“In many religious traditions, Christian faith, as it has been shaped culturally, has prepared people to die, but has not equipped them to love well amid the complexities of contemporary culture with an increasing global and ecological awareness. Many of us find ourselves searching, not only for a way to believe, but also a way of life.
… My sense is that there is a need for public discourse grounded in both thought and practice about how we connect the details of our daily lives with the present availability of the kingdom of God.” (p. xiii)
Mark Scandrette’s preface hooked me from the start …
I’ve seen the searching and felt the urgency of moving towards rediscovering a Christian faith which is also a way of life – especially in connecting “the details of our daily lives with the present availability of the kingdom of God”. But much energy is also spend battling what haunts us from the past, or reacting against ways of understanding self, others, the world and God which may have been our crutches for too long. The external problems of unhealthy Christian faith is real, the internal struggles magnifies the challenge.
I’ve been engaged in many many conversations in different shapes and sizes that’s often hitting a dead end road or spinning in circles …. It seems to me, the liminal period where we break free from the “culturally shaped” Christian faith which was designed to prepare us to die at first is liberating, and yet facing our own “unpleasant secrets” when “all hell breaks loose” can be overwhelming. We need fellow companions along the journey, or even those who’ve walked a little further ahead. We also need to be willing to listen as we want others to listen to us.
Mark is one of those people – he listens and is worth listeneing to . And I’m following his adventures through this book with interest. 🙂