This Earthly Pilgrimage: Tales and Observations on the Way

Ragman and Other Cries of Faith, Little Lamb, Who Made Thee? and Miz Lil and the Chronicles of Grace are among Walter Wangerin Jr.'s earliest and best-loved books. Each is a multifaceted jewel containing stories, essays, parables, prayers, and meditations, all bearing the mark of Wangerin's trademark poignancy and lyricism. Yet while the books stand on their individual merits, the author originally conceived them as an interlinking set---a trio that would together weave a complex and vivid tapestry of human experience and 'story theology.' In This Earthly Pilgrimage, these beloved Wangerin classics come together at last, along with brand new writings, in an omnibus that lets the reader trace the tapestry's threads from their source to their completion. The interlocking stories in Ragman and Other Cries of Faith helped usher Walter Wangerin to prominence as a Christian writer. The opening chapter, 'Ragman,' remains one of Wangerin's most popular works and leads the reader into thirty-three other writings in a variety of styles. Ranging from the gently reflective to the incantatory, they are powerful, thought-provoking explorations of the meaning of faith, the person of Christ, the community of believers, and the individual servant of faith. Eleven new pieces make this an updated and definitive edition. The stories, essays, prayers, and poems in Little Lamb, Who Made Thee? continue the themes the author began in Ragman and Other Cries of Faith. Here are children, teenagers, adults, and parents grappling with the deep realities of life. Painting with bold brushstrokes of human emotion and using a wise and gentle humor, Wangerin probes the relationships between children and their parents and what they have to show us about God and ourselves as his children. Like Ragman, this volume includes twelve new stories, fresh from the master storyteller's pen. In Miz Lil and the Chronicles of Grace, a well-conceived unit of twelve beautifully told stories, anecdotes, and reminiscences evokes the experience of growing up American and living out a spiritual quest. Culled from Wangerin's childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and his years as an inner-city pastor, the interwoven stories lend flesh, feeling, and immediacy to themes that are vital to every Christian. With a new Afterword by the author, Miz Lil and the Chronicles of Grace unfolds the moving story of a pastor and storyteller's career and the drama of his faith.