The Way of Grace

Readers' Choice Awards Honorable Mention

Distinguished Honorable Mention, from Byron Borger, Hearts and Minds Bookstore

"No matter how old you are or how many degrees you have or don't have—when grace takes you to school, you start in kindergarten."

This was the experience of Reverend Glandion Carney when he was given the life-altering news that he has Parkinson's disease. He was plunged into denial and despair. This was not supposed to be his journey. How could he face it?

With poignant vulnerability, The Way of Grace describes one man's journey into a new land of God's amazing grace. Both his honesty and his resilience will inspire and inform your own times of difficulty.

In each chapter we are introduced to a spiritual practice that can carry us through difficult days: acceptance, relinquishment, community, simplicity and more. And a guide at the end of each chapter carries us into a brief and refreshing experience with each of the practices.

God's unmerited grace saves us, strengthens us and sanctifies us. We too can experience lives full of grace and truth, courageously searching out God's wonders every day.



Richard J. Foster (D.Th.P., Fuller Theological Seminary) is founder of Renovaré in Denver, Colorado. He is the author of many books, including Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, which has sold over two million copies worldwide, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home, Freedom of Simplicity: Finding Harmony in a Complex World, and coauthor (with Gayle Beebe) of Longing for God: Seven Paths of Christian Devotion.



Marjean Brooks is a writer based in Birmingham, Alabama. She is a member of St. Peter's Anglican Church, where she met and connected with reverend Glandion Carney and his wife, Marion, eventually being asked to partner with him in writing The Way of Grace, his spiritual story of walking through the devastation of Parkinson's disease. She was honored for her work on this book as Writer of the Year at the Write-to-Publish Conference in 2015. Writing poetry, stories and articles on faith have been a lifelong interest and pursuit for Brooks, who has published poems, devotionals and articles in many ministry publications including Briarwood Presbyterian Church, Trinity Counseling and Wales Goebel Ministry. She has written personal memoir pieces in a monthly column in Senior Living newspaper and she serves on the board of InSpero, an organization that seeks to inspire the creative community in Birmingham. For twenty-five years Brooks has been leading hundreds of women in in-depth Bible study (mostly through Precept Ministries) and uses her writings to supplement the courses. Her hope is to combine her teaching/writing skills and her life experiences with divorce, being a single mom while pursuing a teaching career, re-marrying and gaining three step-children and caring for elderly parents in a way that can impact a greater audience and illuminate spiritual truth.



The Reverend Glandion Carney was associate pastor of pastoral care at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham, Alabama, until his recent retirement from active ministry. He was involved in Renovaré for fifteen years in the capacity of spiritual director and board member. He was also chaplain of the Christian Legal Society for twelve years and has published works in periodicals such as Christianity Today in addition to numerous books. Glandion and his wife Marion life in Birmingham where he enjoys volunteering with the Parkinson's Foundation.

Foreword by Richard Foster


1. Facing Reality: The Grace of Acceptance


2. Experiencing the Presence: The Grace of Submission


3. Giving Up: The Grace of Relinquishment


4. Stuck in an Airport: The Grace of Compassion


5. God Is Not Mad at You: The Grace of Trust


6. Wounded Healers: The Grace of Community


7. A Cup of Cool Water: The Grace of Comfort


8. Life in the Slow Lane: The Grace of Simplicity


9. Possibilities: The Grace of Hope


10. Streams of Grace: The Grace of Living a New Way


Acknowledgments


Notes


About the Authors

"Glandion Carney's The Way of Grace is a gift from the heart of one of the very best spiritual directors I have ever known. For some, receiving the dreaded diagnosis of Parkinson's would be a death knell, but for my friend Glandion, it became the occasion to ring a different bell, and to mine his own soul for lessons of grace."



"Glandion Carney walks the path that Jesus walked. He follows him with a cheerful heart, no matter how hard the way. Stones confront us: stern and rugged terrain. But God's grace empowers us. Glandion's charm and steadfast love of the Savior warm and enlighten us in these pages. He relates with simplicity a life lived in trust, in spite of suffering, weakness, aging or illness. Glandion's wisdom shows us a Lord who guards our every step on the toughest mountain path."



"I love this book! It captures the prayerful and compassionate heart of Glandion Carney, a man I was privileged to work alongside in pastoral ministry. Beautifully written, it also reflects the heart of the coauthor, Marjean Brooks—a beautiful woman of deep faith and prayer, graced with the Spirit of God as a writer, teacher, mentor and friend. I highly recommend The Way of Grace to anyone who desires to see beyond the pain to the goodness, complexity and yet the simplicity of the grace of God. Every chapter points to Jesus, full of grace and truth."



"Glandion Carney and Marjean Brooks have written a riveting and soul-piercing book describing his experiences in learning to live with Parkinson's. His inspiring understanding about the amazing grace of God within the deserts of life is applicable to everyone on the journey of faith. We can all learn from reading his story, and will come away knowing how to recognize and receive God's grace in our own hard places."



"Like Glandion in person, Glandion in book form is always the 'real deal.' Anyone facing a seeming debilitating transition or walking alongside that person needs Glandion at their side, telling them both the truths and stories contained in this marvelous book."



"Glandion Carney (with Marjean Brooks) tells of God's amazing grace following Carney's diagnosis of Parkinson's disease in The Way of Grace. With transparency about his own difficulties, Carney, an Anglican priest and speaker with Renovare, discusses the benefits of spiritual practices and the abundance of God's grace."



"The Way of Grace shatters the . . . belief that God's grace appears in forms of prosperity, good fortune, acclaim, the job we wanted or the perfect children. But it reassembles the reality of a grace experienced in unexpected, unsought afflictions and circumstances. . . . A remarkable book of a remarkable God and a man humbled and gifted by brokenness."



"In each chapter we are introduced to a spiritual practice that can carry us through difficult days: acceptance, relinquishment, community, simplicity and more. God's unmerited grace saves, strengthens and sanctifies us. Experience lives full of grace and truth."



"This is a book that deserves our honor, and . . . should be considered a very important book." weniger anzeigen expand_less