I have just read a deeply moving, illuminating book, The Drama of Living: Becoming Wise in the Spirit (Canterbury Press, 2014). It is so good I would like to persuade all my friends to read it.
The author is David Ford (left) until recently Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, not only a learned, influential theologian, but also an adventurous pilgrim of faith.
This is not a book directed at other theologians, but at anyone who is engaged in the drama of living. It is written in a plain, attractive style. It does not talk in academic code, and explains any technicalities simply and effectively.
All the same, it is a challenge worth rising to. I don’t pretend it is a doddle: it is not for reading on the beach, when you are sleepy in the sun. Give yourself the best possible conditions to hear it.
I presume to offer two helps to reading this book well, with enjoyment and benefit.
The first is to read chapter 5, on ‘Loving: Intimate, Dramatic, Ultimate’, as a taster. It begins with the unusual love poems of Siadhail, celebrating married love, then considers ‘the larger life of love’ in the world, where we all live with ‘the vocation to love’, and ends with more from the Gospel of John which centres on God’s loving and our living in that love.
The second help is to read it in a group of friends. This book has been made out of the many and varied conversations and joint projects David Ford has engaged in throughout his life –with friends and colleagues and in communities, such as L’Arche. They have been thinking and growing together. So it is in the spirit of the book for us to read it together, to help each other get the most out of it, and to share the drama of living together.
A group could read it in under three months ( a chapter at a time, every two weeks). I would not minimise the commitment of time and attention that would require, but I am sure it would be well worth the effort.
I would be glad to convene a group if it is wanted. Please get in touch by email: willmerhaddon@gmail.com
You can view a video of David Ford talking about the book at Westminster Abbey here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNIAlvxtZh8