Resisting Denial, Refusing Despair and Other Essays

lThis collection of essays constitutes an attempt to work faithfully at the generative interface of the Bible and our ife in the world. This interface variously yields, in our attentiveness, assurances and summons and often empowerment for the work of faith. That work of faith is in our moment urgent, given the force of evil and violence among us, performed by willing thuggery, by dark money, and by the hidden manipulation of social power in hurtful ways. Given such social reality, it is Brueggemann's hope that these pieces may be a source of strength and support for those who resist and refuse those nefarious forces in our midst. Thus he intends that these pieces give voice to the assurance and summons of the gospel, so that we may be able to live differently in the world, differently in ways that are marked by forgiveness, generosity, and hospitality. Such living is in the face of great pressure toward scorekeeping, parsimony, and fearful exclusion. Such living is a way of joy and hope that is on offer nowhere else. It is Brueggemann's intent to contribute as he can to the "hopes that drive us onward," in resistance to "the fears that hold us back." “Walter Brueggemann brings to speech what pastors and preachers long to say. This collection emboldens us to offer the church and world a counter-narrative of hope as an antidote to despair. Brueggemann demands of us a willingness to face our own denial, to engage our own grief, and to practice God’s liberating truth-telling.” —Clover Reuter Beal, co-pastor, Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church