Kirjahaku

What was it like, in the Greco-Roman world of the late first century, to sit down to write a gospel, specifically, the Gospel According to Luke? Extensive scholarship has recently been focusing on Luke/Acts, the two-volume New Testament writing. This book uses such scholarship, but in an imaginative way. It sets out to follow Lukas, the author, through the whole process of writing his first part, the gospel. We are given, paragraph by paragraph, the complete gospel text in a vigorous translation, but interspersed with Lukas

Five people, representing three generations, meet to share some of their deepest thoughts. Luc and Don get together after thirty years, with their one-time mentor, Jay, and are later joined by Luc's daughter and her friend Ian. Their dialogues, patterned roughly after Plato, start with Jay asking if death is just the end of life, or if there is more. Does science have an answer? Is there a soul or spirit, a reality that transcends the reality of our scientific universe of space and time? Or is an existence beyond this world and life just the indulgence of imaginative conjecture? Through the conversations of these friends, the dialogues provide an affirmation of life, of what it means to be a person, and of an afterlife beyond the boundaries of space and time. The book's intent is to stimulate thoughtful reflection and discussion, while not advocating for any particular philosophical or religious position. ""Don, as a masterful theologian and storyteller, invites us in six brief segments to eavesdrop on the difficult conversations that we all have about life, meaning, and afterlife. An excellent resource for small groups to sit in their own circle and share."" --Deborah G. Brincivalli, Executive Presbyter, Presbytery of West Jersey, Haddon Heights, New Jersey ""In his short, moving meditation Dialogues with Jay, Don Fletcher gently directs our gaze beyond the boundary of the known, pointing to an image of life and the God beyond all life grounded in the power of love.It is a warm and thoughtful pastoral reflection, to be shared in dialogue with family and friends."" --Lewis John Eron, Rabbi Emeritus, Lions Gate CCRC, Voorhees, New Jersey ""This work keeps you thinking while evoking your own inner experiences, questioning how your beliefs were formed, and what the future holds."" --Rebecca Rosenau, Associate Director of Senior Services, Director of Advocacy & Senior Services Outreach, Samost Jewish Family & Children's Service of Southern New Jersey Now in his late nineties, Donald R. Fletcher continues to write, publishing seven books since 2003. Born in 1919, he grew up in Korea, is the son of Presbyterian medical missionaries, earned degrees at Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary, and served the Presbyterian Church in Chile, the Caribbean, and at headquarters. He also taught at high school, college, and university levels in New Jersey, Alabama, and Texas. In 2007 he moved to Lions Gate, a continuing care retirement community, with his wife, Martha, caring for her until her death from Alzheimer's disease in 2014, an event reflected in this book.

You are drawn into the struggle from author Don Fletcher's side, as he tries to understand and cope with what is happening to Martha. At the same time, in alternate chapters before the onset of the disease, you live with Martha an Don through adventures and challenges in the North Chilean desert while they start their family of six children; and with Martha's remarkable career as a church musician, teacher, and choral director in Mexico, Texas, Alabama, and finally back home in New Jersey. The effect of the parallel stories, "before and after," is powerful and the ending poignantly serene.

You are drawn into the struggle from author Don Fletcher's side, as he tries to understand and cope with what is happening to Martha. At the same time, in alternate chapters before the onset of the disease, you live with Martha an Don through adventures and challenges in the North Chilean desert while they start their family of six children; and with Martha's remarkable career as a church musician, teacher, and choral director in Mexico, Texas, Alabama, and finally back home in New Jersey. The effect of the parallel stories, ""before and after,"" is powerful and the ending poignantly serene. Don Fletcher's writing combines the sensitivity of a poet and a religious thinker, reflecting his PhD in English from Princeton University and education as a Presbyterian minister. Having grown up in Korea in a missionary family, he served the church in Chile and the Caribbean, and back in the U.S. he taught English and biblical studies at high school and college levels. Ordained 70 years ago, he still preaches and leads spiritual studies in New Jersey. His other books include Doors of Bronze: a Narrative Poem on the Passion and Triumph of Jesus; Turnings: Lyric Poems Along a Road; I, Lukas, Wrote the Book; View from the Playroom Floor; and The Gift: Looking to Jesus As He Was.

In Dialogues with Jen: On Issues of Daily Living, five friends, representing three generations, get together to discuss contemporary topics that touch their lives. The six dialogues unfold dramatically, reflecting situations of the participants, who share personal insights, sometimes surprisingly. Jen, the senior member, suggests the lead topic of romantic love, and the discussion moves from carnal attraction to conscious, purposeful love, citing Shakespeare's ""marriage of two minds."" Events of the tragic death of one member's sister and a terrorist attack witnessed by another member lead them to consider guilt, justice, and forgiveness. The dialogues are deeply rooted in spirituality, while not specific to any particular religious tradition. The author loosely draws on the classic Dialogues of Plato to develop arguments through the exchange of ideas of his fictional characters. This book is a sequel to Dialogues with Jay: On Life and Afterlife, but can be read independently. ""Don Fletcher invites us into a conversation on the big questions of life: relationships, consciousness, faith, death--above all, love. This brief book is a wise guide and a safe space in which to have the conversation. Dialogues with Jen would be a helpful resource for a small group to begin their own conversation."" --Gregory C. Faulkner, Senior Pastor/Head of Staff, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Cherry Hill, NJ ""For only love, the more you try to give it away, comes back in ever increasing amounts."" --Jeanette Axelrod, Coordinator, Current Affairs Forum, Lions Gate CCRC, Voorhees, NJ Now in his late nineties, Donald R. Fletcher continues to write, publishing eight books since 2003. Born in 1919, he grew up in Korea, son of Presbyterian medical missionaries, earned degrees at Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary, and served the Presbyterian Church in Chile, the Caribbean, and at headquarters. He also taught at high school, college, and university levels in New Jersey, Alabama, and Texas. In 2007 he moved to Lions Gate, a continuing care retirement community, with his wife, Martha, caring for her until her death from Alzheimer's disease in 2014.