Two books down

I love to read.  I could do it for days and weeks on end without complaining.  I haven't done it enough lately.

Today I read one complete book (The Purity Code by Jim Burns, which is a book for parents and teens about sexual purity, God's thoughts on the subject, and God's desire for us to live the best life possible.)

Today I also finished another book I've been working on for about a year and a half.  Shameful, I know.  Part of me thinks I should just start over again, because I'm sure it's kind of lost it's effect in the year and a half it's taken me to get through it.  Nevertheless, it is the inspiration for this edition of thought provocation.

The book is 'Jesus for President' by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw.  First of all, a little background on Shane.  He lives in Philly in an intentional community (read hippies that live together).  He is passionate about God, the poor and marginalized, and politics.  This book is about all of them.  Before continuing, can I just say that I love this man, his passion, and I can only hope to be as inspired, convinced and moved to action as he is.)

A couple of quotes to share:

Talking about 'hell and damnation' sermons that were all too familiar from his childhood 'But have you ever noticed that Jesus didn't spend much time on hell?...We see Jesus spending far more energy loving the hell out of people, and lifting people out of the hells in which they are trapped, than trying to scare them into heaven.'

Shane's mom is quoted as saying 'Perhaps there is no more dangerous place for a Christian to be than in safety and comfort, detached from the suffering of others.' 

'Church father Ignatius said that if our church is not marked by caring for the poor, the oppressed, and the hungry, then we are guilty of heresy - and a new reformation is long overdue.'

In the words of Ghandi 'There is enough for everyone's need but not enough for everyone's greed'.

Okay, just one more thing, I promise.  In response to Ignatius' challenge, Shane's community initiated a 'relational tithe' which is a group of friends around the world taking care of each other and their neighbours.  USING A BLOG (I see potential...)  They respond often to situations of poverty, homelessness and even natural disasters.  Out of this also came a conference, in which people were trained in interdependence and alternative economics.  Rather than support huge corporations, essentially empowering the rich to become more rich, the attendees of the conference brought skills, talents, etc. to barter for further training.  'We'll never forget seeing Shane's uncle, who doesn't have much to do with anything that smells religious, taking some nuns fishing.  It was a great image of the kingdom.' 

I think my world's been turned upside down.  And for good reason.  Now I'm far from a hippie, and I really like having my own space, and my own things, but this is challenging me to rethink this lifestyle I have (and enjoy!)  Also, don't hear me saying that we all need to become Shane Claiborne, live like him, and do all the same things - we are the entire body of Christ after all.  But I am pretty sure that it has implications for me concerning my time, my resources, and my attachment to the things I have.  Are they really mine, or are they resources of the kingdom?  (Don't worry, I know the answer.  Now I just need to live it out a little more.)

So just a warning - expect another book report in place of a blog post tomorrow, as I continue the downward motion through the stack of books I haven't been reading in the last 2 years.  Or more.