First impressions are usually lasting, and that was certainly the case with my introduction to Frederick Buechner, which came through a Luci Shaw poem. She quoted these nourishing words in a season of seeking intimacy with God: “Beat a trail to God long enough, and he will come to you on the trail you have beaten, bringing you the gift of himself.” Buechner (pronounced “Beek-ner”) offered the gift of the right words at the right time for me, as he seemed to be describing the spiritual pacing that comprised the prayer life of a busy mum.
Later, Buechner’s was the voice I heard connecting the dots between my “deep gladness” and the “world’s deep hunger” as I learned the nature of calling–in between vacuuming floors and making stacks of peanut butter sandwiches. When I discovered that Jeffrey Munroe had written a book featuring Buechner’s memoirs, novels, theological works, and his sermons, I knew it was time to dig in and become better acquainted with the author whose quotable words kept drawing me in.
The Long Shadow of Pain
In some ways, Buechner was formed by horror and pain: he was ten years old when his father committed suicide. Later, his brother passed away, and his daughter suffered from an ongoing struggle with anorexia nervosa. Munroe (his biographer) has also traveled through some deep sorrow and, in Reading Buechner, he asserts that tragedy, rather than turning him away from God, invited him to ask, along with his literary mentor, “What is God saying here?”–a timely question for all of us in a season of pandemic.
Buechner’s multi-genre giftedness encourages a reader to follow a theme from his fiction into his more theological writing, and then to connect the dots to his life story, so generously poured out in seven works of memoir. All Buechner’s work challenges me. As a conservative evangelical, I wish he would color inside the theological lines on points like the sovereignty of God. And, having raised four rowdy boys, I should be immune to the stomach-turning preponderance of bodily fluids and functions and the coarse observations of the characters in Buechner’s fiction. After all, in Godric’s and Brendan’s Middle Ages, everyone was terminal and toothless by the age of forty (and illiterate to boot), so what else was there to talk about?
Whether you’ve been reading Buechner all your life, or, like me, you’ve been bumping into his quotable words and thinking it’s time to get better acquainted, Reading Buechner is an enlightening and accessible celebration of the richness of Buechner’s work. When my sons were born, and now as we welcome grandchildren into our family and into the world, Frederick Buechner’s writing offers a framework to support my embrace of paradox–and I continue to harvest his words these days to express my heart as a believing grandmother who longs to protect and nurture, but has learned some things about the long shadow of pain:
Here is the world.
Beautiful and terrible things will happen.
Don’t be afraid.”
Many thanks to InterVarsity Press for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which, of course, is offered freely and with honesty.
Grace and peace to you,
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees. If you should decide to purchase Reading Buechner: Exploring the Work of a Master Memoirist, Novelist, Theologian, and Preacher, simply click on the title or the image, and you’ll be taken directly to Amazon. If you decide to buy, I’ll make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
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Photo by Anastasia Lysiak on Unsplash
Sounds like a most interesting read. I am familiar with Frederick Buechner and I will add this book to my list of must reads. Have a lovely Wednesday!
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Great! It’s wonderful to share good books with friends!
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Sounds like a book I would love to read, Michele. Thanks for the recommendation!
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You are so welcome, Martha.
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I have not heard of Buechner, but I love that quote in your graphic.
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Yes, that made it easy to decide what to focus on in the graphic. 🙂 (The hardest part of every post, for me!)
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I must put myself in the “been bumping into his quotable words and thinking it’s time to get better acquainted” camp. Beuchner has long looked like an interesting aruthor to me. He’s worth reading just for the beautiful quote you post here.
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Yes, that one and the one about our calling being the collision of our deep joy and the world’s deep need has always spoken to me.
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‘Here is the world.
Beautiful and terrible things will happen.
Don’t be afraid.’
Sheer gold.
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I have bumped into Buechner for so many years. It was a gift to get this aerial view of his life and his work.
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I love that quote Michele!
“Here is the world.
Beautiful and terrible things will happen.
Don’t be afraid.”
This is a new author to me, sounds quite interesting.
Blessings,
Jennifer
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Glad to introduce you to Buechner!
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I was first introduced to him by a pastor at an Episcopal church I attended. I can’t remember which book I read now but you’ve inspired me to pick up another.
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This book made me want to go back and read his memoirs in the order in which they were written
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…but don’t be afraid to make a difference.
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What is God saying here… indeed! I feel like a lot of people dont even want to entertain the question, much less the answer.
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I too have bumped into Buechner numerous times in my reading; sometimes I’ve recorded his gems for their wisdom or thought-provoking truth. For example: “If history lasts long enough for archaeologists some five hundred or a thousand years hence, say, to dig back into our age, I predict…{they will be] staggered to discover how obsessed we were with the very madness that destroyed us” (A Room Called Remember, 1984, p. 109). Seems very appropriate for these times we live in. P.S. Thank you for including the correct way to pronounce his name. I’ve been saying it wrong in my head for who knows how many years?!
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That’s a great quote! And we do seem to share a great number of authors in common.
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I had not heard of Buechner, but liked the quote and will make a note to add onto my must read list! #globalblogging
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Oh, good!
I love sharing books with friends.
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That last quote, Michele … so powerful. I’ve seen Buechner quoted here and there but didn’t really know much else about him. I appreciate learning how his words have touched you in various seasons of life.
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I am so grateful to be able to share his work.
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What a great quote! A great reminder that we can trust in the sovereignty of God in spite of living in a fallen world!
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Bracing truth for troubled times.
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Michele,
Yes, our pain will either send us fleeing from God or will draw us into Him. I have been asking, “What is God saying (to me) here?” What is he saying to our world in general? I do think that persevering through pain helps us to color in the fine shades of meaning in between the hard lines of theology.
Blessings,
Bev xx
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Beautifully said, Bev.
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This sure looks like a book that needs to be read and listened to. Let’s feature this on the next Blogger’s Pit Stop to help those honest enough to admit their need for God.
Kathleen
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I would love that!
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This is a new author for me, thanks for introducing us!
It’s awesome to see you at ‘My Corner of the World’ this week! Thanks for linking up.
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So great to share favorite authors here! I hope you get a chance to connect with her by reading one of her books at some point.
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Sounds like a great message for these trying times! Thanks for sharing with us at The Blogger’s Pit Stop!
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You are so welcome!
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[…] Frederick Buechner’s Beautiful and Terrible World by Michele […]
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Thank you for sharing at #OverTheMoon. Pinned and shared. Have a lovely week. I hope to see you at next week’s party too! Please stay safe and healthy. Come party with us at Over The Moon! Catapult your content Over The Moon! @marilyn_lesniak @EclecticRedBarn
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[…] Frederick Buechner’s Beautiful and Terrible World by Michele […]
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Not an author that I am familiar with, but sorrow seems to have inspired wisdom based on your review. Thanks for linking up with #globalblogging
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That’s such a great way to summarize his literary contribution!
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Beautiful
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Thank you.
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[…] Frederick Buechner’s Beautiful and Terrible World by Michele […]
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