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    Punching Holes in the Dark: Living in the Light of the World
    Punching Holes in the Dark: Living in the Light of the World
    Punching Holes in the Dark: Living in the Light of the World
    Ebook105 pages1 hour

    Punching Holes in the Dark: Living in the Light of the World

    By Robert Benson

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    We do not, and cannot, by definition, know much about the kingdom to come. But the “One Who Came Among Us” not only came to reassure us of the gift of the kingdom that is yet unseen but to proclaim the presence of the kingdom is already among us—even when we cannot see it and we cannot hear it.

    Sometimes we cannot see much evidence of the kingdom that is already here. How do we find it, not lose sight of it, and even share its message of hope with others in the darkness?

    In Punching Holes in the Dark, author Robert Benson helps us discover strength in the gifts of the Spirit and encourages us all to start punching holes—as hard as we can, as often as we can—to let the Light of the world sneak i


    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAbingdon Press
    Release dateSep 6, 2016
    ISBN9781501822599
    Punching Holes in the Dark: Living in the Light of the World
    Author

    Robert Benson

    Robert Benson is an acclaimed author and retreat leader who writes and speaks on the art and the practicality of living a more contemplative and prayerful life in the modern world. He has published more than a dozen books about the search for and the discovery of the sacred in the midst of our everyday lives. His works include Between the Dreaming and the Coming True, Living Prayer and Digging In: Tending to Life in Your Own Backyard. His writing ranges from books on prayer and spirituality to travel and gardening to baseball and the Rule of St. Benedict. Benson's writing has been critically acclaimed in publications from the New York Times to USA Today toSpirituality & Health to the American Benedictine Review. He is an alumnus of The Academy for Spiritual Formation, a member of The Friends of Silence & of the Poor, and was recently named a Living Spiritual Teacher by Spirituality&Practice.com.

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      Punching Holes in the Dark - Robert Benson

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      Praise for Punching Holes in the Dark

      Praise for Punching Holes in the Dark

      Robert Benson writes in a voice at once tender and warm, an old-friend voice, the sort that seeps so easily into your heart. He’s given us—in words emphatically whispered—a holy mantra, a charge, a sacred instruction: Punch holes in the darkness. Yet, he offers, too, the promise: The Light will come. And, finally, the lasting exhortation: Be the Light. This often darkening world needs Robert Benson and his light-seeking charge. —Barbara Mahany, author of Slowing Time

      Today’s world is filled with darkness—both within and without. But what are we going to do about it? Reading the exquisite words of Robert Benson might be just the catalyst one needs in order to muster the courage for punching holes in the dark. With eloquent vulnerability, Benson reveals his own deep struggle to reconcile the Christ-follower’s mandate to bring Light to the world with how we all too often stumble and fail in the process. But he leaves us with bright visions of possibility and stories calling us to notice the sacred among the ordinary. I suspect you might read this book at least twice and then, if you’re like me, endeavor to do the following: ‘Where there is Light, we are to celebrate. Where there is darkness, we are to raise our fist and punch a hole in it—as hard as we can, as often as we can.’ —Lucinda Secrest McDowell, author of Dwelling Places, blogger at EncouragingWords.net

      God is everywhere. Sometimes, however, our eyes are blinded by pain and loss and confusion. Robert Benson helps us open them. His words leap from the page into the heart, helping us discover and discern God’s eternal presence and wisdom. —Rabbi Evan Moffic, author of What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Jewishness of Jesus and What Every Christian Needs to Know About Passover

      "This book is beautiful. The words and the message. Benson has given us a gift with Punching Holes in the Dark. Those wrestling with darker times in their own lives or those grieving the darkness of violence, poverty, fear, and hatred in our world will be reminded that darkness does not win in the end, that we are not in perpetual night, but that the light of dawn can and does and will break through. This is the kind of book that you share with everyone in your life. They and you will be blessed." —The Reverend Chaz Howard, PhD, author of Pond River Ocean Rain and University Chaplain of the University of Pennsylvania

      Praise for Robert Benson’s Previous Works

      Praise for Robert Benson’s Previous Works

      It is a great irony that all of us who love Jesus and know that he prays for us, even now, that we ‘may all be one,’ have such a difficult time loving one another. Robert Benson doesn’t exactly tell us how to do it, but he does tell an honest story about the ways that Jesus’ prayer is getting worked out in his own life. —Eugene Peterson, Professor Emeritus, Regent College, author of over thirty books, including the Gold Medallion Award winner The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language

      In looking at his own life with candor and hope, Robert Benson helps us to look at our own. His words have the ring of truth. —Frederick Buechner, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, author of A Long Day’s Dying, The Sacred Journey, Now and Then, Telling Secrets, and The Eyes of the Heart

      The work instilled in me an awe that has been lacking in my relationship with God. And a deep desire for liturgy that has been dormant for decades. I’m sure this was meant to be a book one savors over days, but I inhaled it all at once. —Liz Curtis Higgs, author of more than thirty books, with more than 4.5 million copies in print

      For such a teacher as this, all the Church should be grateful. —Phyllis Tickle

      Benson’s writing is spare, simple, understated, always faintly humorous, and very forceful without seeming to be. He writes cleanly and honestly. He writes lovingly, yet never with sentimentality. He writes helpfully, yet never with a secret agenda of telling us ‘how to.’ —Paula D’Arcy, author of Song for Sarah, The Divine Spark, and Gift of the Red Bird

      Benson challenges each of us to reexamine what it means to be a follower of Jesus in the diverse body of Christ. —Dave Burchett, author of Bring ’Em Back Alive and When Bad Christians Happen to Good People

      In this so-beautiful book, Robert Benson provides the sky in which your soul can soar. You can fly. —Leonard Sweet, author of The Gospel According to Starbucks

      Robert Benson reminds us of what we too often forget—that the ground we walk upon is sacred. —Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, coauthors of Spiritual Literacy and directors of SpiritualityandPractice.com

      Again and again, Robert Benson speaks to my heart. —Luci Shaw, writer-in-residence, Regent College, and author of Water Lines

      As always, Benson’s deceptively simple storytelling sneaks up on you. His style—a fusion of gentleness, raw truth, and quiet power (remind you of anyone?)—is put to good use. —Nikki Grimes, award-winning author

      Robert Benson has a lyrical style that winds itself around your heart, then lowers the boom with a heavy dose of realism. —Carol Holquist, editor

      Praise from Media for Robert Benson’s Works

      Praise from Media for Robert Benson’s Works

      It is a personal essay of sorts, the kind which is a joy to read . . . so personal that the reader will feel he knows Robert Benson as an old friend. It is disappointing to awaken from the text and realize otherwise. —BookPage

      Benson’s tone remains chatty and down-to-earth, and the analogies he draws hit the mark. —The New York Times Book Review

      . . . charming and elegantly written. . . . That rare gift, a thought-provoking record of his own spiritual quest for God through the dark night of depression. . . . Willa Cather’s phrase, ‘Thy will be done in art as it is in heaven’ could serve as an epigraph to this fine work. —Publishers Weekly

      The author’s language is graceful and his ideas graced. —American Benedictine Review

      . . . a refreshingly candid, funny and deeply serious look at his life and how the mystery of prayer came to be a part of it. —Knoxville News-Sentinel

      In his use of traditions and time-honored mentors ranging from Church fathers and mystics of Jewish and eastern persuasions, he sows broadly and deeply, making this book a universal read. —Praying

      One does not read an account such as Benson’s to get a theology lesson as much as to stand alongside someone who is listening to God. Reading becomes a kind of sanctified eavesdropping, standing by a cracked-open chapel door to overhear what God tells Benson so we, too, can hear the Voice we long to hear. Because of Benson’s courage and honesty, we hear and learn. —Weavings: A Journal of the Christian Spiritual Life

      Title Page

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      Copyright Page

      punching holes in the dark

      Living in the light of the world

      Copyright © 2016 by Robert Benson

      All rights reserved.No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Permissions, The United Methodist Publishing House, 2222 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., P.O. Box 280988, Nashville, TN, 37228-0988 or e-mailed to permissions@umpublishing.org

      Macro Editor: Ramona Richards

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Benson, Robert, 1952- author.

      Title: Punching holes in the dark : living in the light of the world / Robert Benson.

      Description: Nashville : Abingdon Press, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references.

      Identifiers:

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