Join us for a discussion of Norman Wirzba's book This Sacred Life: Humanity’s Place in a Wounded World.

On May 1, we’ll discuss Chapter 8 and conclude our formal discussions of the book.

1. Wirzba writes that “people have a fundamental need to feel themselves to be flowing within, and contributing to, processes that are life-giving and life-affirming.” (215) In what ways does he see gardening as a paradigmatic example of these processes? Do you have personal experiences of gardening that support his view? (212-18)

2. What aspects of work in nineteenth-century Britain most distressed the social critic William Morris? What remedies did he – and his mentor, John Ruskin – prescribe for workers in a rapidly industrializing world? (218-26)

3. What were the main elements of Vincent van Gogh’s artistic process, as Wirzba sees them through the artist’s letters? (229-30) Van Gogh’s father and grandfather were ministers in the Dutch Reformed church, and he served as a Christian missionary when he was a young man. What features of Jesus’ life and ministry may be discerned in van Gogh’s approach to creativity?

4. List the five recommendations Wirzba makes for facilitating our participation in the flows of a giving and receiving life. (240-51) Do you think that any one of these five recommendations is most important, and if so, why? Which of these recommendations do YOU feel most personally drawn to helping facilitate?

Join us for the conversation led by Steve Knight and Father Beddingfield. Join us in person or through Zoom at at https://zoom.us/j/8753617165 (for the password, type the numerals for eighteen ninety-nine, two thousand nineteen. No comma or space.)

Books can be bought from your favorite vender or downloaded online. The church has ordered some copies which also may be purchased.