In 2006 I read a book that changed my life. I’ve always been a bookworm, but this one I couldn’t put down til it was finished some time in the early hours of the morning. It was such an ‘aha!’ moment where so many of my desires and heartaches came into focus and started to make sense. I knew what I wanted and I no longer felt guilty or dreamy for wanting it.
What was it all about? Basically, the heart. And love. Real love. Why I wanted it. Why I hadn’t found it. And most importantly, a new hope that I could find it.
Since then, I’ve spent most of my free time, a large proportion of work time and even my academic life on studying, learning, adapting, talking about, teaching, and trying to live this vision of new hope I’d discovered that night in that book.
Why have I bothered?
Well, in a world where there’s so much heartache and disillusionment (divorce, depression, abortion, abuse), there is something that sees through the gloom to the breaking hearts that really are in search of something true, good and beautiful. This ‘something’ proposes answers, provides hope, offers a fresh start. This is truly good news! Good news for your marriage, for your friendship, for your relationships and for an understanding of who you are and what you are created to be.
It goes right to the core of who we are, engaging with the topic of our sexuality in a way that resonates in each one of us – because we are all human. It is a way of speaking to teenagers in a way they will understand and relate to. It is a way for husbands to understand their wives and wives to understand their husbands. It is a way for parents to raise children. It is a light to shine on the path of life we all struggle along.
Along my path I have met many people inspired to change their lives, people given new hope, people finding answers they didn’t know existed, people finding true joy through a message that finds God revealed through their very own body.
This inspires me to keep going. To keep sharing this vision with as many people as possible. NewHope Talks is how I am trying to do this.
Incidentally, the book I read on the night that started all this was Theology of the Body for Beginners by Christopher West. And if you’re not sure what Theology of the Body is, check out my post: The Shortest Ever Summary of Theology of the Body.
“I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full” John 10:10