Ordering my two most recent books for groups …
If you are leading a group study of Faith After Doubt or Do I Stay Christian?, the best way to order multiple copies is through Porchlight. They offer significant discounts:
Faith After Doubt
https://www.porchlightbooks.com/product/faith-after-doubt-why-your-beliefs-stopped-working-and-what-to-do-about-it--brian-d-mclaren/isbn/9781250828378
Do I Stay Christian?
https://www.porchlightbooks.com/product/do-i-stay-christian-a-guide-for-the-doubters-the-disappointed-and-the-disillusioned--brian-d-mclaren/isbn/9781250262790
I'll post information about my May 2024 release, Life After Doom, when it's available.
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Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles … here’s a Christmas gift for kids you love.
Cory and the Seventh Story is a beautiful illustrated book for children of all ages. Its message is especially important in times like ours.
Here's ordering information: https://sites.prh.com/cory-and-the-seventh-story
Central to the story is a poem by a character named Swifthorse. Below, you'll find a musical version of the poem (performed by two of my wonderful granddaughters, Ella and Ada).
Here's audio only:
Here's the song paired with illustrations from the book:
Gareth HIggins and I wrote this story and originally self-published Cory and the Seventh Story with lovely illustrations by the amazing Heather Lynn Harris. We sold out of the original version, and we're thrilled that Penguin Random House picked it up. They chose another talented illustrator, Anita Schmidt, and asked us to shorten the text a bit to make the book more accessible to younger children with shorter attention spans.
At this link, you'll find ordering information and you can access free bonus resources - a game for kids and a collection of essays for adults: https://sites.prh.com/cory-and-the-seventh-story
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A reader writes: Palestine/Israel — shattering beliefs
Here's the Q:
Our church school class is reading “Faith After Doubt,” and we just finished chap. 9: “A Human Problem.”
Our church and our class are quite progressive. Last week we got into a discussion about the situation in Palestine/Israel, understanding it as a crisis in faith – not religious faith as such, but social/political faith or world view. I suggested that the crisis was fundamentally disturbing to people’s pre-existing articles of faith re world order. For example, it shattered Israeli beliefs that “containing” Palestinians would provide long-term security; US beliefs that Israel was a reliable, democratic partner that respected human rights.
Many were thrown back into stage 1 black & white thinking (We’re right! Let’s kill everybody who disagrees!) and many into confusion/disorientation. I’m interested in your thoughts in light of the current crisis and how you suggest we might relate to having conversations with people whose beliefs/world view are different from our own. If you’ve done any writings along these lines, I’d love to share them with the class.
Here's the R:
Thanks for your question. I think you are insightful to see how those of us who know how to "play" in Perplexity and Harmony can easily revert to Simplicity and its dualisms. Under stress, we tend to regress.
Here is something I wrote on the subject:
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit-blog/beware-the-contagion-of-war/
I hope it will be helpful.
May a ceasefire come today, along with a long-term plan for a just and sustainable peace ... so all children, Israeli and Palestinian, can live in a society that is progressing into peace with justice, not stuck in violence, and not regressing toward even worse violence.
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A Reader Writes: delicious food for my soul
It is with deepest gratitude that I write to thank you for your writings. I can’t begin to explain the impact they have had in my heart. I have wanted to let you know for some time. Naked Spirituality was my first of your books, I look forward to reading more.This year I have been reading Seeking Aliveness each morning, along with the Daily Meditation from CAC. The richness of the pair has been delicious food for my soul. Often I journal after the readings and dig in deeper to God’s love.So, just thank you.With my most sincere gratitude,
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