God with Us: The Companionship of Jesus in the Challenges of Life

A.J. Pell is rector of Christ Church in Hope, B.C., editor of the
Canadian Evangelical Review, and an instructor of Liturgy, Anglican
Studies Programme at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia.

In a series of 33 meditations, O’Driscoll takes us through the life
story of Jesus, from Gabriel’s announcement to Mary’s pregnancy that
leads to his birth, to the risen Jesus appearing to Peter on a Galilean
shore. His intent is to discover in Jesus’ life pointers to help us
face the challenges of life and the frustrations of being human.

The meditations are divided into eight sections: Beginnings, Community,
Encounters, Vision, Transformation, Healing, Cost, and New Life. The
short introduction that prefaces each section is a meditation in its own
right. In fact, these are among the best in the book. While the numbered
meditations are predominantly retellings of the scriptural passages on
which they are based, with only a paragraph or two of meditation on the
texts, these eight introductions are a page and a half of focused
meditation.

God with Us is O’Driscoll’s best book in several years. Here he
does not have to stretch ideas to make a series of readings work
together, as he did in his multi-volume reflections on the Sunday
lectionary readings. And there is none of the slightly self-conscious
and didactic tone he used to make points in Conversations in Time.
Instead, O’Driscoll has given us a quiet and indeed meditative volume
that will warm many a soul.