Changed Eyes: Pandemic, Protests, Proclamation offers biblical meditations which are at once both challenging and comforting. It brings the Bible’s wisdom to bear on such complex circumstances as the first global pandemic in over one hundred years and the tsunami of social protests following the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. Joel Huffstetler, a seasoned pastor and spiritual writer, reminds us that moments of crisis—including global pandemics and racial reckonings—also present moments of opportunity for meaningful and lasting social change. Huffstetler’s clear, simple yet well-crafted prose reflects a commendable honesty and transparency. Changed Eyes is an immersive, practical, challenging, and comforting book leading readers into the heart and the hope of Christian spirituality.
“Changed Eyes is an immersive, relevant, and comforting reading experience, just what we all need in this day and age.” —Brenda Orcutt, Member, Oil Painters of America, American Impressionist Society, and American Women Artists
“It is never enough for preachers just to preach the gospel. They must make it heard. This requires imagination, sensitivity, and the determination never to make the complex into something dishonestly simple. In this book, Joel Huffstetler shows he has these necessary qualities in abundance…he takes us into the heart and the hope of Christian faith.” —Mark Oakley, Dean of St John’s College, University of Cambridge
“Would that all churches were fortunate enough to have a truth-teller of this caliber, someone who can see the truth in a text and present it in such a memorable way.” —Carl R. Holladay, Charles Howard Candler Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
“Throughout Changed Eyes, Joel Huffstetler lovingly and eloquently reminds us that moments of crisis…also present moments of opportunity…” —Jeffrey M. Ringer Associate Professor of English, University of Tennessee
“This is preaching at its best: thoughtful, clear, and concise.” —Mark D. Chapman, Professor of the History of Modern Theology, University of Oxford
Joel W. Huffstetler is Rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland, Tennessee. Ordained in 1990, he previously served as Assistant to the Rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and as Rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Canton, North Carolina. He is the author or editor of thirteen books, including Practical Faith and Active Love: Meditations on the Epistle of James (Apocryphile Press, 2020) and numerous articles and reviews.