Hello, Restful friends,
On Monday, I recorded a very special Holy Week conversation with Karen Stiller, author of the new book Holiness Here: Searching for God in the Ordinary Events of Everyday Life. Karen is also an editor, teacher, coach, mother, wife, and friend. We had a wonderful conversation covering the themes of her new book, the tragic loss of her husband, Brent, and what it was like to write a book while learning how to live without his presence in her everyday life. Along the way, we wonder together about the theological meaning of living a holy-ish life, disappointment in our disappointment, and eating lasagna in the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
I hope you’ll enjoy listening to this conversation as you walk through Holy Week, perhaps reflecting on Jesus's cross and resurrection, perhaps in the depths of your own lament. It seems meaningful to send it out when we remember Jesus’ last words to his mother and friend: “Look closely. This is your family now.”
I’ll be back later this evening with an invitation to reflect on your stories of lament and Jesus’ last words. I hope you’ll welcome Karen’s story as an invitation not to hold onto your sorrow alone.
Restfully,
Tamara
p.s. We also mentioned Karen’s wonderful book, The Minister’s Wife, and mine, The Spacious Path.
Karen Stiller is author of The Minister's Wife: a memoir of faith, doubt, friendship, loneliness, forgiveness and more, and co-author of Craft, Cost & Call: How to Build a Life as a Christian Writer. She is a writer whose work has appeared in Reader's Digest, The Walrus, Ekstatis, Christianity Today, and many other publications. She is a senior editor of the Canadian magazine Faith Today and hosts the Faith Today Podcast, where she has interviewed thinkers, leaders and writers like Kate Bowler, Philip Yancey, Ann Voskamp, Scott Erickson and many more tellers of important stories. Karen's work has taken her to South Sudan, Uganda, Senegal, Cambodia and across North America, reporting on stories that are from the Church and of the Church. She has moderated the Religion and Society Series at the University of Toronto, a debate between leading atheists and theologians. Karen loves to teach writing and coach writers on the journey.
Holiness Here: Searching for God in the Ordinary Events of Everyday Life by Karen Stiller releases from NavPress on April 9.
Stay in touch with Karen!
Instagram: @Karen.Stiller
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karen.durlingstiller
Website: https://karenstiller.com/
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