The Christian life is to be lived in the realities of daily life and in the public arena. In our family, the work-a-day world, and in the other spheres of life, we seek to be the followers of Christ. And we do this as best as we can when we enhance relationships, work for the common good, seek to be a healing presence, practice love and forgiveness and live a life of prayer in friendship with God and in service to the world.
To do this well calls us to integrate and apply the gospel and the teaching and preaching of the church into the fabric of daily life. Integration will always be a challenge for us, since we are asking for the wisdom of God and the leading of the Spirit in order to know how to act in the circumstances of our lives.
It should not surprise us, therefore, that we are increasingly turning to writers who are open and vulnerable in sharing something of their journey of faith with a wider audience. Marlene Go is one such person. And we commend this book to you, which opens windows into Chinese cultural wisdom, the power of the gospel, the challenges of faith, and the realities of hardships and difficulties.
There are many reasons why we are turning to authors who give us something of a layperson’s version of narrative theology. The main reason is that, while we are not looking for messiahs and heroic figures, we are, at this point in the history of the church, looking for examples and encouragement. And this is happening because, by and large, the contemporary church is not good in the task of forming people in the faith.
While we may be taught how to pray or how to witness, the church is not that good in helping its members to live the Christian life well in all the spheres of life. Formation for life is what is urgently needed.
The value of this book lies not in a call to copy Marlene Go. Its value lies in seeing how this author has sought to live the gospel and to be a person of faith, prayer and service in the circumstances of her life. Thus, she is acting as a mirror. And the hope is that we will see more of the grace of God and more of who we are and who we need to become because we have taken the time to gaze into the mirror of this person’s life.
CHARLES RINGMA
Theologian, Author