The Irrational Season
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
"We aren't persecuted very much nowadays, we Christians, at least not overtly. But in point of fact there is a good bit of sub-rosa persecution, ridiculing if not reviling. . . . Those who look down condescendingly on us call this promise pie-in-the-sky and hope to demolish it by ridicule. The blessedness of being persecuted does indeed promise us heaven and we're not, and we're not very good about heaven. The problem with all that is promised the Christian, and it's spelled out very clearly in the Beatitudes, is that it's too good to be believed."
But Madeleine L'Engle does believe, and shares her belief in a most personal, compelling way. The struggle to be human in the late years of the twentieth century, and with that humanity to find out what she believes about God and mankind, is offered to the reader with rare candor. To be a woman, a wife and mother, to have a career, involves conflict of all kinds: "But I am not at all convinced that life without conflict is desirable. There's not much conflict in the grave, but while we're alive the only creative choice is the choice of conflict." The Irrational Season is a gifted woman's journey through the seasons of the year--and the heart--to the fullness of Christian life.
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