Have a question? Help me update the paperback of Fully Alive
Crowdsourcing an author Q&A for the new edition
Hello dear readers,
The paperback of Fully Alive is coming out this May in the UK, which I am very excited about, not least because hardbacks are expensive and not handbag or pocket friendly (and hence I buy very few). This should hopefully make the book a bit more accessible.
Various of you have got in touch to say you are using the book with a group (including a couple of men’s groups - I am VERY interested in how the Lust chapter is going down there tbh) and requesting a discussion guide. We are working on making that happen, and also creating space for an author Q&A. Rather than trying to guess what someone reading the book would want to ask me, I thought I’d put it out to this very wise and interesting group of people. Working with the publisher, I will curate questions from what you ask me here. If you have read the book, or, frankly, some of it, please add your question in the comments. We will include your name unless you ask me not to. The deadline is 23rd January.
If you haven’t read it (and there are a lot of books in the world to read, no shame) but have a question anyway, do ask it. It won’t go in the paperback but may well help sharpen my thinking here.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Elizabeth
I live in Sweden and ordered your inspiring book in November. I have read it in portions over Christmas. Very relevant stuff to our time, I think. And I love your style of writing! (Bang on the beetroot, as we would say in Swedish.)
As soon as I had finished it, I sent it to a friend in England (Luton), but I still have access to it as an audio book, so I am actually listening to it again now in this format.
My question (maybe a bit off topic, sorry): are there plans to have Fully Alive translated into Swedish? It certainly deserves to be published here as well.
I absolutely loved Fully Alive. Keen to share it with Christian and non-Christian friends alike and chat it through. Already planning to buy a few copies to start conversations with a couple of friends.
My question (to myself most of all), is how to live this out in 2025 in London, with 2 kids, a job, stuck in a flat that's only just big enough?
But also, chatting to others (especially not in church circles) I don't think Christians often realise how different the lives we live are!
Our church in East London has food after the morning service every other Sunday - about 80-100 people eat a simple meal - Windrush generation old ladies from St Lucia sit next to babies of parents from Portugal and Brazil, doctors sit with unemployed. It's a rich and increasingly unique tapestry of London life. We have a homegroup/ small group that rotates around local people and we eat together, read the bible and pray. For us, it's not out of the ordinary to have people in our home, eating with us, hanging out with our children.
As a Christian, I'm aware just how divergent my life in church and then life among neighbours and colleagues is. I think the question to me is, how can I, in some small (but hopefully increasing) way, bring together these groups. I want to share the treasure of life together that we have as church, as well as the treasure of the gospel itself, that fuels us to do these things.
So, to Christians, "What are you already doing in your life/ church, etc that you can invite people into? How can you use what you already have?" Small steps on a longer journey.
To non-Christians/ non church people, "Who is around you already doing the things that we're talking about? Maybe it's a church group offering food, a baby and parent group?" You might feel lonely/ isolated, but there are so many things happening, you just need to look for them.
"Are you willing to visit a slightly odd group of people, in possibly a shabby old building, that doesn't have the shine of something professional, but where you might find true life and where people might actually want to serve you, rather than just take from you?"
Don't know if any of that is useful. But thanks again for writing Fully Alive and for the Sacred.
(In case it's useful, I'm male, 40s, theologically reformed baptist (but try not to be a theo bro), London, long-ago friend of Chris's from UCCF days. He has my email if you need to follow up)