I started delving into a book that I last read in my mid-20s. I came to it with a purpose. The author used a phrase that has stayed with me for decades, and I’ve used it in a variety of settings, citing him verbally. But now that I’m working on a book myself, I’ve wanted to find the placement of this phrase. I think it might be in this book…? I tried to remember. So I purchased it online.
Now I’m reading it in earnest. I hope to find the phrase — yes — but now, I’m just enjoying the opportunity to revisit the book. In the Company of Others was written by my seminary professor, Dr. David Hadley Jensen. This book was crafted from his dissertation.
He does some heavy and brilliant theological lifting in this book, and it’s been a pleasure to revisit it. And here’s what has surprised me: As I’ve been reading, all of these warm feelings from my seminary days have been returning. I remember what it felt like to belong to this community. I remember how absolutely eager I was in my own learning.
We carry communities within us. Sometimes, we hear a song on the radio, while streaming, or while entering a store, and we are transported back in time. I’m realizing that we can encounter someone’s words as well and be brought back into the same kind of experience.
We all have parts and chapters. And sometimes, they are reinvigorated in these ways. I’m feeling this part of me in the present, and it’s lovely to encounter this community again.
—Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 