Jo Swinney Ä 4 Free download
Where is Home?
This question troubles many of us. We may live far from where we grew up, away from those we love or in a culture not our own. But we all need somewhere to belong, to find a sense of home in this world.
Jo Swinney was born in the UK, but grew up in Portugal and France. She went to an English boarding school, did a gap year in southern Africa and in her twenties studied theology in Canada, where she met her American husband. Now back in the UK, shes had reason than most to wonder what home really means.
Is home where you come from where you live now where the people you love are or what?
Interweaving a frank and poignant retelling of her own story with theological and psychological insights, Jos original and authentic exploration of home in all its many and varied forms is a heartfelt call to find our home in the things that are truly of most value. Home: the quest to belong
Home is where the heart is and Jo Swinney certainly wears her heart on her sleeve. Jo is first and foremost an author and so it reads really well and she also speaks with authority not only from her vantage point but also drawing on her theological qualifications as her personal story is interspersed with the life of King David. This book is easy to read and it can be read through in a week or you can take your time and read a chapter (put it down for a few weeks) and pick it up again and have no problem getting back into the groove.
Thank you Jo for writing this, I identified with some of the writing as a Welsh man (my home) in England's green and pleasant land (my current home) and the home to come (heaven). Diolch yn fawr! English Half memoir, half exploration of the concept of home, this is a fantastic book on where we find our belonging. Swinney’s background is fascinating, as someone who grew up in England and Portugal, moved to Canada and met an American husband, and now lives back in England.
I have a fondness for cross cultural mission, and was always drawn to the idea that it is a better way of being, because we belong to the world rather than just one nation. However, this book points out the downsides to this: that if you move a lot as a kid you lose your sense of belonging and home, and that can have emotional repercussions. Through her story, she builds a defence for our innate need for a home, linking it with David’s life in the Bible.
Her writing is so absorbing that I found myself turning the pages to get to the next part of her story, and the Bible exegesis was fresh and thoughtful. This is one I have talked about a lot all summer, a real conversation starter definitely check it out. Highly recommended.
*I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review, which this is* English What I found useful and interesting in this book is the emphasis on different ways in which one can be at home (or not). We can consider that feeling at home or feeling settled, or rooted, in many different aspects of one's life rather than one global sense, and that I found it very important to consider, coming from a fellow traveller. However, the rest of the book has been written from a heavily Christian religious perspective, which colours it completely. The biblical analysis and examples, from my point of view, lacked depth and nuances, and again were very heavily geared from a very particular ways of reading the Old Testament. Of course this perspective deserves as much light as any other, but I would have preferred to have known this before I bought the book. English Really enjoyed reading this bookand would like to read it again with highlighter pen in hand. It is especially interesting for those who have moved around a lot in life it is a must read for TCK's (Third Culture Kids). It is an easy read, humorous and thought provoking. English A beautifully written exploration of home encompassing psychology and theology which resonated with the need for finding a place to call home. English
An outstanding book for anyone unsure where home is. English
