You Tube Theology

CONTENT 00:00:00 Intro. 00:03:01 Introduction to the interview. 00:04:31 Sam tells a little about himself. 00:11:53 Sam talks about his deepest longing. 00:15:02 Sam talks about five books/texts that have influenced him a lot (besides novels). 00:22:30 Sam talks about the background to the book "Walk Humbly" ("Vandra dmjukt") 00:30:56 Sam reflects on three quotes from his book: Quote 1: "Gratitude is the moment we turn from seeing dependence as a burden and begin to see it as a gift." 00:37:26 Quote 2: "Our first gift is presence and attention." 00:42:17 Quote 3: "... church is the principal and definitive way essence [God] takes form in existence, from the moment Jesus departed till the moment essence pervades existence and Jesus is all in all." 00:47:35 End of the interview. INTRODUCTION Sam Wells is finally being published in Swedish. It is Spricka frlag which is publishing his book "Walk humbly" ("Vandra dmjukt", in Swedish). I, Bengt Rasmusson, therefore took the opportunity to do an interview with him. Sam is priest in St Martin-in-the-Fields in London and is a much appreciated and recognized preacher and theologian. He is also a very prolific writer and has to date written over 35 books. The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, describes Sam as: "an outstanding thinker and an outstanding pastor." And I cannot help but agree! The interview became something much more than that just a kind of advertisement for the book: Sam is generously open. He tells about his background which contains both security and tragedy. He glares a little at his deepest longing and tells about five books or texts which was crucial to his development as a theologian. We also get a taste of themes that are central in Sam's theology and authorship. For instance, God's permanent resolve never to be except to be with us and that Jesus is therefore not a kind of backup plan that God had to resort to because of man's fall into sin. Or this: "Gratitude", as he says, "is the moment we turn from seeing dependence as a burden and begin to see it as a gift." He also talks about why Christians involvement in church and society more should be about "being with" than about "working for", i.e. that presence is more important than solutions, that beauty is more important than "happiness", and that friendship is more important than so-called results. So whether you want to read the book or not, this interview can give a lot to think about when it comes to what is most important in life.