We, the Ordinary People of the Streets

Download or read book We, the Ordinary People of the Streets written by Madeleine Delbrêl and published by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. This book was released on 2000 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We, the Ordinary People of the Streets comprises the powerful reflections by Madeleine Delbrêl (1904-1964), an award-winning poet, writer, and Catholic layperson whose conviction and insight led her to a life of social work in the atheistic, Communist-dominated city of Ivry-sur-Seine, France. Delbrêl draws from her own experiences living in Ivry, witnessing to the possibility of a life at once rooted radically in the church and fully engaged in the world. This posthumously published collection spans Delbrêl's life, from a piece she wrote as a seventeen-year-old atheist to her later Christian works. Her passionate essays explore the Christian's role in a secular society, the difficulty of faith in an atheistic environment, the need for prayer, the centrality of the church, and the fundamental importance of loving both God and our neighbors.