Contemplations from the Heart
Spiritual Reflections on Family, Community, and the Divine
Foreword by Donald K. McKim
Imprint: Resource Publications
How do we find God in a world where God often seems to be hidden? How do we love one another and seek social justice? This series of theological and spiritual reflections on family and community helps readers see spirituality in daily life, exploring current issues such as global warming, environment, racism, child rearing, and sexism in relation to the church to offer readers new insights and directions for living as faithful Christians.
This book's brief, daily reflections on universal concerns give voice to what many people feel but struggle to articulate, bringing emotions to the surface to help readers apply theology in their everyday lives. The book's thirty entries make it ideal for a month of daily personal devotions or group study and discussion.
Grace Ji-Sun Kim is Associate Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion. She is the author of Embracing the Other (forthcoming); Here I Am; Christian Doctrines for Global Gender Justice co-edited with Jenny Daggers; Theological Reflections on "Gangnam Style" co-written with Joseph Cheah; Reimagining with Christian Doctrines co-edited with Jenny Daggers; Contemplations from the Heart; Colonialism, Han and the Transformative Spirit; The Holy Spirit, Chi, and the Other; and The Grace of Sophia. She is a co-editor with Dr. Joseph Cheah for the Palgrave Macmillan Book Series, Asian Christianity in Diaspora.
"Contemplations from the Heart is an impressive blend of compelling personal stories, incisive theological reflections, and a prophetic call to action on major social issues of our time. With wisdom and passionate clarity, Kim demonstrates the intersectionality of racism, sexism, and other 'isms,' with environmental and economic justice. Her openness and honesty about her own personal challenges invite readers to adopt her practical suggestions for promoting change. I highly recommend this inspiring, transformative, and accessible book for personal devotions and group study."
--Jann Aldredge-Clanton, author of Changing Church
"This book touches my spirit and informs my own daily rituals of self-cultivation practices. If you are a human being looking for balance and meaning, Contemplations from the Heart will feed your soul to help you live better in the world. Please give yourself the daily pleasure of reading this gracious gift from Grace."
--Dwight N. Hopkins, author of Being Human
"Grace Ji-Sun Kim should be commended for her sincerity, courage, and thoughtfulness, for her book is a gift to the church. The church is in need of a fresh Asian-American woman's voice on issues that challenge the church today. What an enjoyable, insightful, and delightful read on the theological reflections that matter to us most--God, family, and community."
--Jesse Jackson Sr., civil rights leader and President of Rainbow PUSH Coalition
"To be human is to be bound to this earth--to its concerns, frustrations, passions, pains, loves, vulnerabilities, and hopes; but to stake all on the claim that the bounds of humanity interplay with the movement of God is to be a theologian. Kim's reflections on a wide range of subjects are an invitation to think further about what this claim looks like in the turbulence of the ordinary."
--Jason Goroncy, Dean of Studies, Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership, Dunedin, New Zealand