The stories, childhood recollections, meditations, and poems in Stories for the Christian Year: The Chrysostom Society are arranged by editor Eugene H. Peterson around the unfolding of the Christian year. The authors are 20 Christian writers who gather once a year at the Chrysostom Society to discuss their craft. The first half, running from Advent to Ascension, revolves around Jesus's birth, life, death, and resurrection. The second half covers Pentecost, Trinity, the communion of saints, and the kingship of Christ.
The two best stories of the batch are by Walter Wangerin, Jr., and Madeleine L'Engle. In the first, "Maundy Thursday," a young boy who wants to see Jesus frantically searches for him in the faces of church members, under the altar, and even in the mysterious women's rest room. In the short story, "Transfiguration," L'Engle writes about a shopping excursion by Sister Egg on the Upper West Side of New York which turns into a powerful meditation upon God's surprises and the hard-heartedness of humans.
Other notable selections include Harold Fickett's "St. Stephen, First Martyr," Calvin Miller's "Pentecost," and Gregory Wolfe's "Ascension." This salutary collection captures and conveys the interplay between the holy days of the Christian year and the stories of our lives.