The Way to Begin Again is a meditative walk through the opening of Mark's Gospel (Mark 1:1-2:5) for people in exactly that place. It opens with a countryside full of weary people confessing, I cannot fix myself, and Wilson's reflections share the biblical story one moment at a time, like the stories and thoughts of a close friend.
Across six scenes, Mark names the lies that keep hope out of reach: that you should be able to fix yourself, that you are what you produce, that a life with God shouldn't hurt, that God is distant, that he only wants to use you, and that, in the end, you are on your own.
One at a time, Wilson hands us permission to set them down.
The usual remedies only deepen the exhaustion. We are told to build better habits, keep a rule of life, add disciplines that will finally make faith work. But one more practice is just one more thing to fail at, and a heart running on empty cannot install its way back to God. Formation was never something to operate. What such a heart needs is to abide, the slow way a life is changed by living close to someone we love. The first disciples did not learn Jesus from a manual. They followed him down a road until his life rubbed off on theirs.
Jesus answers with news almost too good to trust. God has already come near, and a fresh start is possible, now-not by trying harder, but by turning around, and trusting.
This is the heart of the gospel.
