hey alls,
I just came across a review for this book by Shane Claiborne, and I thought it might be an excellent discussion book. Let me know your thoughts.
Showing posts with label Shane Claiborne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shane Claiborne. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Friday, June 5, 2009
Recap 6.02.09
One of the greatest parts of our ongoing conversation is when we get to hear about each others' journeys. We briefly did this by commenting on what keeps us coming back to EmDes, or what drew us in the first place. The only part I remember about this is that Adam said it was a little like crack. Yeah I wrote that down, soooo....I had to type it.
On wrapping up Shane's book (though I have no business even writing that phrase: a bit behind I am), we got on to the subject of excommunication. Oh is this a fun topic. We quickly found out that semantics play a big part in how each of us understands this term, and then of course the ideas that flow from that understanding. Neither of the two extremes are desirable: a community that is destroyed by a person or a person's influence, nor a person that is essentially destroyed by their own community by being "cast out". I'll stop here because I speak in great ignorance: I'd like us to research this further bringing Shane's voice into better light via some other voices and theologies. ...to be continued...?
Another subject/question came up (from our beloved Ron G-ski) while wrapping up our second Shane Claiborne book - "Can a Christian become a politician in good conscience?" It seems Shane's answer would be no, but I don't believe as a group we unanimously agree. I'm not sure if we were able to answer this for ourselves with any further clarity, but it is an interesting question in light of some of Shane's perspectives regarding the context of Jesus' time, and what Jesus seemed to stand for and against.
It seems as a community we are trying to wrestle to that next level of vulnerability. We're at least seeing vulnerability as the primary obstacle to what we would want in church/community: Adam redeemed his crack comment by asking a fantastic question...one that I think starts to chip away at these vulnerability problems. (paraphrasing) "Is there a way to achieve vulnerability across gender lines?"
Oooooh, good one. We're so used to the fact that if you want to go "deep", go to the "next level", that you must break into male and female groups. And though there are good reasons for this that most of us could recite, shouldn't we wonder if we're not crippling community growth right out of the cocoon? It just so happens that a good friend of ours recently touched on this. I would highly recommend giving that link a go.
At this point we're going to take a little break from the book work and let it free flow for a while. I think some Nooma's, some Laundry Love brainstorming, and a dash of "let's just be who we are, which happens to be church" would go great this summer with Jim's beer. What do you think?
(G-ski's - that was me winking at you, asking you to bring a Nooma if you're comin'. If not, we'll all talk about you behind your backs)
On wrapping up Shane's book (though I have no business even writing that phrase: a bit behind I am), we got on to the subject of excommunication. Oh is this a fun topic. We quickly found out that semantics play a big part in how each of us understands this term, and then of course the ideas that flow from that understanding. Neither of the two extremes are desirable: a community that is destroyed by a person or a person's influence, nor a person that is essentially destroyed by their own community by being "cast out". I'll stop here because I speak in great ignorance: I'd like us to research this further bringing Shane's voice into better light via some other voices and theologies. ...to be continued...?
Another subject/question came up (from our beloved Ron G-ski) while wrapping up our second Shane Claiborne book - "Can a Christian become a politician in good conscience?" It seems Shane's answer would be no, but I don't believe as a group we unanimously agree. I'm not sure if we were able to answer this for ourselves with any further clarity, but it is an interesting question in light of some of Shane's perspectives regarding the context of Jesus' time, and what Jesus seemed to stand for and against.
It seems as a community we are trying to wrestle to that next level of vulnerability. We're at least seeing vulnerability as the primary obstacle to what we would want in church/community: Adam redeemed his crack comment by asking a fantastic question...one that I think starts to chip away at these vulnerability problems. (paraphrasing) "Is there a way to achieve vulnerability across gender lines?"
Oooooh, good one. We're so used to the fact that if you want to go "deep", go to the "next level", that you must break into male and female groups. And though there are good reasons for this that most of us could recite, shouldn't we wonder if we're not crippling community growth right out of the cocoon? It just so happens that a good friend of ours recently touched on this. I would highly recommend giving that link a go.
At this point we're going to take a little break from the book work and let it free flow for a while. I think some Nooma's, some Laundry Love brainstorming, and a dash of "let's just be who we are, which happens to be church" would go great this summer with Jim's beer. What do you think?
(G-ski's - that was me winking at you, asking you to bring a Nooma if you're comin'. If not, we'll all talk about you behind your backs)
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Recap 5.03.09
Adam shared with us a bit of his story, and how he and Tara came to be on this journey. It had been on his and Tara's heart to go see, hear and taste what extreme poverty actually is. While in Addis Ababa, Ethiopa, among the places they went was a church service for those dying of AIDS. Those running the service would care for those in need and give them a place to worship in their final hours. Needless to say this was a life changing experience. This was contrasted later with a mega-church service here in the valley (we'll allow it to remain nameless) in which the happy parishioners were cheering the pastor as he revved his Harley Davidson down the aisle and up onto the stage as a sermon intro. This could be a place marked as the beginning of a change for the Bams...
(Adam and Tara, for me to sum up the depths your experience(s) in a few lines is impossible. Please edit away, or feel free to write "not endorsed by the Bams" in the comments.)
Adam then read to us from pages 136-138 in Shane's book, as a new perspective, or rather a big picture view of the great commission.
In light of some of the points brought up in Jesus for President, the pledge of allegiance was mentioned as a little more difficult to swallow for some of us, especially those of us who have children and are wondering just exactly what it is that we want them to value. Isn't it the people who make a country, not the country that makes the people?
As we take another hard look at becoming the church we want, becoming the people we want to become, we ask "how"? Yet in regards to what we "haven't" done, or to respond to our own critiques that say we are all talk and no action, we discussed the following.
I'm not sure who brought it up, but I believe it was Ron. Yeah you Ron. Here's the idea: no, we're not yet satisfied with where we are, and arguably we may never be. However, if we look back at ourselves 5 years ago (more or less for some of us), we can see that many things have changed. Some things have changed dramatically. We should not discount that this is in fact a journey, and it will be comprised of many single steps, not a small number of giant leaps. As I type this my own impatience is becoming all too apparent. I like big leaps.
Well, I hadn't been made aware of this about myself at the time, so I pressed on. My thoughts were these: We look at those who are examples of drastic change, such as Shane C. We usually respond with "I'm not going to make my own clothes or give my house to the poor so.....what can I do?" And yet I feel that if are ever going to be able (read: willing) to give our houses to the poor were going to have to start somewhere. So here's the question: where is a happy medium between changing the source of our coffee from *unknown to *freetrade, and giving away every possession we have? Can we drum up some creativity to find that middle ground? By the way, I think we all need to become very aware of what we buy, why, where it comes from, and who it affects. That said, I don't believe stopping there will satisfy what it is we're longing for.
Some ideas that came up...
(Adam and Tara, for me to sum up the depths your experience(s) in a few lines is impossible. Please edit away, or feel free to write "not endorsed by the Bams" in the comments.)
Adam then read to us from pages 136-138 in Shane's book, as a new perspective, or rather a big picture view of the great commission.
In light of some of the points brought up in Jesus for President, the pledge of allegiance was mentioned as a little more difficult to swallow for some of us, especially those of us who have children and are wondering just exactly what it is that we want them to value. Isn't it the people who make a country, not the country that makes the people?
As we take another hard look at becoming the church we want, becoming the people we want to become, we ask "how"? Yet in regards to what we "haven't" done, or to respond to our own critiques that say we are all talk and no action, we discussed the following.
I'm not sure who brought it up, but I believe it was Ron. Yeah you Ron. Here's the idea: no, we're not yet satisfied with where we are, and arguably we may never be. However, if we look back at ourselves 5 years ago (more or less for some of us), we can see that many things have changed. Some things have changed dramatically. We should not discount that this is in fact a journey, and it will be comprised of many single steps, not a small number of giant leaps. As I type this my own impatience is becoming all too apparent. I like big leaps.
Well, I hadn't been made aware of this about myself at the time, so I pressed on. My thoughts were these: We look at those who are examples of drastic change, such as Shane C. We usually respond with "I'm not going to make my own clothes or give my house to the poor so.....what can I do?" And yet I feel that if are ever going to be able (read: willing) to give our houses to the poor were going to have to start somewhere. So here's the question: where is a happy medium between changing the source of our coffee from *unknown to *freetrade, and giving away every possession we have? Can we drum up some creativity to find that middle ground? By the way, I think we all need to become very aware of what we buy, why, where it comes from, and who it affects. That said, I don't believe stopping there will satisfy what it is we're longing for.
Some ideas that came up...
- Jim suggested that we consider starting a neighborhood Laundry Love project in Mesa. This would be very cool: hanging out together, making new friends, and extending our love to those who need it. Check out the link - it's all sorts of good stuff. At this point we're just looking to see if somebody would like to kick it off. Are you that person? (I should go into recruiting, that was powerful)
- Sarah mentioned a friend of theirs who is a pastor and is experiencing some heart-ache from the decision to leave his church. Sarah said they are going to try and be there for him and support him through this time of transition.
- This kicked off a discussion about how pastors in many church contexts can be very overworked and under-appreciated. Yet while they need support, they may not be able to be supported by staff or laity because of the nature of the job, and the way you should "appear" to your congregation (I could type a novel about this, but I shan't). Jamie suggested there could be an opportunity here to serve those working in the church. I wonder: is this a hint of what it could look like to have a positive and mutually beneficial connection between the emerging church and the institutional church? I dream I dream....
- Mr. Grzecka suggested as a group we look at an Amor Ministries (or similar) weekend trip. That would also be way cool.
- Another good idea is one that Tara brought up (years?) ago. I think it fits into the question of what things we can do to live differently, yet not scary differently. A simple (online?) way of sharing resources among the group. Those items that we would be willing to let someone borrow we could have on a list, and basically could be able to say what's mine is yours. Tara, do you care to extrapolate, or have you modified the idea at all since way back when?
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Recap 3.15.09
We began our trek up the mountains of discussion that are the crux of what we're reading in Shane Claiborne's book - Jesus for President. Ironically, in this section, Shane admits that Jesus actually would be a bad president, because Jesus "...aspired to something different from state power." (86)
Using Adam's thought-provoking questions as a start, we tried to make sense of what "Jubilee" would look like today. Questions lead inevitably to questions, eh?
Where were we? Oh yes...Jubilee leads to socialism, and now all the lazy people get to eat. Okay seriously, somebody stop me.
We moved to the discussion on how "freely" we should give, not knowing all the time whether our money is going to be used for good or for ill. Everybody seemed to have differing perspectives on this, mainly according to the context of any given situation. There are certainly stories on both side of this coin, and I think there always will be. It is good to discuss though, because it keeps us moving, changing, and thinking, rather than giving in stagnation.
We talked a little about how on a small scale we've tried to live in a more giving way, and that hopefully this can start to lead us down a path to be a unique culture within our western culture. I'd really like to discuss this further - how these questions could not just lead to more questions, but to some sort of continued action. This is where the rubber meets the road, and frankly where the emerging church has it's biggest struggle and has enjoyed rightful criticism. Shall we discuss until our throats are sore? Don't get me wrong, the discussion has been invigorating thus far to my life. And of course there is not an answer that will fulfill every question and every person. I guess I'm just wanting to apply some of these things. The discussions in fact have inspired me...What comes to mind immediately is this - what about every third or fourth time we meet, we still show up at the Schroeder's, maybe gab for a bit, but then go and DO. Comment away...
To end the night, Ron suggested we invade Canada to prepare for ourselves some nice beach front property that global warming will soon be providing. Really not cool Ron, I think there may be Canadians in our midst.
Using Adam's thought-provoking questions as a start, we tried to make sense of what "Jubilee" would look like today. Questions lead inevitably to questions, eh?
- Was God invoking the first pillars of socialism?
- How closely could we follow the laws within Jubilee, given our current context?
- Would it be mostly about debt cancellation?
- How would it even be possible for us to explore while we remain firmly planted in capitalism?
Where were we? Oh yes...Jubilee leads to socialism, and now all the lazy people get to eat. Okay seriously, somebody stop me.
We moved to the discussion on how "freely" we should give, not knowing all the time whether our money is going to be used for good or for ill. Everybody seemed to have differing perspectives on this, mainly according to the context of any given situation. There are certainly stories on both side of this coin, and I think there always will be. It is good to discuss though, because it keeps us moving, changing, and thinking, rather than giving in stagnation.
We talked a little about how on a small scale we've tried to live in a more giving way, and that hopefully this can start to lead us down a path to be a unique culture within our western culture. I'd really like to discuss this further - how these questions could not just lead to more questions, but to some sort of continued action. This is where the rubber meets the road, and frankly where the emerging church has it's biggest struggle and has enjoyed rightful criticism. Shall we discuss until our throats are sore? Don't get me wrong, the discussion has been invigorating thus far to my life. And of course there is not an answer that will fulfill every question and every person. I guess I'm just wanting to apply some of these things. The discussions in fact have inspired me...What comes to mind immediately is this - what about every third or fourth time we meet, we still show up at the Schroeder's, maybe gab for a bit, but then go and DO. Comment away...
To end the night, Ron suggested we invade Canada to prepare for ourselves some nice beach front property that global warming will soon be providing. Really not cool Ron, I think there may be Canadians in our midst.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Getting Down to Business!
Okay, tomorrow we're going to be spending our time digging into more of the details that have been raised in Claiborne & Haw's, Jesus for President. Economics, politics, patriotism, creative non-violence, cultural interaction... you know, the usual stuff you talk about within spiritual community;-)
Our reading of the book currently has us through page 102. Here are some questions to get our thoughts going...
- What are some examples of political imagination in our current context and culture?
"God put in place other beautiful initiatives to awaken the Israelites' political imagination and ensure that they didn't default to old ways of living" (56).
- How do we/should we view the "Sabbath laws" today?
"The Sabbath laws were put in place not just so people could go to worship services on Sunday (or Saturday) mornings but to make sure that the Hebrew people didn't revert to the exploitative economy of the empire from which they were saved" (57).
- Should we/can we entertain the idea of Jubilee economics [debt cancellation] in our present culture? If so, how?
"Just like the Hebrew people were supposed to refrain from working every seventh day so that their land, animals, & servants could rest (a marked contrast to their overworked life in Egypt), every seventh year, the Hebrew people had a celebration called the Jubilee..., during which they would take the whole year off from work. During this one-year break, all the food that continued to grow in their fields was free for the taking for families who were struggling to get by (Exod. 23:10). And any debt that folks had incurred during the past six years was erased" (59).
- How does (can?) national patriotism coexist with our pursuit of Jesus' way?
"Jesus was urging his followers to be the unique, peculiar, and set-apart people that began with Abraham. He didn't pray for the world in order to make governments more religious; he called Israel to be the light of the world - to abandon the way of the world and cultivate an alternative society in the shell of the old, not merely to be a better version of the kingdom of this world" (71).
- What can the "Third Way" (creative non-violence) look like for us today?
"Jesus' listeners would have understood the Romans to be the weeds sown among the wheat. How to rid the world of their evil? But Jesus redirected this and insisted that #1 You cannot easily distinguish the weeds from the wheat. (It's not so easy to say, 'We are all good and they are all evil.' Sometimes only God can distinguish.) #2 Destroying evil might destroy good" (97).
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Sunday, December 28, 2008
On the Horizon for Emerging Desert
Speaking for Tara and myself, 2008 has brought an absolutely wonderful experience and community in all of you that make up Emerging Desert. What started out as a very plain & simple gathering of friends has truly blossomed into a diverse, active community that has also maintained the original focus and simplicity. We feel incredibly blessed to be a part of it, and we look forward to our coming times together.
Along those lines, I wanted to get a post up regarding our group's near-future plans for those that may not be aware...
As we are now on the other side of Advent, we have collectively decided to continue gathering every Sunday afternoon. We finished Michael Frost's provocative book, Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture last week, and our new discussion book has been selected:
by Shane Claiborne & Chris Haw
We have agreed to begin discussing this book on February 1st. In the meantime, throughout the month of January, we will be getting together for unplanned, free-flow conversations about any spiritual, cultural, missional, lifestyle, etc. questions/topics that anybody feels like offering. Today our conversation centered largely on the question of "Why are we here... created... living on earth?" Of course, the conversation went all over the place, but I truly enjoyed being in a room where these massive questions are being wrestled with in community and every single voice present is heard. Thanks for everybody's thoughts that were contributed... I, personally, got a lot out of it.
So, in the coming weeks, if you have a topic and/or question that you'd like to open up to the cohort for discussion, don't be shy: tithing, prayer, worship, death, mission, etc.... it's all fair-game.
Along those lines, I wanted to get a post up regarding our group's near-future plans for those that may not be aware...
As we are now on the other side of Advent, we have collectively decided to continue gathering every Sunday afternoon. We finished Michael Frost's provocative book, Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture last week, and our new discussion book has been selected:
by Shane Claiborne & Chris HawWe have agreed to begin discussing this book on February 1st. In the meantime, throughout the month of January, we will be getting together for unplanned, free-flow conversations about any spiritual, cultural, missional, lifestyle, etc. questions/topics that anybody feels like offering. Today our conversation centered largely on the question of "Why are we here... created... living on earth?" Of course, the conversation went all over the place, but I truly enjoyed being in a room where these massive questions are being wrestled with in community and every single voice present is heard. Thanks for everybody's thoughts that were contributed... I, personally, got a lot out of it.
So, in the coming weeks, if you have a topic and/or question that you'd like to open up to the cohort for discussion, don't be shy: tithing, prayer, worship, death, mission, etc.... it's all fair-game.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Our most recent meeting....
First I'd like to say I was very encouraged by the discussion that we all shared yesterday. As I surveyed the group of people there, one by one (no, I'm not a good listener, more of a drifter) I saw a true uniqueness in each one of you, specifically as it related to how the Kingdom of God can be shown and shared. A diverse group, but singing harmonies of the same song. It was awesome.
Okay, sorry, enough of the poetry - off to the prose:
Let's share some ideas here for meeting again on Sunday, May 4th. I'd also like to hear some ideas for getting together in more of a communal sense (maybe every other meeting?), to give from our hearts and get to know each other.
As far as our 'normal' meetings (there's got to be a better name than that)
Meeting at another house/switching off - Jim/Joy?
Meeting at an alternative location: Gilbert Rec Center
So far what's in the works for our 'other' meetings:
The Burrito Project
Sunday mornings with the hungry - Jamie or Adam, can you get an address for this? Maybe an icon on our blog that's permanent? (A chance for Adam to make something pretty with his beloved 'Mac')
Please comment with possible alternatives or other ideas. Looking forward to next time already.
Okay, sorry, enough of the poetry - off to the prose:
Let's share some ideas here for meeting again on Sunday, May 4th. I'd also like to hear some ideas for getting together in more of a communal sense (maybe every other meeting?), to give from our hearts and get to know each other.
As far as our 'normal' meetings (there's got to be a better name than that)
Meeting at another house/switching off - Jim/Joy?
Meeting at an alternative location: Gilbert Rec Center
So far what's in the works for our 'other' meetings:
The Burrito Project
Sunday mornings with the hungry - Jamie or Adam, can you get an address for this? Maybe an icon on our blog that's permanent? (A chance for Adam to make something pretty with his beloved 'Mac')
Please comment with possible alternatives or other ideas. Looking forward to next time already.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Wrestling With the 'Burbs
Great discussion surrounding the previous post by Jake! For many of us involved (seeing that we predominately live in, or come from, the wealthy suburbs) I think grappling with the American suburban lifestyle is one of the more critical tasks that Shane’s book compels us to do.
To build on everybody's thoughts from the previous post... Jake, I completely resonate with the rub that you feel about the suburbs after digging into Shane’s thoughts. Jamie & Justin, your points about being individually purposeful, no matter our environment, are very well taken. I’d like to try to flesh-out some of this conflict created by the suburban culture with some quotes from the book:
Just as many of you have said, this is why we find the suburbs difficult. Because it’s extremely challenging to stay focused when we’re surrounded by a culture that tells us that if we make a lot of money, then we should spend a lot of money, that newer and bigger is important, that life gets better with more stuff. I fear that if we convince ourselves that we’re in the ‘burbs to minister to the rich-yet-poor, then we run the risk of justifying to ourselves that it’s OK for us to live, spend, eat, and drive like the culture we’re trying to subvert... that it’s OK for us to do these things because we’re trying to shine the light of love... but how’s that really working out? (I know this is where I've often found myself...)
[This post is getting kinda long, so I’ll wrap it up.] All of this to say, while I believe that living in the suburbs and building the kingdom is certainly possible, I think it inherently takes an incredible daily resolve to subvert the Affluenza that surrounds us because it is so damaging to what we're advocating. And this daily action MUST take place among the interdependence of community, and this has to be founded on sacrificial love.
So, maybe we should shift the discussion here to what this subversion in the suburbs actually looks like (anybody read Justice in the Burbs ?... I’d like to). Jamie, you mentioned living without a car and having multiple families under one roof as some counter-cultural ideas. What else? Let’s get a bunch of doable ideas out on the table…
*Photo Credits - Flickr Dave and uncultured
To build on everybody's thoughts from the previous post... Jake, I completely resonate with the rub that you feel about the suburbs after digging into Shane’s thoughts. Jamie & Justin, your points about being individually purposeful, no matter our environment, are very well taken. I’d like to try to flesh-out some of this conflict created by the suburban culture with some quotes from the book:
"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." And perhaps for the first time, those were no longer empty words that I hoped would come true someday. They became words we are not only to expect to come true but also to enact. ...it was so close to what I saw in the early church: a people on the margins giving birth to another way of living, a new community marked by interdependence and sacrificial love. (87).As I’ve mused about what makes the suburbs difficult, this thought by Shane has really stuck with me. In my observations, the prevalent (& marketed) suburban lifestyle is heavily marked by autonomy and self-gratification... a stark contrast to the kingdom described above that is "...marked by interdependence and sacrificial love."
We can admire and worship Jesus without doing what he did. We can applaud what he preached and stood for without caring about the same things. We can adore his cross without taking up ours. I had come to see that the great tragedy in the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor but that rich Christians do not know the poor. (113)
It’s no wonder that the footsteps of Jesus lead from the tax collectors to the lepers. I truly believe that when the poor meet the rich, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor, we will see poverty come to an end. (114)Laurie, I appreciated your thoughts on the ranging forms that poverty takes on in a person’s life. I, too, have experienced that the lavishly rich are often (unknowingly) desperately poor, yet I find it important to distinguish between the causes of these varying forms of poverty. In the physically poor, we see causes ranging from racist-cultural limitations to gender injustices to addictions to social persecution to individual failures, etc. For the rich-yet-spiritually-bankrupt, we see causes such as pride, self-indulgence, willed-ignorance, distorted sense of self, etc. And, I’ve concluded that my task in building the kingdom is to counter all of these causes with my love and my life.
Just as many of you have said, this is why we find the suburbs difficult. Because it’s extremely challenging to stay focused when we’re surrounded by a culture that tells us that if we make a lot of money, then we should spend a lot of money, that newer and bigger is important, that life gets better with more stuff. I fear that if we convince ourselves that we’re in the ‘burbs to minister to the rich-yet-poor, then we run the risk of justifying to ourselves that it’s OK for us to live, spend, eat, and drive like the culture we’re trying to subvert... that it’s OK for us to do these things because we’re trying to shine the light of love... but how’s that really working out? (I know this is where I've often found myself...)
[This post is getting kinda long, so I’ll wrap it up.] All of this to say, while I believe that living in the suburbs and building the kingdom is certainly possible, I think it inherently takes an incredible daily resolve to subvert the Affluenza that surrounds us because it is so damaging to what we're advocating. And this daily action MUST take place among the interdependence of community, and this has to be founded on sacrificial love.
So, maybe we should shift the discussion here to what this subversion in the suburbs actually looks like (anybody read Justice in the Burbs ?... I’d like to). Jamie, you mentioned living without a car and having multiple families under one roof as some counter-cultural ideas. What else? Let’s get a bunch of doable ideas out on the table…
*Photo Credits - Flickr Dave and uncultured
Saturday, March 15, 2008
A revolution
The first four chapters of Shane's book, for me, were inspiring. They promote hope. Hope that contrasts my being overwhelmed at the myriad of ugly things in this world. I'm such a fixer, that hearing the staggering numbers of people starving makes my brain shut down. But Shane's stories wake it up again.
This quote helps summarize my feelings:
While the temptation to do great things is always before us, in Khalighat I learned the discipline of doing small things with great deliberation. Mother Teresa used to say, "We can do no great things, just small things with great love. It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into doing it."
So, good story telling. Just good stories. But for what? A question was posed to me by a friend, in regards to this book. "Okay, most people would agree this book is great. But the question is, what do we do now?" In other words, how do we do this? How do we experience the things that Shane has experienced? Or at least, what is our response? After all, we're not reading it for entertainment alone.
I may be jumping ahead of our first four chapters here, but I'm going to attempt to answer before I hear Shane's conclusion. Here goes:
I don't think we can experience these things from our vantage point here in suburbia. It's just not possible. What do you think? Am I just not looking hard enough?
This quote helps summarize my feelings:
While the temptation to do great things is always before us, in Khalighat I learned the discipline of doing small things with great deliberation. Mother Teresa used to say, "We can do no great things, just small things with great love. It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into doing it."
So, good story telling. Just good stories. But for what? A question was posed to me by a friend, in regards to this book. "Okay, most people would agree this book is great. But the question is, what do we do now?" In other words, how do we do this? How do we experience the things that Shane has experienced? Or at least, what is our response? After all, we're not reading it for entertainment alone.
I may be jumping ahead of our first four chapters here, but I'm going to attempt to answer before I hear Shane's conclusion. Here goes:
I don't think we can experience these things from our vantage point here in suburbia. It's just not possible. What do you think? Am I just not looking hard enough?
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Next Gathering Announced...
Hey all,
As you can see to the right, the next Emerging Desert gathering is scheduled for...
SUNDAY, MARCH 16TH
3:30 - 4:30pm (ish)
We will primarily be talking about ideas raised in the first four chapters of Shane Claiborne's book, The Irresistible Revolution, so you've got a good three weeks still to do some reading:-) Keep in mind that the reading is definitely not required in order to come to the gatherings (but it will certainly add to your experience and journey).
Hope to see you then!
As you can see to the right, the next Emerging Desert gathering is scheduled for...
SUNDAY, MARCH 16TH
3:30 - 4:30pm (ish)
We will primarily be talking about ideas raised in the first four chapters of Shane Claiborne's book, The Irresistible Revolution, so you've got a good three weeks still to do some reading:-) Keep in mind that the reading is definitely not required in order to come to the gatherings (but it will certainly add to your experience and journey).
Hope to see you then!
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