“When we sin and mess up our lives, we find that God doesn’t go off and leave us- he enters into our trouble and saves us.”     -Eugene Peterson

In an age where more and more Christians are choosing to define themselves by what they stand against, Eugene Peterson was a voice of sanity and compassion. His death marks a life well-lived but also a reduction in the number of gentlemen theologians whose love for God led them to love others regardless of their differences. Peterson understood the name given to Jesus at birth to be significant. Emmanuel, God with us. His grateful appreciation of God’s presence in the world colored his writings and sermons.  The truth that, in his words, “God doesn’t go off and leave us”, led him to believe that we should not go off and leave others either. Sin and mess wasn’t a reason to divide and accuse, it was cause to listen more closely and to act with mercy and grace. May God bless the Peterson family with comfort during this time of loss and may we all heed the words and example of Eugene Peterson in our own lives.