The Time of our Lives

Veronica Zundel

From The Brown Book (LMH) - April 2008

I found this a refreshing and invigorating book. It is hard to resist an introduction which likens the Bible to 'the Monster Book of Monsters that Hagrid gives to Harry Potter'. This vivid image gives the clue to Zundel's approach: the Bible cannot truly be engaged with at a safe distance; it demands that we wrestle with it. And yet it is also a book to be lived by. For me the great strength of these bible reading notes lies in Zundel's showing that it is possible to take the Bible with utmost seriousness as the basis for Christian living and still approach the text critically, recognising its complexities and difficulties.

This is a devotional and not an academic book, hence it wears its scholarship lightly; however, the solid theological underpinning is clearly there. Zundel also shows her grasp of a variety of hermeneutical approaches, though her preference for the narrative approach seems plain. With great skill she allows the Biblical stories and her own story to shed light upon each other, offering but not imposing helpful interpretative signposts, the breadth of her spiritual journey, and the honesty with which she shares it, is an asset here. Likewise, the fact that she writes self-assuredly as a woman brings its own perspective.

From: The Methodist Recorder – 29 March 2007

A collection of Veronica Zundel’s past contributions to a variety of publications is contained in The Time of our Lives, subtitles ‘Journeying with the Bible’. A member of and preacher in the only Mennoninte church in the UK – which she has elected to join because of its pacifist stance – her writings reflect her deep love of the Bible, both for its literary merit and its distillation of age-old wisdom. Since most of the items were originally produced for publication in either Woman Alive magazine or BRF’s New Daylight, they are short and pithy – ideal for reading in a few spare moments or as a morning or evening bedside meditation.

Click the cover for further information or to purchase.