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A review by ben_smitty
How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now by James K.A. Smith
4.0
A thought-provoking meditation on what it means to be finite. As a parent, I especially enjoyed his chapter on seasonality: parenting little ones can take a toll on one's emotional and psychological well-being, but recognizing that the Spirit has called me to this specific vocation "for the time being" allows me to attune myself to learn lessons I won't learn otherwise, lessons that won't be available to me in any other period of my life.
I'm also intrigued by Smith's situating of "universal truth" as something that is time-bound. The resurrection of Jesus engenders new truths, situations, and possibilities that did not exist before. As the Spirit continues to breathe life into the church as Jesus' body, we are invited to collaborate with God in exploring where He is calling the church in the present moment, and how new truths can also emerge as we extend resurrection life to the public square. Granted, I need to re-read these chapters more carefully to get the full scope of his argument (and read his more academic text, The Nicene Option), but I've been thinking about it a lot since I first encountered it.
I'm also intrigued by Smith's situating of "universal truth" as something that is time-bound. The resurrection of Jesus engenders new truths, situations, and possibilities that did not exist before. As the Spirit continues to breathe life into the church as Jesus' body, we are invited to collaborate with God in exploring where He is calling the church in the present moment, and how new truths can also emerge as we extend resurrection life to the public square. Granted, I need to re-read these chapters more carefully to get the full scope of his argument (and read his more academic text, The Nicene Option), but I've been thinking about it a lot since I first encountered it.