Life Lines: Holding On (and Letting Go) [Paperback]

Forrest Church (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 1997

In this eloquent, personal, hopeful book, writer and minister Forrest Church explores the lifelines that can sustain us in times of trouble: deeper connections to neighbor and stranger, a better understanding of human limits, and a larger view of our place in the universe.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

How does one deal with the changes, chances and paradoxes of life? Church, minister of the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City, dives into this tension as he dialogues with an anonymous letter writer who tells him that life is not worth living. Church (God and Other Famous Liberals, 1991) effectively uses the book of Ecclesiastes, which acknowledges life's vanities even as it urges people to find meaning in life. The result is a dynamic interplay between ancient wisdom and contemporary soul-searching. The three "life lines" Church articulates extend between love and death, self-acceptance and forgiveness, humility and compassion.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Unitarian minister Church examines the questions of human suffering, death, and the existence of God. He ultimately affirms the worthiness of faith in the mystery of God?not because of reasonable evidence for belief, but in spite of the ambiguities of death and evil that persist for all of us. Church prescribes no easy explanations, only the paradoxical challenge of Christ's message of love?that in loving others as we love ourselves, we find deliverance from the locked prison of individual suffering. Although Church's insights will appeal to Christians, he embraces the universal oneness of all human experience. For most libraries.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (September 17, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807027235
• ISBN-13: 978-0807027233
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,110,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

FORREST CHURCH is currently serving his thirtieth year as minister of All Souls Church in Manhattan. He earned his doctorate in church history at Harvard and has written or edited twenty-two books, including The Separation of Church and State. He lives in New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, moving experiences of a skilled pastor, September 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Life Lines: Holding On (and Letting Go) (Paperback)

In Lifelines, the Harvard Divinity School-educated senior minister of New York City's All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church relates moving stories from his work in pastoral care, and offers a "guide for the perplexed".

I recommend this book highly to anyone looking for insights into the conondrums and common miseries of daily life.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't pick it up, December 28, 2001

By 

Geoffrey L Smith - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life Lines: Holding On (and Letting Go) (Paperback)

I tried and tried to read this book, but it just didn't grab my interest. I wanted badly to like the book since it was written by a popular Unitarian Universalist minister, but I found it poorly written and not interesting.

Obviously other persons have a different view of this book, but I think it would be helpful if you read some of the pages available online before purchasing this one. That should help give you an idea of whether or not the author's writing style and the subject matter impress you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of his best, October 16, 2009

By 

Yours Truly (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Life Lines: Holding On (and Letting Go) (Paperback)

Forrest Church, who died in September 2009, was a religious liberal with a particular ability to focus on the essence of life. My brother, whose theology is considerably more conservative, said this was the only book he read after his wife died that assuaged his grief, and I often give it to people who are in mourning. It's worth reading even if you are not.