A Beautiful Story

We are fighting for a Story, in a day that distrusts everyone’s meta-story (i.e. the postmodern influencers believe that every declaration of knowledge is an act of power against somebody else).

But, there must be a way to critique the better from the best.

We form, or reform our stories in every generation:

God is beautiful, man is crummy, the cosmos is crummy.

or

God is crummy, man is beautiful, the cosmos is beautiful.

or

God is crummy, man is crummy, the cosmos is crummy.

or

God is beautiful, man is beautiful, the cosmos is beautiful.

or

God is beautiful and perfect, man is beautiful but bent, the cosmos is beautiful but disturbed.

Which one is a foundation we can build a human Story on; a cosmic Story?

I choose the last one, and fold in the broken and bent heart of man — when Individualism overtook Individuality in the garden; when Autonomy was preferred above Community.

I choose to see all of life as beautiful. You?

A Story is slowly starting to work for me. I can live in this Story, and all its paradox.

We want not just the good or right result, but the beautiful result.

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Sheltering Mercy: Prayers Inspired by the Psalms

Sheltering Mercy, along with its companion volume, Endless Grace, helps us rediscover the rich treasures of the Psalms—through free-verse prayer renderings of their poems and hymns—as a guide to personal devotion and meditation.

The church has always used the Psalms as part of its prayer life, and they have inspired countless other prayers. This book contains 75 prayers drawn from Psalms 1-75, providing lyrical sketches of what authors Ryan Smith and Dan Wilt have seen, heard, and felt while sojourning in the Psalms. Each prayer is a response to the Psalms written in harmony with Scripture. These prayers help us quiet our hearts before God and welcome us into a safe place amid the storms of life.

This artful, poetic, and classic devotional book features compelling custom illustrations and foil-stamped hardcover binding, offering a fresh way to reflect on and pray the Psalms.