{"product_id":"my-sour-sweet-days-george-herbert-and-the-journey-of-the-soul-9780281080328","title":"My Sour-Sweet Days: George Herbert and the Journey of the Soul","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMark Oakley reveals George Herbert as a fine companion with whom to examine the journey of the soul.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis poems are 'heart-work and heaven-work', embracing love and closeness, anger and despair, reconciliation and hope.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is too an appealing and audacious playfulness about Herbert: he seems to take God on, knowing God will win, confident God will not abandon him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis sense of relationship with God as primarily friendship is one of many intriguing and healing aspects we are invited to consider.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eGeorge Herbert is one of the great 17th century poet-priests. His poems embrace every shade of the spiritual life, from love and closeness, to anger and despair, to reconciliation and hope. And his work is always rich with audacious playfulness: he seems to take God on, knowing God will win, as if he's having an argument with a faithful friend he knows is not going to leave. In much of theology and spirituality, God is a critical spectator to human lives, but for Herbert, his sense of relationship with God is primarily of a friendship that can never be broken. These are some of the themes Mark Oakley explores in this outstanding book\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e'My Sour-Sweet Days contains forty well-chosen poems by George Herbert (widely considered the greatest devotional poet in the English language), each of which is followed by a short but profound reflection by Mark Oakley. The combination is excellent: richly expressive poems and accessible personal meditations. This book powerfully demonstrates how poetry can bring comfort, refreshment and renewed energy to our spiritual lives.'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProfessor Helen Wilcox, editor of the critically acclaimed edition of The English Poems of George Herbert (Cambridge University Press, 2007)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e'It's extremely unusual to meet anyone who isn't a specialist who has such a subtle feeling for language as Mark Oakley does.'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSir Andrew Motion, former Poet Laureate\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMark Oakley is Dean of St John's College, Cambridge, and is a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, King's College London. He was formerly Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, overseeing the arts and learning programmes at the cathedral. Mark writes regularly for the \u003ci\u003eChurch Times\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Tablet\u003c\/i\u003e and broadcasts frequently on BBC Radio 4. His latest bestselling book \u003ci\u003eThe Splash of Words: Believing in Poetry\u003c\/i\u003e (Canterbury Press, 2016) was published to great acclaim. He's also the editor of \u003ci\u003eA Good Year, Readings for Funerals \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eReadings for Weddings \u003c\/i\u003e(SPCK, 2016, 2015 \u0026amp; 2013 respectively).\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"SPCK Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50491648803090,"sku":"9780281080328","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_c9b16e29-60f0-4735-90cf-56847b60e426.jpg?v=1730546046","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/my-sour-sweet-days-george-herbert-and-the-journey-of-the-soul-9780281080328","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}