Finding GOd in the Margins

Finding God in the Margins: The Book of Ruth

Carolyn Custis James
Transformative Word Series
Lexham Press, 2017
5x8, Softcover

ECPA 2018 Top Shelf Award Winner

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“In Finding God in the Margins, Carolyn Custis James reveals how the book of Ruth is about God, the questions that surface when life falls apart, and how God reaches into the margins and chooses two totally marginalized women who, in the eyes of the patriarchal culture, are zeros. Against the backdrop of disturbing issues in today's world, this bracing narrative puts on display a radical gospel way of living together as human beings that shouts the Kingdom of God, foreshadows Jesus' gospel, and raises the bar for men and women, then and now.”

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From the beginning concepting stage, I wanted this cover to reflect the tone that the book of Ruth beings with as the marketing copy explains: her life has fallen apart, she is in a foreign land, recently widowed, pushed aside. And yet, right in the margins of society and the barley field, God is there with her. He provides, he brings hope, he gives life.

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The design for this cover took a lot of iterating to get just right. I have a drawer full of sketches mapping out the line work, refining the shapes and trying to let the type stand on its own in the midst of the grain. I love the serious-but-hopeful tone of the dark color scheme and the purposeful work of weaving the grain around the barren places, setting the stage for God to work in the margins.