Self Surrender: Ten Ways to Suffer Well in Union with God - Hardcover

Bjorkman, Dewey J

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0996942653 ISBN 13: 9780996942652

Publisher: Peregrino Press, 2017

Synopsis

Self-Surrender shows how a theology emerges out of the Rhineland-Flemish spirituality of Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, Henry Suso, the Frankfurt Priest, and John Ruusbroec that shines life-giving light on the mystery of suffering. From the books and sermons of these pastors, Bjorkman developed Ten Ways to Suffer Well in Union with God: surrender, pray, yield, imitate, co-suffer, participate, love, accept, empathize, and unite, which flesh out the meaning and significance of suffering in new and edifying ways.

About this title

From the Author:

On the first day of classes at seminary, one of our professors posed this problem: "None of you have training in theology, yet you are going to be reading theology books written by authors who assume that you do have this training. What to do?" It was a rhetorical question. Without waiting for our response, he proceeded forthwith to offer his own. He suggested we try an approach to the reading of theology that he called the "percentage of newness" rule. I have found this rule to be so helpful in my own subsequent reading that I want to pass it on here.

My professor explained the rule this way: "When you begin to read a theology book you will soon discover the percentage of newness that the reading material contains for you." He divided books into two categories.

"Some books will be more or less a review of subjects that you already grasp, with little new content or terminology that presents a challenge. You know 80 or even 90% of what you are reading. You are in your comfort zone." He said the pleasure of reading these books is to "look for a few new interconnections between certain ideas that deepen your knowledge of this subject and help you to see them in a new light. There is gold in the 10% of the material that you do not know."

"In other books you will find that you have little knowledge of the subjects covered in them. You know 30, 20 or perhaps just 10% of the subject matter in these books. You are outside of your comfort zone." He said--and this is important--"Don't read these books expecting to understand all, or even most, of the material. That would be self-defeating. Read them with the aim to discover profound insights that, at least for now, must stand on their own. There is gold in those insights."

Finally, he suggested, "As you read, jot down significant insights, phrases, ideas, or sentences (along with the page number) in the front of the book. When finished, review the collected highlights and decide on the five most important insights that you noted. Circle the page number of each of these insights."

Our professor gave us good advice. I have followed his rule when reading many books over the years; it works. Today I can pick these books off the shelf and find references (which I noted on a Post-it) to words that speak to me anew, enriching my life once again.

Reader, I am confident that if you follow this rule while reading Self-Surrender, you will be blessed by the many nuggets of wisdom that speak of God's gracious communion with us in our suffering, even as we share in the sufferings of Christ.

From the Inside Flap:

"Rare in the academic world are texts that can create a bridge between the serious theologian and the serious novice who desires to plumb the depths of the mystical ocean we call theology. Dewey has successfully accomplished this delicate balancing act in this book. Dewey explores the theology of human suffering through the eyes of five Rhineland-Flemish pastors (Rhineland mystics).

Sparked by a life-altering tragedy from his youth, Dewey introduces us to the pivotal voices that have accompanied him through his journey to understand the problem of human suffering. This journey initially led him to serve as a Lutheran pastor, but then he found himself being drawn to Catholicism, not as a movement of conversion in the popular sense but as a seamless transition, both intellectually and spiritually, through the ecumenical vision set forth by the Second Vatican Council.

I would recommend that this book be read as a private exploration on the meaning of human suffering, and I encourage you to create a community to journey through this text together, entering into a conversation about how we approach human suffering in the light of faith."

Fr. James Kurzynski, STL
Author of God's Canvas

About this edition

• Publisher: Peregrino Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0996942653
• ISBN 13: 9780996942652
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 188
• Editor: Del Ponte Ann