Herbert O'Driscoll

“I would like to think that there are things in my own life that might attract the interest of others–even if only to spark in them a recollection of similar escapades and experiences of their own.”—Herbert O'DriscollBeloved preacher and author, Herbert O’Driscoll, offers his life story in his own words. The first section includes memories from his childhood and student years lived mainly in the south of Ireland. The second section tells stories from his years of active ministry in Canada, the United States, and other parts of the world church. The last portion recalls experiences from his retirement years and his facilitation of pilgrimages to the Middle East, Ireland, and Great Britain.“One could say it has been a relatively unadventurous life, but it is one in which I have been given gifts of love and friendship, and opportunities to learn and grow, far beyond my counting or deserving . . . These pages allow me to revisit in memory the times when, and places where, I was given something of lasting, permanent value—an image, an idea, an insight—and the people who gave them to me or in whose company I shared them.”

• New book from renowned Anglican storyteller and preacher • Puts reader into the heart of the biblical world • Chapters can be used for personal devotion or as discussion-starters for groups How do the scriptures speak to us today? Where do our stories mirror biblical stories? Herbert O’Driscoll, beloved Anglican preacher, storyteller, author, and hymn writer, invites us to imagine what the “back story” of our favorite scriptures might have been. By doing Christian midrash—telling the stories within the Story—Dr. O’Driscoll has filled in the gaps by creating new homilies and parables based on the text. Some are narratives, such as Jesus wondering about his cousin John as a twentysomething activist, and Mary’s thoughts as she knelt at the foot of the cross. Others ask you to imagine a bundle of letters from early Christians that “might have been written if we could only find them,” like Philemon’s response to Paul’s request on behalf of a runaway slave, or a letter from a student-aged Judas Iscariot written to his parents expressing his excitement about a rabbi whose teaching he finds fascinating. Each of the twenty-eight short chapters offers a glimpse of the thoughts and emotions of individuals found in the Christian Testament, bringing alive the sights, sounds, and smells of the Holy Land.

Few Anglican theologians today are as conversant about the reality and meaning of the Incarnation in the lives of ordinary women and men as Herbert O’Driscoll. In his newest book, O’Driscoll helps us find the presence of Christ in those places we would rather avoid: the sorrows, the heartbreaks, and the challenges of everyday living. O’Driscoll argues that in the details of Jesus’ life on earth lie the source of his very real presence in our lives today. Following the stories in the Gospels, we find Jesus in relationship with those around him. In his joys and sorrows, we can see reflected our own experiences, and take strength in the knowledge that Jesus has walked this way before us, and indeed, is walking with us now. “Jesus’ choices, like ours, depend for their success on the vagaries of human nature in those whom he has chosen. There are no simple categories such as bad and good, weak and strong, wise and foolish in this circle around Jesus. In each of them, showing now an eager and dedicated face, all these things are woven together.” —from God with Us