Walking on a Rolling Deck: Life on the Ark

By Kathleen Berken

Book Overview

In 1999 Kathy Berken left Green Bay, Wisconsin, for her new home as a live-in assistant in a L'Arche community in Clinton, Iowa. Although the life she left was not necessarily one of balmy beaches, she could never have predicted the storms that lay ahead. She found that her new home was not an ark of refuge. However, she also found that God was with her and the members of her house, shaping and guiding them. The story of her journey is told here with verve and honesty. It is a story of breast cancer, of forging relationships, of violence and the struggle to forgive. It is the story of a heart turned to God and changed by love of others. It is ultimately the story of all of our Christian lives, no matter where or with whom we live.

Jesus is truly living in the hearts of those who have been pushed aside. He is not just in gentle and prayerful liturgies but also in the mess of dailiness and of difficult relationships. The crucified Jesus leads to crucified people. The resurrection of Jesus leads us to discover the seeds of resurrection in all the pain of our world and in all the hidden pain in each of us. It leads us to celebration and to laughter. It is a place of healing for us all. Yes, you have well described life in L'Arche home.

To learn more about Kathy Berken and L'Arche Books, please visit the website: www.faithjourneyhope.com

Kathleen Berken is house coordinator for one of three homes in L 'Arche community in Clinton, Iowa, where she lives with five men with developmental disabilities. She was a high school and college math teacher prior to joining the staff of The Compass, the newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay. Berken joined the L 'Arche community in 1999. Her roles of mother, teacher, caregiver, and friend all give dimension to her role as L 'Arche assistant.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814618618
• ISBN13: 9780814618615
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Liturgical Press Academic
• Length: 136 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.8" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Walking on a Rolling Deck: Hits the spot!

Walking on a Rolling Deck: Life on the Ark Berken's first book is amazing! I didn't want to put it down! It hits on everything: spirituality, disability, family, community, cancer, humor and simply living life. Life on the Ark is very real and very down to earth. What makes this book so great is that anyone can read it, and find something to relate to. Anyone who knows someone who has dealt with cancer. Anyone who knows someone with a disability. Anyone who has dealt with divorce, and family, and starting over, and then incorporating the power of spirituality into all of those things. This book is amazing, and no matter who you are, or where you are on your journey, you will learn something from this book... and no doubt you will laugh and cry.

For anyone seeking to quietly contemplate the mystery of God

Walking on a Rolling Deck: Life on the Ark is the true-life memoir of author Kathleen C. Berken, of her life-changing choice to work as a live-in assistant in a L'Arche community in Clinton, Iowa, aiding men with developmental disabilities. A deeply spiritual testimony, Walking on a Rolling Deck tells of the inevitable difficulties of adjusting to change, confronting the specter of breast cancer, but most of all, of the benevolent power of God's love - a power all too often ignored, neglected, or obscured in today's world. Ultimately a simple story of Christian life and the resonance of faith, illustrated with a handful of black-and-white photographs, Walking on a Rolling Deck is highly recommended for Christian readers and anyone seeking to quietly contemplate the mystery of God that permeates even the most mundane aspects of daily life.