Product Description

Brennan Manning believes that all changes in the quality of life must grow out of a change in our vision of reality. Calling into question the prevailing vision of God as a remote overlord who alternately purveys judgment and blessings to his creatures below, Manning shows how this distorted image of God leads to a spirituality that is shallow and ultimately in conflict with the message of the Gospel.

Rooted in the author's compelling grasp of God as a loving parent, The Wisdom of Tenderness gently invites us to embrace the unfathomable mercy, grace, and love of God. By relating to God as a loving parent with the heart of tenderness, we can develop a spiritual life that allows us to let go of worry, stop organizing everything as a means to an end, and begin to live fully in the awareness of God's infinite grace and mercy in each moment. As we come to accept the tenderness of God, our hearts will begin to open, our minds can discern truth, and we can more readily see the divine in others.

A profound exploration of the challenges of Christian living, The Wisdom of Tenderness leads readers to a greater experience of compassion, forgiveness, reconciliation, and reverence.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1333394 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This testament to God's tenderness is a modern-day epistle to churches, though its core message is sometimes obscured by the author's personal issues with the institution. Manning, a retreat leader and author who married after leaving a religious community in which he had been a priest, is openly critical of churches and leaders that have failed to reflect and transmit the tenderness of God. Because of this, his words can be harsh, perhaps by prophetic necessity, but this tone sometimes detracts from the tenderness of which he speaks. Manning came to write on the subject when, after an extended time of silence spent in the Allegheny Mountains in western Pennsylvania, he heard a single phrase in his head and heart: "Live in the wisdom of accepted tenderness." In elaborating on this inner directive, he draws on a wide range of sources, including Daniel Berrigan, Ken Keyes and C.S. Lewis, giving his work an ecumenical flavor. He is most effective, however, when he uses his own life as illustration, relating how alcoholism made him keenly aware of God's tenderness and mercy. Manning writes for the individual and the institution, and both will benefit from listening to his words. Especially those who long to hear more about divine mercy from the pulpit and see it reflected in their leaders and institutions will welcome his brief treatise.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The author of ten books, including The Ragamuffin Gospel, Manning examines the transformative possibilities of sin and pain and how they compel us through suffering to find our way to spiritual maturity and ultimately to the quality Manning calls tenderness. This book, like Daniel Lanahan's recent When God Says No: The Mystery of Suffering and the Dynamics of Prayer, is well suited to the present moment and should find a broad and appreciative audience. For most collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
“Those who long to hear more about divine mercy ... will welcome his brief treatise.” (Publishers Weekly )

“An extraordinarily vivid picture of the love of God...” (Crystal Lewis, Singer/ Songwriter )

“This is the demanding, unyielding, impatient tenderness of God that will ... give your heart new life.” (John Ortberg, author of "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat" )

“For every thirsty pilgrim who has wandered life’s desert seeking an oasis of grace, your search is over.” (Philip Gulley, author of Just Shy of Harmony )

“A passionate, luminously articulate challenge to Christians to move beyond fashionable idolatries and become authentic followers of Jesus...” (The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette )