Episcopal Life Magazine--January Issue
Nine Stories from a New Generation, the subtitle of Claiming the Beatitudes, might sound New Age-y, but this good book is anything but fluffy. Yes, it is short, and it has stories. And, yes, eight of them are told by people in their 30s and younger. More importantly, the stories and the beatitudes are analyzed and augmented by Anne Sutherland Howard. Howard, preacher-in-residence at Trinity Episcopal-Santa Barbara, Calif., is executive director of The Beatitudes Society, a national network for Christian seminarians.
Claiming the Beatitudes defines “claiming,” not as “pretending to,” but as “owning.” The nine storytellers believe Jesus’ teachings about who is blessed, as outlined in Matthew 5:1-12. Howard calls these storytellers salt of the earth, light on the lampstand, pastors who practice what they preach. Kent Sensenig, raised by Mennonites, is committed to peacemaking, and Stefani Schatz comforts mourners -- at churches’ altar rails and bars’ brass rails. Alexander Carpenter redefines the blessed meek. The nine stories involve risk and sacrifice, that is, pastoral care and Christian ethics.
Within each story and in her Reflections following each one, Howard masterfully weaves her compassion and scholarship. Her writing -- her clear, intelligent, knowledgeable writing -- places the Beatitudes within the context of the Book of Matthew (and sometimes Luke). She explains the word “heaven” as a synonym for “God,” a concession to Jews who did not name “G-D.” She claims that the Beatitudes are not goals, but “invitations to the deep”: “The beatitudes are not a course in self-improvement; they are a description of the life we are invited to share with God and with each other, life lived in community.”
Howard follows her Reflections with questions for group discussion, which makes Claiming the Beatitudes not just a beautiful eye-opener, but a practical lens.
Reviewed by Martha K. Baker, a member of Trinity Episcopal Church-St. Louis