Living the Resurrection: The Risen Christ in Everyday Life

The resurrection of Jesus is one of the central foundations which give the Christian hope and assurance in life. In this little volume Peterson tries to explain what living the resurrection is, how to go about it and strategies to cultivate it in everyday life. There is a threefold aim to the book (pg. 14):What i want to do is recover our resurrection center and embrace the formation traditions that develop out of it. I'm going to deal in turn with threes aspects of Jesus' resurrection that define and energise us as we enter the practice of resurrection lives. I will then set this resurrection life lived out of reality and conditions of Jesus' resurrection in contrast to what i consider the common cultura habits about assumptions that are either oblivious to or make detours around resurrection. I will name this "the deconstruction of resurrection". Finally, i will suggest something of what is involved in cultivating the practice of resurrection: living appropriately and responsively in a world in which Christ is risen.With this beginning Peterson sets out on his task and by the end of the book i don't think he got there. In many instances the book is rather confusing and talks in generalities and broad terms about life and "living the resurrection". While the book may try to define what "living the resurrection" is I myself didn't find the answer or found it awfully odd. What i got out of it was that "living the resurrection" involved keeping a Sabbath, witnessing, getting baptised and having meals with friends. In the final chapter i sensed that the summary of "living the resurrection" was simply to live a life that isn't over-run by busyness. The book left me confused as to what actually "living the resurrection" is. I don't think it achieved its aims, however, if it did then it wasn't clear enough for me. It does have some good things to say about those four or five topics mentioned above but for what it says its going to do i don't think it does.

Eugene Peterson invites readers to look at the Resurrection as a life-changing event that impacts daily life. Too often daily life can take its toll and the wonder of the Resurrection fades. In this book, Peterson calls us to revisit the Resurrection and experience the Resurrection through the eyes of the first witnesses and he does so by inviting us to look at Resurrection Wonder, Resurrection Meals, and Resurrection Friends with fresh eyes.The shared experience of fear and wonder, added to the sharing of meals and through the Lords Supper ordinance brings us together as equals and friends in the presence of Jesus. Spiritual formation is not something that should happen as we check off the next item on our list of spiritual disciplines, rather it happens as we live the resurrection together.While most Christians would say that Easter is one of the two most important days in the Christian calendar, most are not living as if Easter has any connection with their daily lives. After reading this book, I was challenged to allow the truth of this sacred day to be the center of spiritual formation in my life. Too often church leaders look at the Easter Service-and-all-that-has-to-be-done-to-prepare-for-it rather than look to Jesus. I would highly recommend this book to those who are church leaders as well as believers seeking to look to Jesus.

This was good but not what I expected. I was a little disappointed that it didnt have teaching and examples of how to live the resurrected life in Christ.