Joseph
A Story of Resilience
Joseph
A Story of Resilience
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Paperback / softback
£12.99
Publisher: SPCK Publishing
ISBN: 9780281081080
Number of Pages: 192
Published: 18/06/2020
'This book is electric. Meg Warner has that rare knack of using personal story to bring the biblical story to life... It makes for compulsive reading.'
Nicholas Holtam, Bishop of Salisbury
You may think you know the story of Joseph, but this book will make you think again! It invites you to think deeply about Joseph’s character and how he responds to the traumatic events that threaten to overwhelm him. Lacing her commentary with telling anecdotes from her own life story, Meg Warner shows how a deeper understanding of Joseph's story can help you develop the vital quality of resilience: the will and the strength to endure life's hardships and rise above the effects of trauma whenever it may strike.
'With characteristic deftness, disarming honesty and exegetical skill, Meg Warner makes the story of Joseph a parable for our lives and times.'
Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
'A great read for individuals, this book is also an invaluable resource for groups.'
Liz Boase, University of Divinity, Australia
1 The dreamer 1
Genesis 37
Why 'resilience'? 2
Meeting Joseph 6
The effects of trauma 10
'Um, it was the Ishmaelites - no, wait,
it was the Midianites...' 12
Trauma and resilience... 14
Your resilience journey 16
Then Jacob tore his garments... 19
What's in a name? 21
The Dreamer 24
2 The seduction 26
Genesis 38-39
#MeToo 29
What Joseph does next... 33
He's such a girl... 35
The compulsion to repeat 39
Victims and victimizers 41
Where is God in this? 44
Joseph in jail 50
3 The Egyptian 52
Genesis 40-41
The Dreamer becomes the Dream Whisperer 55
Resilience in the short and long terms 57
The therapeutic power of stories 61
Joseph does some reframing 62
Reframing Joseph, you and me 67
Resilience and biblical storytelling 71
You and me and our stories 76
4 The brothers 78
Genesis 42-47.12
The second resilience factor - 'recruiting' 79
Joseph's brothers go to Egypt 82
Joseph the recruiter? 85
You and Joseph 87
Trauma and biblical narrative 89
Judah steps up 91
Joseph the recruiter? (again) 95
Resilience, recruiting and manipulation 98
5 The saviour 100
Genesis 47.13-26
'Resolve' 102
Joseph in crisis 106
The lure of power 108
Resilience at any cost? 110
The trauma cycle today 114
Chosen trauma 115
Resilience as team sport 118
What of the biblical story? 121
Resolve revisited 122
And Gilead? 123
6 The blessings 125
Genesis 47.27-50.26
Resilience and happy endings 126
Jacob's blessings 128
Reframing as competitive sport 131
Going back home 133
WWGiTFY? (Where Was God in That For You?) 135
Inheriting 138
The inheritance of the firstborn 140
Blessing of the firstborn 142
The deaths of Jacob and Joseph 145
A strange story 146
And they all lived happily ever after... 148
