STEP: Resource Review: "A Room Called Remember: Uncollected Pieces " by Frederick Buechner

Resource reviews

A Room Called Remember: Uncollected Pieces
Frederick Buechner
208 pages

Frederick Buechner uses personal experience and insight to provide a series of reflections on Christian religion and spirituality. He deconstructs challenging, as well as seemingly simple, biblical texts and delves into moral issues ranging from trust in human goodness to hope in the power of the resurrection of Christ to faith that something connects us all, as people of the world, to one another and to God.

These reflections impacted me strongly in the way Buechner addresses the idea of evil's overwhelming presence on Earth, suggesting perhaps "that the madness and lostness we see all around us and within us are not the last truth about the world but only the next to the last truth"; that if we look just a little closer, past the sphere of pain and anger and suffering, we will find a higher truth in the love of family members and the smile of strangers - in the works of God that are everywhere.

As a young adult, as well, I find hope in Buechner's conviction that the commandment stating 'we shall love our God' is not so much an order but a promise: God loves us so much that we cannot help ourselves but to love God back. A promise like this is not only comforting but liberating at a time in life when we are searching for signs of faith and yearning for a way to express the connection we feel to something bigger, to God.

Buechner's language is, at times, conservative, but his theology is rather liberal as he articulately unpacks the things that make us struggle, at our very cores, in both our day-to-day religion and our lifelong faith journeys.

Reviewed by: Georgia Kuss, Kenyon College
Posted: May 20, 2090

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		Resource reviews A Room Called Remember: Uncollected Pieces Frederick Buechner 208 pages Frederick Buechner uses personal experience and insight to provide a series of reflections on Christian religion and spirituality. He deconstructs challenging, as well as seemingly simple, biblical texts and delves into moral issues ranging from trust in human goodness to hope in the power of the resurrection of Christ to faith that something connects us all, as people of the world, to one another and to God. These reflections impacted me strongly in the way Buechner addresses the idea of evil's overwhelming presence on Earth, suggesting perhaps "that the madness and lostness we see all around us and within us are not the last truth about the world but only the next to the last truth"; that if we look just a little closer, past the sphere of pain and anger and suffering, we will find a higher truth in the love of family members and the smile of strangers - in the works of God that are everywhere. As a young adult, as well, I find hope in Buechner's conviction that the commandment stating 'we shall love our God' is not so much an order but a promise: God loves us so much that we cannot help ourselves but to love God back. A promise like this is not only comforting but liberating at a time in life when we are searching for signs of faith and yearning for a way to express the connection we feel to something bigger, to God. Buechner's language is, at times, conservative, but his theology is rather liberal as he articulately unpacks the things that make us struggle, at our very cores, in both our day-to-day religion and our lifelong faith journeys. Reviewed by: Georgia Kuss, Kenyon College Posted: May 20, 2090 Was this review or resource helpful to you? We want to know what you think. Send your comments on this review or on this material to blyons@helmdisciples.org. Your comments will be posted on this page.