pictures with captions, complete footnotes, and a bibliography for further study.
Publisher marketing:
What did Jesus do?
What did Jesus say?
Who was Jesus?Salt & Light is the highly acclaimed and award-winning definitive statement concerning Jesus of Nazareth, history’s most compelling figure. The single most important book about the Historical Jesus in the last 30 years, more comprehensive than Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict and more powerful than C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity.
However, even today, there is still general confusion surrounding Jesus:
Was (Is) Jesus God?
Did Jesus even exist?
Did he rise from the dead?
What are we to make of the miracles?
Is he Peter’s Jesus or Paul’s Christ? Or both?
Is there evidence for Jesus outside the Bible?
Should we still believe? If so, believe what?
What does all the evidence point to?Salt & Light does not shy away from addressing these and other tough questions. For the first time ever, after years of research using the complete body of early Christian literature and recent modern scholarship, including new and exciting discoveries in many areas such as early manuscripts, science, New Testament studies, archaeology, and history, the real Jesus emerges.
Dean offers an eminently readable yet powerful portrait of the authentic Jesus full of astonishing facts for both believers and sceptics alike. So come along for an utterly fascinating journey and meet the historical Jesus, learn about his mission, and discover his teaching!
Available from Ingram using ISBN 9781778250408; $36.99 US, 240-page paper.
Newfoundland Author, Tyndale Professor Killed in Motorcycle Accident
A Tyndale University Associate Professor of Christian Ministries with a recently published book from Whitaker House was killed on Saturday while enjoying his sabbatical in Newfoundland. Dr. Bradley Truman Noel was, according to reports killed when his motorcycle collided with a moose in South Brook, NFLD while he was riding with friends. He leaves his wife Melinda.
Tyndale made a formal announcement a few hours ago:
An abundance of tributes are being expressed online by current and former students and colleagues. Dr. Noel was more than a scholarly professor, he was a mentor and leader. Gifted at creating safe spaces, Dr. Noel was known for his ability to help students express differing opinions and theological viewpoints respectfully, while challenging them to expand their understanding.
In addition to his teaching, Bradley Noel had released two academic books on Pentecostalism through Wipf & Stock in 2010 and 2015, before releasing a general title, Tinder, Tattoos, and Tequila: Navigating the Gray Areas of Faith through Whitaker House in April of this year.
His biography with the publisher states,
A native of Newfoundland, Canada, Bradley Truman Noel was ordained by the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland and Labrador (PAONL) in 2000. He has served as a youth pastor and has taught Bible and theology at the college and university level for more than twenty years.
Since 2008, he has taught at Tyndale University, a Christian school in Toronto, where he serves as chair of the Christian Ministries Department. Brad previously taught at Acadia University, Vanguard College, and Master’s College and Seminary, where he created a variety of live and online courses.
He earned his Doctor of Ministry from Acadia University and his Doctor of Theology from the University of South Africa.
His book blurb summarized the book’s goals:
“The church has been plagued by two extremes when it comes to living a Christian lifestyle,” says author Bradley Truman Noel. “On one side, we have the serious folks adorned with a really impressive frown, who remind us of all the do’s and don’ts. On the other end of the spectrum are folks who play fast and loose with the rules. They typically don’t spend too much time thinking about holiness, or wondering if their actions align with biblical teaching.” Both sides, Bradley says, miss the power of God’s grace in our lives.
With the news of his passing, Tyndale’s press release quoted a student:
It was clear he cared more about loving you as an individual than just fulfilling his duties as a teacher. He had a special heart.
Another Tyndale student posted on Facebook:
Dr. Noel was a great professor and taught with great passion. Always encouraging enriching conversation and deeper studies in the scriptures.
Photos: upper: Whitaker House; lower, Tyndale University and Seminary
The Story Behind Flying, Falling Catching by Henri Nouwen
In late May I received a short note from the co-author of a book we had mentioned briefly here, Flying, Falling, Catching: An Unlikely Story of Finding Freedom (HarperOne, 2022) by the late Henri Nouwen and Carolyn Whitney-Brown. Both Carolyn and I thought that the story behind the book deserved greater attention, and months later, she sent what follows, which at this point, we have exclusively.
Carolyn lives on Vancouver Island, and the book is set in North Toronto. As she says, “It’s a very Canadian story.”
You can learn more about her writing at this link.
by Carolyn Whitney-Brown
I first met Henri Nouwen at L’Arche Daybreak in Richmond Hill in 1989 when he drove me with my husband Geoff to a local pizza place for lunch. He was a terrifyingly inattentive driver. But we had a terrific conversation that day. Geoff and I were completing our PhDs in English literature, so like Henri, we were coming from academic backgrounds looking for ways to live the gospel more concretely in a diverse community.
As Gord, a longtime L’Arche member with Down syndrome, would encourage us, “Open your heart.” We lived with Henri and Gord and many others at Daybreak until 1997, learning to think and love and laugh and pray in new ways. Those were transformative years.
Carolyn Whitney-Brown with Henri Nouwen
Henri first saw the Flying Rodleighs trapeze troupe perform in 1991, and it hit him like a thunderbolt. He described a physical response that left him shaken, excited, in tears – a response of his body, not in words. Over the next five years, he got to know the trapeze troupe and they became close friends. His times with them were relaxing, inspiring and full of fun. He talked about them constantly.
I knew from conversations with Henri at the time that he wanted to write differently; something that would read like fiction or even a novel. He wanted his circus book to be different than any of his previous books, based not on ideas or insights, but offering a story that would draw readers into an experience and invite them to draw their own significances and connnections.
But he died suddenly in 1996, and the fragments that he left behind sat in his literary archives for decades.
In 2017, because I was a writer who knew Henri well, I was invited by the publishing committee of Henri’s literary estate to have a look at his trapeze writings and see if anything inspired me.
Immediately, I was hooked by two mysteries. First, why did his encounter with the Flying Rodleighs strike him so powerfully at that moment of his life? And second, why he did he not finish his book about them?
I started to read widely in the archives, trying to figure out what else was going on in his life and spirit in those years, what had prepared him to see, as he put it, “the angels of God appearing to me in the form of five trapeze artists.”
I couldn’t write the book that Henri would have written, but in Flying, Falling, Catching, I honour his desire to write a creative book that would be as engaging as a novel. I juxtapose his writings about his friendship with the Flying Rodleighs trapeze troupe alongside other significant moments in his life. Those experiences in Henri’s own words are framed by the true story of his first heart attack and his rescue out the window of a hotel in the Netherlands in 1996.
The book is in two voices, Henri’s and mine, with two typefaces so that readers know which writings are Henri’s and which are mine.
I had a lot of fun writing it.
After completing the book, I keep thinking about pedestals. It’s easy to put Henri on a pedestal: he was wise and brave even when he was demanding and anguished. He’s often called a spiritual master. But that elevates him to a unique and lonely place, and being admired like that was not a healthy place for Henri. The trapeze act involves a different image of a pedestal, as somewhere to launch from. You’d look silly staying on a pedestal. It’s a platform to allow you to take a risk. And trapeze performers are rarely on a pedestal alone: no one can do a trapeze act by themselves.
Henri Nouwen with The Flying Rodleighs
Photo: Ron P. van den Bosch
You can actually see some hilarious film footage of Henri on the trapeze pedestal on the online recordings of two book launch events, one with commentary by Rodleigh Stevens himself, and the other with L’Arche Daybreak. In that one, I tell viewers to notice that real friends will not only accompany you on a pedestal, but they will throw you off at the right moment! You can find links to both book launch events at:
https://www.writersunion.ca/member/carolyn-whitney-brown
It struck me recently that I am now the age that Henri was when he was so entranced by the Flying Rodleighs, and interestingly, so is Rodleigh himself, since he and I are close in age. At our age, Henri let his imagination be seized by a whole new adventure. He said,
“On a deeper level, [my friendship with the Flying Rodleighs] has given me a sense my life is just beginning. I don’t know where it’s going but I’m only sixty-two so I may have another thirty years. The Rodleighs are saying to me indirectly, don’t be afraid to fly a little, don’t be afraid to take a few doubles or triples or a few layouts. If you really miss the catcher you fall into the net so what’s the big issue! After all, take a risk and trust, trust, trust.”
Henri cared passionately about building communities that honour differences, that work for justice, that seek God’s vision of peace on earth and goodwill to all. As you finish reading Flying, Falling, Catching, be open to the spiritual challenge: What seizes YOUR imagination? What excites you? What life of fun and creative energy does God imagine for each of us, not just alone, but in our communities?
Flying Falling Catching is hardcover; 272 pages; ISBN 9780063113527 and also sold in the UK through SPCK.
Christian Book Shop Talk 