Lights a Lovely Mile Collected Sermons of the Church Year

Never-before-published wisdom for each season of the Christian year, from the preaching days of the beloved author and translator of The Message Bible

"The glorious, never-dull reality of the gospel is this: Christ sets us free. All of us can be doers of the word, using the stuff of the everyday to make something to the glory of God."

Long before the publication of his acclaimed books or iconic translation of The Message, Eugene H. Peterson faithfully preached to the small congregation of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland. As the seasons passed, with their fasts and feasts, his words marked time and cultivated souls. 

Now you can join Eugene for a year of his most compelling never-before-published preaching. Following the calendar of the Christian year, from the darkness of Advent to the light of Epiphany, the wilderness of Lent to the celebration of Easter, the fire of Pentecost to the everyday glory of Ordinary Time, these remarkable sermons mark the highs and lows of Christian life, pointing us to the eternity behind our experience of time. 

Edited carefully to preserve his trademark wit and wisdom, with a title drawn from one of Eugene's favorite poems by G.M. Hopkins, this collection gives readers unprecedented insight into Eugene H. Peterson's preaching and pastoral life--and inspires us to live his "long obedience in the same direction" through all the seasons of our lives.

Eugene H. Peterson, translator of The Message Bible, authored more than thirty books, including Every Step an Arrival, As Kingfishers Catch Fire, and the spiritual classics Run with the Horses and A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. He earned a degree in philosophy from Seattle Pacific University, a graduate degree in theology from New York Theological Seminary, and a master's degree in Semitic languages from Johns Hopkins University. He also received several honorary doctoral degrees. He was founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland, where he and his wife, Jan, served for twenty-nine years. Peterson held the title of professor emeritus of spiritual theology at Regent College, British Columbia, from 1998 until his passing in 2018.