Singing the Psalms with My Son
Praying and Parenting for a Healed Planet
Imprint: Cascade Books
160 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 x 0.32 in
- Paperback
- 9781666743937
- Published: June 2023
$23.00 / £19.00 / AU$35.00
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What will the future hold for our children? In a time of looming climate catastrophe this question inspires anxiety, fear, and guilt.
In Singing the Psalms with My Son, Wilson Dickinson charts a path where the practices of parenting lead to transformation and hope. The everyday tasks of caring for children radiate with the alternative energy of creativity and cooperation. If we learn from them, our homes can become schools for movements of joy and justice, rather than fortresses fearfully set against the world.
Dickinson turns to the Psalms for guidance on this journey. The prayerful poetry of the Psalter gives us refuge where we can cry in lament, while still joining creation in praising God.
With honesty, humility, and humor, Dickinson weaves meditations on individual Psalms with reflections on life as a parent. We accompany him and his son as they find the sacred and revolutionary possibility of ordinary activities--like reading children's books, playing in the backyard, and celebrating holidays. Coupled with guidance for personal and communal use, these meditations invite us to harness the power of parental love and childish wonder to work for a hopeful future.
T. Wilson Dickinson is a theologian, pastor, and organizer. He teaches theology and is the director of the Doctor of Ministry and Continuing Education programs at Lexington Theological Seminary. He is author of The Green Good News: Christ’s Path to Sustainable and Joyful Life and Exercises in New Creation from Paul to Kierkegaard.
“What an exemplary book by an amazing scholar who is also—at the very same time—an incredible parent, a spiritually centered person, and an activist for earth care and social justice. T. Wilson Dickinson tackles head-on an angst that plagues every parent today—what does it mean to bring children into a world of climate catastrophes? His answer joins sage discernment about life priorities with concrete wisdom for daily living, giving readers a wealth of insight, encouragement, and hope.”
—Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, professor emerita of religion, psychology, and culture, Vanderbilt University
“In this book, T. Wilson Dickinson holds not only his son’s hand but ours too. With the richness of the Psalms, he guides us now and into the future through times unknown and spaces growing in loss and destruction. This book is like the mask we hear about in the airplanes. We put it first on ourselves, so we are able to help our kids. Dickinson teaches us to read the Psalms and offer healing to the world.”
—Cláudio Carvalhaes, professor of worship, Union Theological Seminary
“This is a deeply learned and intimate book that seamlessly integrates elements of personal memoir, theological and biblical exposition, critical analysis, parenting wisdom, and social change theory. T. Wilson Dickenson is the rare author who can draw from so many complex streams of thought and lived experience to speak plainly and insightfully about what it means to be fully and faithfully human at this fraught time in history. As a father as well, I was moved and inspired. This book should be widely read, discussed, and shared.”
—Timothy Reinhold Eberhart, associate professor of ecological theology and practice, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
“T. Wilson Dickinson’s beautiful reflections on the Psalms may break your heart open, but will heal it as well. His love for his son stunningly translates for the love all of us have for our sons and daughters, and our hopes that they may live a healthy and spirited future in a world full of challenges. He has done all of us a great service as a father, a poetic writer and a man of faith.”
—Gary Paul Nabhan, author of Jesus for Farmers and Fishers