Choosing Joy

H. Dempster John A.

Description

Choosing Joy, a deftly-woven mosaic of memories, tells John Dempster's story, with particular focus on his life-long quest to find a way of being which is at once joyful, life-affirming and true to his own experience.There are honest descriptions of spiritual trauma and the anxiety and depression which complicate the author's quest for an inner homecoming. He describes with forgiveness and at times wry humour the effects of the Christian formation he received in childhood; he charts his engagement with evangelicalism, Reformed Theology, the charismatic movement, post-modernism, and most recently faith 'deconstruction' and 'reconstruction'. And he recalls moments of joy, grace and inner wholeness when a Great Love beckons.John Dempster resolves to 'choose joy' - to live, regardless of his emotions, in the light of a fundamental love and joy lying at the heart of all things. But will this vision be strong enough to sustain him?This vivid, unforgettable book is for people who have been wounded by their traumatic experiences of church; for those with mental health issues and their families; for those undergoing 'deconstruction' of their previous Christian belief; for those struggling to free themselves from the burden of other people's expectations and find their authentic selves.'Choosing Joyis a work of integrity and courage, soul-stirring and faith-enhancing.'Steve Aisthorpe, Author ofThe Invisible ChurchandRewilding the Church

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Escocia
• Scotland

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 28 juin 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781803139944
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Commendations
What facets of the young Scot’s family and cultural life most nourish the human spirit? What roles should education and religion play? How have we come to understand God in modern Scotland, and what price love and family ties?
A courageous John Dempster faces these alarming and brave questions as he describes a long and difficult navigation through his young life in late 20 th century West Scotland, battling against an unrelenting and austere Christian legacy. As he emerges from darkness into the sunnier uplands of love and his own family life, we his readers find deep resonance with our own shadowy experiences of cultural conventions, family and institutional life.
Personally, I found this modern Scottish narrative both familiar and encouraging; but with the professional eye of a former psychiatrist and GP, John’s courage, determination and ability to forgive as he relentlessly prioritises character development beyond mental illness, strike me as heroic. Forgive my mixture of Hanseatic languages, but “Scots wha hae angst” should read this book!
Dr Donald Mowat, Retired NHS GP and Psychiatrist

In Choosing Joy , John shares a story that is at once both ordinary and remarkable. Like many of his generation, he has been on a lifelong journey of reconsidering the faith he inherited in childhood. However, the honesty and sensitivity that characterise both his seeking and writing are remarkable. Through seven decades of wondering and wrestling we witness a gradually expanding vision and a deepening experience of the one he comes to know as the Great Love, the source of joy. Choosing Joy is a work of integrity and courage, soul-stirring and faith-enhancing.
Steve Aisthorpe, Church of Scotland Mission Development Worker, Author of The Invisible Church and Rewilding the Church

John’s story, while centred primarily on his quest for spiritual certainty, is not just for those on similar journeys. At its heart, it’s really the story of a young boy of the 1950s and 60s, seeking to find his way through the perils of challenging parental relationships, recurring waves of crippling self-doubt and anxiety, and a desire to find a way to meet the demands of others while retaining his own sense of his identity.
Will he find the love he most desperately seeks? You’ll find yourself shouting to him across the pages, urging him on, warning him, wanting him to break out of the cycles in which he is caught and emerge from his journey unharmed.
The intellectual, self-deprecating charm of his writing and the beautifully chosen anecdotes and observations enhance the telling of his story, a universal, humane and genuinely moving one.
Graham Bullen, Novelist. Author of The Quarant and The Broch


About the author
John A.H. Dempster, born in 1952, studied at Wishaw High School and Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities. He worked in school and public libraries, ultimately specialising in library IT. He has been involved in churches for most of his life and is married with two adult children.


Copyright © 2022 John A. H. Dempster

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

Unless otherwise indicated Bible passages quoted are from the New International Version.
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible,
New International Version® NIV® Copyright ©
1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM Used by permission.
All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations labelled AV are from the Authorised Version (King James Version) of the Bible.

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Remembering
William H. Dempster (2/10/1921 – 3/07/2011)
Helen L. Dempster (née Jackson) (18/3/1923 – 31/5/2005)
in love


Joy does not simply happen to us.
We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.
Henri Nouwen


The winter long,
All uncomplaining stand the trees.
God make my life,
Through all its strife.
As true to Spring as one of these.
Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy


Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,
by the thick darkness that covers my face
Job 23:17


Contents
Foreword
Introduction

PART 1

1. The handwork project
2. The number 13 bus
3. The Tufty Club And The billowing gown
4. ‘I’ve Got An Agatha Christie!’
5. Ticket To Brighton
6. A phone call, And Embassy Tipped
7. Scatology: Eschatology
8. Gunsquad At The Gospel Hall

PART 2

9. Intimidating Perspectives
10. Imaginary Yachts
11. The Sigh Of The Rising Tide
12. Reindeer On The Roof
13. ‘Goodbye October’
14. A Shameful Secret
15. Bam-bam-ba-rambam
16. ‘God Loves You’
17. Faith In Action
18. Big People Cry Too
19. Seeking Something More

PART 3

20. Daring To Disagree
21. Choosing Love
22. Theology In The Labour Room
23. ‘Yes’ Moments
24. Fathering
25. The Fragile Sapling
26. Sitting On The Fence
27. Imperfect Farewells
28. ‘I’ll Never Join A Church Again!’
29. End Of Days?
30. Facing The Window Rather Than The Wall
31. Destinations
32. Lion Or Lamb?
33. Ex-Evangelical

Epilogue
Acknowledgements
References


Foreword
I met John Dempster on Good Friday, 2011. Our friend Duncan MacPherson the Church of Scotland minister at Hilton Church in Inverness had recommended us to one another. As I look back that seemed an appropriate time for us to meet. For Christians, it is a day of deep reflection on the redemptive power of suffering; Christ’s suffering on his cross, and the personal cross each one of us is called to take up in Christian discipleship. It is a day that assures us that even the worst that can happen is used by God to bring about the best. It assures us that our own suffering, bound to Christ’s, is never meaningless but is used to make us more the people we were always meant to be. Somehow, these assurances seem to fit well with both of us and the journeys that we have both been on over the past ten years.
I remember the first meeting well. I found that day a fellow Christian, a kindred spirit and a comrade enquirer. We have been good friends for over ten years now, meeting regularly, usually over a cup of coffee, talking freely about the things that concern us deeply, and listening one another into a place of mutual acceptance and greater understanding. Typical of John, he describes our own meetings very much in terms of what I was able to offer him. I wonder if John realises the extent to which his own journey and searching has been such an encouragement to me. I warmly welcome his spiritual autobiography as something to which I know I will return from time to time in the future, reminding me of my friend and his journey. I also welcome it as a tremendously affirming offering to people of faith everywhere, encouraging us all to ‘trust the process’ and engage with our own spiritual journeys, wherever they take us. I am reminded as I read this book of several of John’s qualities that I hugely admire.
First, there is his gentle positivity. John is a great noticer of the good in other people and in what they have to say. He is capable of homing in on the most positive and helpful aspects of a sermon, or an act of worship, or an individual, where perhaps others have been more distracted by what was awful! Often, he underscores these positive things and offers them back to the original giver in the most encouraging and upbuilding of ways. The same is true of this personal narrative. With aspects of church, or of life, that others might find difficult, or challenging, or just plain wrong, John sees these simply as a part of his journey and treats them with huge generosity and gentle acceptance. Without them, he would not be as he is today.
Second, there is his great honesty. I have always appreciated John’s dissatisfaction with the glib and the clichéd. He asks honest, searching questions and in asking them recalls me to my own attempts to answer these as well as my own working conclusions. Sometimes he asks questions that haven’t even occurred to me and that is a great gift in any friendship. In this book, the reader will notice the questions that John deals with on his journey and the answers he finds. We also notice the answers he does not find and the questions that so far go unanswered. Sometimes these will resonate deeply with our own enquiries. Always, they help us appreciate the value and the rewards of honesty and integrity in dealing with life’s hard questions.
Finally, there is John’s courage. I know that John worries, as we all do. I know that he has periods of despair as so many of us do. Some of these worries are about what others will say or think about us if the truth is known. Some of the despair is about ourselves and whether we will ever li