A Fragile Hope

“At last! A mature book on daily spirituality that is painfully and delightfully honest. Charles Ringma extracts from a lifetime of listening to God and to those he serves what he calls ‘the hermitage of the heart.’ Through generously making his own heart available to others, he evokes in us the desire for spiritual depth. My own soul has been nurtured. And yours will be also.”


—R. Paul Stevens, author of Down-to-Earth Spirituality: Encountering God in the Ordinary, Boring Stuff of Life





“Charles Ringma’s beautiful and struggling reflections are a great source of encouragement for anyone seeking to build a hermitage of the heart in daily spirituality. Maturity and applicability in faith over the long haul is a hard-won and humbled thing. Glories shine and shadows loom together in this remarkably concrete and earthy book of spiritual reflections. For practical and inspired reflections on the difficult business of the ordinary Christian life, do read this book.”


—Paul Tyson, Senior Research Fellow, University of Queensland





“Drawing from traditions as diverse as Sabbath, the Desert Fathers, and Mothers and the Franciscan way, Charles Ringma reminds us that ‘the hermitage of the heart’ is always accessible to those who seek deeper union with God. These different traditions are challenging and respectful of the individual, as well as safe both for beginners and those on the long journey of ‘Christing’! Charles’s thoughtful writing reflects his own long, open-hearted journey and gentle soul.”


—Godfrey Fryar, former Bishop of Rockhampton





“Charles Ringma’s personal experience of a hermitage—his self-examination and humility before God—opens a door for all of us to enter. He understands the deep paradox that being at the service of God does not obliterate the self but enables us to be a ‘healing presence in the world.’ Anyone of any tradition can learn great and deep lessons from A Fragile Hope, and I have more than a fragile hope for the world on account of the wise and true reflections that Ringma has shared with us in this book. . . . this is the kind of book you can return to often for inspiration, courage, and most of all, hope that there is a place—the hermitage of the heart—which acknowledges our divided self of saint and sinner yet offers us the space and the grace to remember that there is always and ever the choice to be more—to be that healing presence in the world, which we need now more than ever.”


—Rachael Kohn author of The New Believers: Re-imagining God





“Having for years been impacted by Charles’s wisdom and experience, it was with joy that I sat down to read A Fragile Hope. My best recommendation would be to read a chapter a day or one a week to have time to sit deeply with Charles’s reflections. Charles is honest and filled with grace as he takes us on his internal journey of finding/making a hermitage of the heart. As fellow travelers, we can find many familiar landmarks that we may have already found on our own journeys. I found this encouraging, as I could often play ‘join the dots’ with my own spiritual pilgrimage, thus offering me sustenance on my own journey. Charles has lived an expansive life and now we experience him bringing the colorful, distinct threads back together, weaving them into one tapestry.”


—Justin Duckworth, Bishop





“This book’s idea of a ‘hermitage of the heart’ is much needed in this time of prolonged liminal space, when the global COVID pandemic has scrambled our lives and work and we all hang suspended between the familiar routines of the past and the unknown uncertainties of the future. We are being invited to know God and ourselves afresh in the thick of our everyday struggles. This book outlines and recovers for us the ancient practice of stillness, echoing especially to those of us who are Asians our own spiritual heritage: making the inner being strong enough to withstand the stresses of daily life. . . . This book situates the universal longing for inner peace within the Christian tradition. As such it is a welcome companion to those in search for a meaning to our present confusion, groping about for a foothold on which to secure a future and a hope.”


—Melba Padilla Maggay, Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture (ISACC)





“Profound and accessible, I could not put down this book when I started reading it! I have benefited from reading other books on everyday spirituality, but this one ministered to me the most! Charles distils learnings and models creative reappropriations of divine grace for our contemporary time. Coming out of the pandemic, this spiritual tract on ‘a hermitage of the heart’ is one book I’d repeatedly go back to for nourishment and wisdom.”


—Timoteo D. Gener, Chancellor and Professor of Theology, Asian Theological Seminary, Philippines