As Though We Were Dreaming

As Though We Were Dreaming

Keith Ruckhaus, Randall Heskett (Foreword by)
$32.00
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2013
Publisher:
Resource Publications (CA)
ISBN:
9781625644220
Pages:
252
Available for Order

Description

The Eastern Christian liturgical tradition of Lent has long included the chanting of the Songs of Ascents (Pss 120-134) as ""entrance songs"" of not only the special penance service known as the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, but also of the season of repentance. Ruckhaus' commentary in As Though We Were Dreaming provides theological insight and exegetical breadth to this group of Psalms. Even more so, Ruckhaus drives the reader to engage the Songs of Ascents and participate in the descent and ascent of meaningful and life-changing repentance. The commentary here does more than just compare the struggle of the ancient Jews reflected in the Songs of Ascents with that of the early Christian community and our own experience. Ruckhaus insists on a ""gutteral connection"" between the anxiety and hope of reconstituting the people of God after the disaster of the exile and that of the passion of Jesus. ""The gospel story is already genetically encoded in the story of Israel."" The liturgical incorporation of the Songs of Ascents in the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts ""grounds"" the Church's participation in the Great Story. We don't borrow the ancient psalms of the Jews' struggle to reconstitute a kingdom of God; we share in that struggle.

About the Author

Keith Ruckhaus received his doctorate in Old Testament from the University of South Africa in 2010. He is an active member of the SS Cyril and Methodius Russian Byzantine Catholic community in Denver, Colorado. He authored the book When God Stops Working (2001).