Eccentricity

The church has been inundated in recent years with literature emphasizing the relational and the value of community. David Auten provides an alternative perspective and counterbalance, bringing our attention back to the other indispensable side to the communal–the individual and the sacredness of the self. Eccentricity is a sustained meditation on this strange and fundamental fact: there has never been, nor will there ever be, another you. You are inescapably and irrevocably different. But what does your difference mean? And who are «you» really? Weaving together insights from Calvin, Caussade, Jung, Derrida, Wolterstorff, and others, Auten guides the reader through a spiritual exploration of the difference implicit in being a self, the divine calling to make a difference, and the interconnectedness of the two. The result is an arresting bricolage reminding us of the wonderfully eccentric nature of human existence.