Contemporary Roman Catholic theologian Leonardo Boff accurately points to a "courage for incarnation" that lies at the heart of all catholic Christianity, the courage to mix "heterogeneous elements" and to experience "the divine...made present through human mediation."
With this passage on the Latin American liberation theologian in the introduction to her brief but pithy book, Fredrica Harris Thompsett sets the tone and meaning for her exposition. Courageous Incarnation in Intimacy, Work, Childhood and Aging deals with various social justice issues related to different phases of maturing—childhood, the middle time of life consisting of concerns with work and intimacy, and the aging period. The writer uses the teaching of the incarnation to develop insight into the problems related to those passages of human maturing, and if not to find solutions, at least to raise questions to overcome the barriers to healing.
Each chapter opens with a scriptural passage related to the message examined. She then describes the secular situations of poverty and oppression connected with the themes. For example, under the chapter "Welcoming Children in My Name," she quotes Jesus in Matthew 18:5: "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." She says, "These little ones would help his followers see with the eyes of faith." Thompsett notes that the scriptures demand a respect for children that should motivate members of contemporary society to work toward an end to child abuse in modern culture and childhood poverty in Third World countries.
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