Echoes of Mercy, Whispers of Love

Book excerpt: Echoes of Mercy, Whispers of Love connects the work of Alfred North Whitehead, process writers, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Henri Nouwen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and others, to present a defense or apologetic for faith, hope, and love in action. This kind of faith and hope leads to transformed lives and transformed communities. A theology of hope provides a framework for counseling troubled, despairing persons in the midst of acute suffering, loss, and tragedy. Doty identifies the need for a healthy religion that will inspire, transform, and enable personal and community healing. This is the work of peacemaking in families and in our world. This book will connect with an audience that includes all believers and all who live with doubts and questions. All seekers for peace, hope, and truth in our post-modern era will find this a stimulating and helpful dialogue with the hard questions. Doty poses searching questions for readers reflection. This book promises to provide inspiration, Hope, and a rare opportunity for spiritual formation in the midst of life struggles. Hooray for Pauline Doty! Her courage encourages us to lower our lofty traditionsso they may speak with the hurt, pain, loss, grief of our everyday lives. She invites us by her exampletrust our own experience, follow our own questions, create our own process of life in faith and action.By confiding in us, Doty lends confidence that God (by many names and revelations) goes with and before us, all ways and always. This is a book for all whose process of life and work wants healing to lead to hoping, the practical to the prophetic.What a call to confront in urgent grace the outrageouswithin and around us! Rev. John Auer, Retired, Forty years United Methodist congregational urban ministry