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You describe Saint Julian as someone who we can relate to, but even in the story of his birth, there's a sense of mystery and magic. There's this sense that God is part of every event of everyday life.

This is so important. Today I think we deliver much of our experiences and our events to the world itself, but Julian was aware—the people of old were aware, and we should be aware—that Jesus is a part and God is a part of absolutely everything that happens. Absolutely every breath we take, every event that takes place, takes its place on this broad stage of the divinity of God. He is the protagonist, we are the antagonists. He is the first actor, we are the second actors. And if you go back to the time of Saint Paul, the air itself was fraught and filled with spirits.

This 20th century/21st century time wants only to define things according to our senses, what we can see, what we can hear and taste and smell. But the world until now has been aware of the fact that spirits fill the entire world and that God imbues everything, God created it with the presence of God.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Also posted today is an excerpt from Wangerin's This Earthly Pilgrimage.

Saint Julian is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

More information about Saint Julian is available from the publisher.

CT and sister publication Books & Culture reviewed Saint Julian.

Wangerin's articles for CT include:

Small Beneath the Firmament | For my father-in-law, his place in the order of Creation was no diminishment, but the beginning of wisdom. (March 2, 2001)

Maundy Thursday | Part one of "The Great Reversal," a CT Classic article (April 20, 2000)

Recent Dick Staub Interviews include:

Lauren Winner's Faith Still a Bit Jewish | The author of Girl Meets God discusses the Jewish habits that inform her Christianity (Jan. 20, 2004)

Ravi Zacharias's Wonderful World | The author of Jesus Among Other Gods explores God's gift of awe. (Jan. 13, 2004)

Michael Card Discovers St. Peter | In A Fragile Stone: The Emotional Life of St. Peter, Card says sinking is more important than walking on the water. (Dec. 16, 2003)

Mary Poplin Calls Claremont Her "Calcutta" | After seeking God through telepathic spoon bending exercises, this professor found God, and with the help of Mother Teresa, her calling. (Dec. 10, 2003)

Gordon Smith Hears the Voice of Jesus | The author of The Voice of Jesus talks about listening to God with discernment. (Nov. 18, 2003)

John Eldredge Is Wild at Heart | The author of Wild at Heart and The Sacred Romance discusses rediscovering the Gospel through a ransomed heart. (Nov. 11, 2003)

Pursuing God and Community | A self-described nerd says pursuing God and community is possible through commitment (Nov. 4, 2003)

Francis Bok Is Proof that Slavery Still Exists | After spending 10 years in slavery, the young Sudanese man is telling his story to the world. (Oct. 28, 2003)

Philip Yancey, the Rumor-Monger | The author's latest is written not for Christians, but for those on the "borderlands of belief" (Sept. 30, 2003)

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January (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48