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Living Life to the Full

By Christopher C. Walker Open Book (2005) RRP $19.95 (paperback)

Living Life to the Full is an autobiographical exploration of spirituality for today’s baby boomers

A minister of the Uniting Church in Australia, Christopher C. Walker has served in congregations in New South Wales, as an evangelism consultant for the Synod of Queensland, was principal of Parkin-Wesley College in South Australia, and is now mission consultant for the Parramatta-Nepean Presbytery in New South Wales.

Living Life to the Full introduces generational diff erences, focusing on the distinctive features of the Baby Boomer generation, drawing mostly on Hugh Mackay and Craig Kennet Miller.

Walker goes on to describe his own experiences of growing up as a Baby Boomer and writes about the experience of reaching fi fty and turning attention to questions of spiritual capital usually associated with the end of life.

So how does this rate as a resource for Baby Boomers considering spirituality for life?

It’s certainly interesting to read of Walker’s experience of growing up in the Baby Boom era but it is not clear who Christopher is writing for.

If he’s writing for Baby Boomers considering spirituality, he’s gone right over their heads. He’s making sweeping generalisations about Baby Boomers rather than appealing to them.

For a book designed for the Baby Boomer audience, the issue of spirituality appears far too late in the plot.

Perhaps it is a theology textbook, designed to help people connect sociology, theological texts, and biblical narrative.

This book would benefit from a healthy edit; the chapters seem to go on for too long without section breaks and the book would be much more interesting with the addition of photographs.