Themes of sexuality and hope frame our book reviews this month.<\/p>\n
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In keeping with the topic of this journal issue, our first review considers sexuality in the context of aging. David Tiede offers a thoughtful and delightful consideration of Christian Faith and Sexuality in Later Life by Jim Childs. Sexuality among elders is a subject often treated with jokes or silence. Jim Childs confronts myths of agism fueled by a culture steeped in a \u201cpretense of independent existence.\u201d He points out that in the image of God, human beings are called to relationship, and \u201cour sexual lives are a venue for that calling\u201d throughout the wholeness of our lives. Reminding us that a \u201cdown-to-earth God creates and loves physical creatures\u201d Childs emphasizes that \u201cto be human is to be sexual in the unity of body and spirit.\u201d This does not disappear as our years increase. Childs offers theological, biblical, and practical wisdom for this life-long journey, calling us to \u201csteward our sexuality in freedom from shame and in freedom for the well-being of the neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n
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In our second book review, Stewart Herman asks how we might find and sustain hope given the \u201cnest of \u2018wicked\u2019 interconnected and stubborn problems we face.\u201d He finds helpful answers in The Generative Power of Hope: Anticipating Possibilities in Times of Crises by Frederick Bird. A professor of political science and religious ethics, Bird draws on his lifetime of work in business ethics and international development, offering ample research and case studies showing in<\/p>\n
practical terms how to keep pressing for reform in the face of relentless obstacles. For Bird, \u201cHope is a virtue oriented to acting in the present.\u201d This virtue can be cultivated through acknowledging the wretched realities, gratitude for \u201cgifts among the givens,\u201d imagining and seeking alternatives, and learning to live with fear of failure in a sustained commitment. In short, hope is nourished as we actively engage. Herman calls this a \u201cgrounded hope\u201d that is helpfully \u201canchored in the present, rather than tethered to the future\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Themes of sexuality and hope frame our book reviews this month. In keeping with the topic of this journal issue, our first review considers sexuality in the context of aging. David Tiede offers a thoughtful and delightful consideration of Christian Faith and Sexuality in Later Life by Jim Childs. Sexuality among elders is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review-introduction"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n