{"product_id":"9780310246381-secondhand-the-blessed-a-sinner-reflects-on-living-the-christian-life","title":"The Blessed: A Sinner Reflects on Living the Christian Life","description":"Deep inside, each of us knows, or at least suspects, that there is a different and more satisfying way to live than the life we're living now. Through the busyness and hype that distract us, we hunger for the deep and lasting, for the honest and real. Writing from this sense of knowing, Sharon Moffitt uses the Beatitudes as a springboard to reflect on what it means to live such a life--a spiritual life that is down to earth, attainable, more in tune with who we are as ordinary people than we realize. A life more like the gradual process of healing than instant perfection. Moffitt takes a literate and honest look at these teachings of Jesus, searching out the meanings of words to help us see faith and life through a different lens. Maybe, Moffitt suggests, mourning has more to do with remorse for our sins than bereavement; mercy is more about compassion than generosity; purity of heart is more about self-awareness than childlike innocence. And brokenness and humility are what lie at the heart of it all.\nLaced with colorful and moving stories, and stamped with Moffitt's unflinching candor and her ability to laugh at herself, these winsome reflections challenge us to put ourselves in the hands of God, allowing him to transform us and cooperating with him in the process. For all who hunger and thirst for a life beyond the shallowness of our culture, The Blessed provides good food and refreshing drink. From the book ...I am never unaffected by Mona's beauty. She is an absolute original in both appearance and spirit. A cataract of copper hair falls in wiry ringlets to her waist. Her skin is the color of cream, her eyes, dollops of rich chocolate. She is the embodiment of femininity, though there is nothing froufrou about Mona. She possesses at once the strength and vigilance of one who has seen and heard too much too soon, and the meekness of one who has lost all of the encumbrances of naivete. When she laughs, it sounds as if the laughter comes from her toes, and when she cries, it's as if something inside her has come undone.\nThough life has brutally thrust her into dark, scary places, and she knows the pain of despair, she keeps looking for, and finding, beauty to sustain her, carry her farther along. This morning as she kneels before the baptismal font ...I wait with bated breath to hear what she will say when asked to share a word about her feelings on this occasion...\"I feel,\" she says with a clear voice and humble confidence, \"as if every cell in my body is about to be changed.\"","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48206203551963,"sku":"9780310246381-SECONDHAND","price":10.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/c77cbe11-cbd7-47cd-be7e-4456e4f25b91.jpg?v=1769798514","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/9780310246381-secondhand-the-blessed-a-sinner-reflects-on-living-the-christian-life","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}