Faith in Exile: Seeking Hope in Times of Doubt

Rating:
Summary: A timely readable book for the faithful and faithless
Review: Joseph T. Kelly has written one of the most timely books around for people who have lost faith in their church or in themselves.

He develops the themes of exile, pilgrim, space, the sacred, and hope in truly unique ways, drawing on scholarship without a bludgeon, on spirituality without a gavel, on loving care without a handkerchief. Wow--very neat hat trick.

These themes are always timely, but these times require them. Not just because of the clergy scandals, but because of all the contemporary tremors that shift the ground beneath our feet.

Our age is marked by neither optimism nor pessimism, but by the gut churning terror that neither attitude is worth the bother. What Dr. Kelley offers here is a patch of solid earth, where the frightened soul can sit by a crystal stream, sip some cool pure water, and feel the wincing grimace of pessimism, the persistent smile of optimism.

Buy this book: you will be giving yourself a very special gift!