For Everything a Season: Simple Musings on Living Well [Hardcover]

Philip Gulley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2001

In the course of our lives, we discover the wisdom of Ecclesiastes -- for everything there is a season. No writer depicts the seasons of life like Philip Gulley, the bestselling author of Front Porch Tales and Hometown Tales, whose readers have found that a visit to his hometown is a balm to the soul. Now this master storyteller delights us with tender, often humorous stories that celebrate the seasons of divine grace in our sometimes turbulent lives.

Filled with a cast of loveable and quirky characters and punctuated with simple miracles, the truths of life in this small town speak with uncanny clarity to our own befuddled world. No matter where you live, no matter what your season, you are invited to come along for the journey to where all is in place under heaven.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

I was born in February of 1961. My mother went into labor while she and my father were watching Gunsmoke. My father was taken with that program and wanted to name me for one of the characters. Unfortunately, my cousin was named Matt, which left the name Festus for me. My mother, a Catholic, wanted to name me after her favorite pope, Cletus. They compromised by naming me Philip, the guy in the Bible who became a disciple of Jesus and was never heard from again.

I live in the same town where I was born. I moved away at the age of 19 to work, where I met my wife, Joan Apple. We were married on June 2nd of 1984 at the Quaker meetinghouse in Paoli, Indiana. I began attending Marian College in Indianapolis where I studied theology and sociology. I then enrolled at Christian Theological Seminary where I graduated with honors, to the utter amazement of everyone who knew me.

While in seminary, I became the pastor of Irvington Friends Meeting in Indianapolis. While there, our two sons were born, and I began writing essays for our church's newsletter. One Sunday, Paul Harvey, Jr. and Dina Kinnan attended our meeting for worship and began receiving our newsletter. A few months later, they were approached by a publisher with an offer to write. Already committed to a publisher, they recommended my writing instead. I was invited to send the newsletters I'd written to the publisher, who agreed to publish them. That was my first book, Front Porch Tales. I've been writing ever since.

In 1998, my family and I moved back to my hometown. I took a year off to write, then agreed to become the part-time pastor of Fairfield Friends Meeting, a small Quaker meeting near my home, where I continue to minister.

I write five days a week, usually in the morning. I knock off for lunch and a nap, then am back at it until my boys get home from school. Once a week or so, I travel somewhere to give a speech. This is not nearly as exotic as it sounds. If humanity has invented a more dismal way to travel than the airplane, I'm not aware of it.

I don't work on Saturdays, unless I've goofed off through the week and need to catch up, a not uncommon occurrence. Sundays are spent at Quaker meeting for worship and in my recliner, asleep, with the newspaper in my lap. I have single-handedly raised the Sunday afternoon nap to an art form.

This marriage of pastoring, writing and speaking is one that appeals to me. Each activity complements the other. I once spent a summer during college working for the state highway picking up roadkill. Compared to that, what I do now is a breeze.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 30 ann. 1st edition (November 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060006285
• ISBN-13: 978-0060006280
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,415,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Philip Gulley has become the voice of small-town American life. Along with writing Front Porch Tales, Hometown Tales, and For Everything a Season, Gulley is the author of the Harmony series of novels, as well as If Grace Is True and If God Is Love, which are coauthored with James Mulholland.

He hosts "Porch Talk with Phil Gulley" on the Indiana PBS affiliate WFYI television's flagship show Across Indiana.

Gulley lives in Indiana with his wife, Joan, and their sons, Spencer and Sam--in a rambling old house with Gulley's eclectic chair collection (64 at last count) and a welcoming back porch.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Time to Read, A Time to Weep and A Time to Laugh, February 12, 2001

By 

Mamalinde "mamalinde" (Dallas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For Everything a Season (Hardcover)

This is a book to buy - in multiple copies. Mr. Gulley take Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, and with his easy going charm, small town simplicity and devotion to God, gives us all a spiritual hug. From discussion on prejudices (a time to refrain from embracing) to three things you shouldn't live without (a time to keep silence), there is much that is rich and deep to learn and to celebrate. And officially why Summer is the Very Best Season. If you think this book is not for you, because after all, you are not a Quaker - you are sadly mistaken. Mr. Gulley's simple writings and pleasing commentaries will enrich and delight everyone. I will send my copy on to Auntique Bea (who says of Home to Harmony: "picked up Harmony and in a few pages I discovered anew the charm of the book. I keep it out on the coffee table to I can skim through it at any time.") I will try to keep a stock to have on hand when a friend needs cheering. I can unequivocally say that it is just as charming as Home to Harmony, perhaps even more so.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book that Cured my Homesickness!!!, September 20, 2000

By 

"leslyee007" (Danville, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For Everything a Season (Hardcover)

Right now I am in Evansville at college. Today I was in a bookstore and finally decided to buy this book. I'm from Danville, and have lived there all of my life. My whole family has lived here since my great-grandparents moved here LONG ago. After reading "For Everything A Season," I feel like I'm back in Danville again. I personally knew Adam (the boy from the chapter A Time to Heal: One September). This story made me cry. It happened almost two years ago. Other stories hit me personally. I have my memories from the Royal Theater, Blanton Woods, and flooded basements. If you are from a small town and want to reminisce, or from a big city and want to know what you're missing from small town living, this is the book for you. Mr. Gulley did a wonderful job. I have heard him speak before at a convention for Student Council, and he was wonderful. You'll love this book.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching and joyfilled book about a special, real town., October 9, 1999

By 

Raymond F. Rodenbeck ([e-mail]) (Danville, Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For Everything a Season (Hardcover)

Danville isn't a pretend place. It's my town. Phil Gulley brings it to life with humor, love, and best of all, with God's grace. I would want to pack up and move here if I wasn't already so blessed. He is a male version of Erma Bombeck, able to make the reader laugh, cry, and see their own world in his pages. He takes the everyday journey of life, and illuminates it. The love of God shines through these same, everyday moments. If you are from a small town, you will see your life; but if you are from New York City, you will still find company in the human race so tenderly portrayed. DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK! It is a like a sunset at the end of a wonderful day. Connie Rodenbeck, Danville, Indiana