J. Neville Ward
Neville Ward proposes that "the work of hap- piness must lie principally with our attitude to life's hurt and disappointments, for they deleat us and turn us from God so often." In fact, Jesus' seven last words "mark the route to be traveled to discover for oneself the mean- ing he gave to suffering and to find the grace to say 'Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit"

Particularly in his dying on the cross, Jesus ignites the Christian imagination to see the man and his message as a marvelously con- sistent whole. Each "word" Jesus spoke from the cross on Good Friday afternoon turned out to be a truth-filled capsulization of the ideas he had shared during his earthly ministry. Christian meditation constantly returns to them In this thought-provoking devotional book, the author approaches these seven last words by focusing on seven recurring contemporary concerns forgiving, hoping, belonging, pro testing, wanting, achieving, and giving