‘Precarious’ is a troubling kind of word. I think of a rickety step ladder, or the worrying state of someone’s health, or the position of many a local church. Yet two books I have recently read have used the word in a way which troubled, intrigued and then challenged me. Rachel Mann in her book Love’s Mysteries writes that precariousness is a crucial dimension of a good life and that Christ knows our precariousness from the inside. WH Vanstone in his book Love’s Endeavour, Love’s Expense writes that God’s activity is precarious creativity poised between triumph and tragedy…

Sheila Maxey is a member of Ingatestone United Reformed Church, Essex

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This is an extract from an article published in the October 2024 edition of Reform

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