Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas

by John Blase

Book Overview

This bold retelling of Luke 1-2, based on Eugene Peterson’s Message translation, reads like a novel and invites readers to experience the Nativity with fresh wonder. To Eugene Peterson’s The Message... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1434764656
• ISBN13: 9781434764652
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: David C Cook
• Length: 122 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

A wondrous touch

In wondrous words, John Blase returns us to the dusty days of another century...a time just as full of wondering and waiting as our dusty days here and now are. Walk back into a time and story so familiar that most of us are dulled to its freshness. Give yourself the gift of Advent...waiting again for the Holy One to appear. In this brief book, you will find volumes so deep that you will know, as a tear rolls down your cheek, that you have found a holy offering. Return to the truth of the Christ-birth. Return to the common people encountering an Uncommon God. Walk back to the past, to find, in the here and now, the birth that changed all of life for all who will come, and touch Wonder. John Blase is a master storyteller, wooing us to look afresh, listen with undulled ears, smell the humble places, taste the yearnings long forgotten, and, once more, touch wonder. Such a book brings us again face-to-face with Christ, with Christmas as it once was and can yet again be...God-with-us in the Baby joyously given as the best of gifts.

An awe inspiring reconnection with the wonder of Jesus

"Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas" by John Blase is an unexpected surprise. Twelve chapters that are formatted like devotional reading will draw you completely into the wonder of Christmas at any time of the year. Scripture from The Message translation of the Bible meticulously sets the stage for the heart-felt interpretation of the scene by the author. Frankly, I was surprised at the depth of emotion in Mr. Blase's writing - not just in the commentary, but also in the prayers he includes at the end of each chapter. This is a wonderful book that will grip the heart and woo the reader back to the manger where God entered the world in human form because He wanted humanity to feel His touch. Nothing takes the place of the Bible, but this book will help you to feel that touch of God.

the lofty brought low

Many of us have heard the Christmas Story a bazillion times. It quickly becomes impersonal, just some plastic story about people who aren't even real. The last few Christmases, I've tried hard to put myself in the story as much as possible. To imagine the characters--Mary, Joseph, shepherds--as normal people just like me. People with feelings, weaknesses, fears. I love reading historical fiction accounts that help me empathize, relate, appreciate. (Two from Galilee and the Nativity Story are favorites.) I love how Touching Wonder takes actual Scripture (mainly from the raw, poetic Message Version of the Bible) and then extrapolates on those verses with poignant narration from each of the main players (and some "extras" as well). I'm adding this book to my collection of books that help me truly experience the Christ in Christmas.

An Unexpected Gift

With a title like, Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas, one might be expecting a "how to" Advent or Christmas book. How to DO things which will elicit wonder. However, this special piece goes deeper than that. Blase invites us to actually examine and experience each of the "principle players'" lives in the story of Jesus' birth. He brings us what they might have thought, felt, surrendered, or said. He beautifully meshes his story with The Story, never creating a new reality, but honoring and glorifying Scripture as he brings it to our senses that we may, well, touch it. He also points out that we have a story within The Story, and encourages us to explore that, as well. This is a gentle book. A book which is a little slice of quiet reflection and grace...to be savored at any time, but especially during the "how to" time of Christmas.

Recapturing the Awe of Christmas

It's easy to complain about the consumerism of Christmas. We Christians get all up-in-arms when holiday decorations hit the stores the day after Halloween, when Saint Nicholas is better known as Santa Claus, and when more money is spent on Black Friday at shopping malls than is spent the rest of the year on missions projects. But perhaps a better way to counter the culture is by engaging more in the Christmas narrative. This isn't so easy to do. Although we find nostalgia singing the same carols every year, sometimes the lyrics come out automatically without us really pondering their meaning. Sometimes when we ramble off the Christmas story it sounds as plastic as the figurines in our nativity sets. John Blase's new book, Touching Wonder, is an antidote for going through another "Christmas as normal" season. Blase retells the stories surrounding Jesus' birth, starting with Zechariah being struck dumb in the temple when he finds out he is going to be a late-life father and ending twelve chapters latter with Anna and Simeon viewing the Christ child after his parents bring baby Jesus to the temple to be dedicated. The stories are told from the perspective of the participants, their hopes, fears and feelings expressed with descriptions that will bring you to tears. The Incarnation is truly full of wonder and Blase has artfully crafted these stories to pull the reader into the raw and the reality of Jesus' birth. Each chapter is preceded with a passage of scripture (using Eugene Peterson's, "The Message") and is followed by an application prayer from the heart of the author. The book also has some simple, yet beautiful sketches that fit the stories. Not only do I plan to read "Touching Wonder" during this Advent with my family, I also plan to send this book to several friends. Recapturing the awe of Christmas is truly a gift worth giving!