Columbia Celebrates Book Launch!
Students and staff came together on January 19th to celebrate the very recent publication of Gareth Brandt’s new book entitled Under Construction: Reframing Men’s Spirituality (Waterloo: Herald, 2009). Gareth gave an overview of the history of the book which grew from some personal reflections during a recent sabbatical, to the sharing of these reflections with a group of men from within the local community, as well as a group outside the area via email. All of this eventually led to the encouragement to give these reflections a wider audience through publication and voila! the book was born.
Gareth explained that his reflections were based on metaphors taken from the Joseph story rather than on the popular archetypes of warrior, lover, adventurer and so on. He emphasized the collaborative and community components rather than the competitive and destructive. Male spirituality is both “under construction” and “constructive”—working together with God and others.
The students and staff at Columbia listened with enthusiasm, purchased almost all the copies available (with some buying multiple copies for the men in their lives), and left with a new appreciation for this whole topic.
Congratulations and thanks, Gareth, for your willingness to give us a book that reflects another perspective on an important topic.
If you are interested in purchasing a copy, check out your local Christian bookstore or go to Mennonite Publishing Network on the web.
