Run with the Horses: The Quest for Life at Its Best Commemorative Edition

by Eugene H. Peterson

Publisher:

IVP

, 2019

Overview

We all long to live life at its best—to fuse freedom and spontaneity with purpose and meaning. Why then do we often find our lives so humdrum, so unadventuresome, so routine? Or else so frantic, so full of activity, but still devoid of fulfillment? How do we learn to risk, to trust, to pursue wholeness and excellence—to run with the horses instead of shuffling along with the crowd?

In a series of profound reflections on the life of Jeremiah the prophet, Eugene Peterson explores the heart of what it means to be fully and genuinely human. In his signature pastoral style, he invites readers to grasp the biblical truth that each person’s story of faith is completely original. Peterson’s writing is filled with humor and self-reflection, insight and wisdom, helping to set a course for others in the quest for life at its best.

This special commemorative edition includes a new preface taken from Eric Peterson’s homily at his father's memorial service, as well as a six-session Bible study guide for individuals or groups.

Key Features

• Reflects on the life of Jeremiah the prophet
• Explores the heart of what it means to be fully and genuinely human
• Includes new preface from Eric Peterson’s homily at his father’s memorial service

Contents

• What Makes You Think You Can Race Against Horses?
• Jeremiah
• Before
• I’m Only a Boy!
• Don’t for a Minute Believe the Lies
• Go to the Potter’s House
• Pashur Whipped Jeremiah
• This Ever Worsening Wound
• Twenty-Three Years It’s Been
• Get a Scroll and Write
• The Recabite Community
• To All the Exiles
• Guard . . . King . . . Official
• I Bought the Field at Anathoth
• Regarding the Godless Nations
• No One Will Escape the Doom

Top Highlights

“The puzzle is why so many people live so badly. Not so wickedly, but so inanely. Not so cruelly, but so stupidly. There is little to admire and less to imitate in the people who are prominent in our culture. We have celebrities but not saints. Famous entertainers amuse a nation of bored insomniacs. Infamous criminals act out the aggressions of timid conformists. Petulant and spoiled athletes play games vicariously for lazy and apathetic spectators. People, aimless and bored, amuse themselves with trivia and trash. Neither the adventure of goodness nor the pursuit of righteousness gets headlines.” (Page 12)

“Giving is the style of the universe. Giving is woven into the fabric of existence. If we try to live by getting instead of giving, we are going against the grain. It is like trying to go against the law of gravity—the consequence is bruises and broken bones. In fact, we do see a lot of distorted, misshapen, crippled lives among those who defy the reality that all life is given and must continue to be given to be true to its nature.” (Page 41)

“The huge irony is that the more the gospel is offered in consumer terms, the more the consumers are disappointed. The gospel is not a consumer product; it doesn’t satisfy what we think of as our ‘needs.’” (Page 8)

“It takes courage to act in hope. But it is the only practical action, for it is the only action that survives the decay of the moment and escapes the scrapheap of yesterday’s fashion.” (Page 174)

“Goodness in Jeremiah was not ‘being nice.’ It was something more like prowess.” (Page 16)

Praise for the Print Edition

In the last few years, Eugene’s writing has kept me sane. Run with the Horses has been a powerful manual for me. It includes a lot of incendiary ideas. I hadn’t really thought of Jeremiah as a performance artist. Why do we need art? Because if we’re honest the only way that we can approach God is through metaphor, through symbol. Through Run with the Horses I learned about the prophet’s work and it really changed me.

—Bono, lead singer of U2 and cofounder of ONE and (RED)

Product Details

• Title: Run with the Horses: The Quest for Life at Its Best (Study Guide)
• Author: Eugene H. Peterson
• Edition: Commemorative Edition
• Publisher: IVP
• Print Publication Date: 2019
• Logos Release Date: 2019
• Pages: 232
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Jeremiah (Biblical prophet); Bible. O.T. Jeremiah › Meditations
• ISBNs: 9780830855483, 9780830846627, 9781514006160, 0830855483, 083084662X, 1514006162
• Resource ID: LLS:RUNHORSESCTVED
• Resource Type: text.monograph.study-guide
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:49:50Z

About Eugene H. Peterson

Eugene H. Peterson (1932–2018) was a pastor, scholar, author, and poet. He wrote more than thirty books, including his widely acclaimed paraphrase of the Bible, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, his memoir, The Pastor, and numerous works of biblical spiritual formation, including Run with the Horses, also available in a commemorative edition. Peterson was founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland, where he served for twenty-nine years before retiring in 1991. With degrees from Seattle Pacific, New York Theological Seminary, and Johns Hopkins University, he served as professor of spiritual theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, until retiring in Lakeside, Montana, in 2006.

Sample Pages from Run with the Horses: The Quest for Life at Its Best Commemorative Edition