Words from the Hill

A disruptive and surprising journey through the Beatitudes.
Most of the time, life doesn’t work out like we expect it will. We spend time and energy trying to climb some sort of spiritual ladder, oblivious to the fact that it is God who is moving toward us.

We want answers to our problems, yet what is offered is presence.

What if we were to become united with our brokenness rather than our victories? What if God moves closest to us in the absence, the ache, and the longing?

Words from the Hill turns each beatitude on its head to see the unexpected beneath the understood—diving into the story of a woman on death row to speak about mercy, personal stories from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to talk about peace, and much more. Stu Garrard has walked with these people in their stories, and he vulnerably offers his own as he unpacks the Good News of the Beatitudes.

God is on your side, and He is closer than you think.

Table of Contents

INTRO: OF LIFE’S UNEXPECTED PLACES
CHAPTER 1: POOR IN SPIRIT—WHAT YOU FIND AT THE END OF YOUR ROPE
CHAPTER 2: MOURN—THE GRIEF OF CHANGE
CHAPTER 3: MEEK—WHEN PRESENCE IS IGNORED
CHAPTER 4: HUNGER AND THIRST—BLESSING OR REQUIREMENT?
CHAPTER 5: MERCY—GETTING CAUGHT IN THE RAIN
CHAPTER 6: PURE IN HEART—THE WONDER OF IT ALL
CHAPTER 7: PEACEMAKERS—LIVING IN THE CONTESTED SPACE
CHAPTER 8: PERSECUTED—HOLY TROUBLEMAKERS
OUTRO: THE VIEW FROM UP HERE

Endorsements

"One Sunday night this fall, Stu sat in our kitchen, and instead of

playing his own songs, he played songs from men and women he had

befriended in his travels. Instead of telling his own stories, he told the

stories of people who’d been abused, forgotten, marginalized. Stu is a

man who is using his voice to lift people up, who is using his talent to

draw out the talent of others, who is using his influence to tell a story

of hope. This book is story after story of hope, and I can’t think of a

more timely message or a more generous and wise messenger."
---SHAUNA NIEQUIST,New York Times bestselling author

"In Words from the Hill we have Stu G’s unique exploration and application

of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. It’s a reflective, disruptive memoir,

beautiful and quietly incendiary—a book well written by a life well lived.

---PETE GREIG, Author of Dirty Glory: Go Where Your Best Prayers Take You and founder of

24-7 Prayer

"I’ve loved watching Stu explore the Beatitudes in the writing of this

book, making friends and discovering their stories along the way. Stu’s

honesty and compassion have helped me hear these well-known words

of Jesus in a whole new light—as announcements of kindness, mercy,

peace, and his presence for us all. You will love it!

---AMY GRANT,Singer, songwriter, and author of Mosaic:Pieces of My Life So Far