Crossing the Jordan: Meditations on Vocation (Cloister Books) [Paperback]

Sam Portaro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 1999 | Series: Cloister Books

In this Cowley Cloister Book, Sam Portaro explores questions of discernment and vocation through meditations on the life and unfolding vocation of Jesus. Rather than seeing vocation as a single goal to obtain once and for all, Portaro includes all the many dimensions of life experience, heredity, family roots, relationships, and personal maturity in his consideration of how we as Christians discern who we are called to become. Who am I, where am I going, and how do I find a life of my own? What is my calling? These questions are urgent for us all, and they were no less urgent for Jesus in youth and young adulthood. In these meditations on finding our place in the world, Sam Portaro invites his readers to navigate the turning points of their own lives by reflecting on the life of Jesus as he came to discover that he was called by God. This book helps inform our own sense of vocation and calling by exploring aspects of Jesus’ vocation as it was gradually revealed to him over the course of his life. Vocation, Portaro writes, does not come as “a bolt from the blue,” but emerges gradually from our history, the events and people of our lives. He then sets out to show us how the life of Jesus and the words of Scripture can become part of this conversation. The meditations look at the essentials of Jesus’ life, moving from the importance of roots and family (the gospel’s tracing of Jesus’ family tree) to the hiddenness of vocation (Jesus’ boyhood and the “hidden years”), temptation (forty days in the wilderness), separation from family (the calling of the disciples), first awareness of his calling (the Transfiguration), and the fruits of vocation (the road to Jerusalem). Jesus’ life is the essential pattern we all trace through our lives and where we are to find our place. Crossing the Jordan has emerged out of retreats for college students, and it is provocative reading for those who are thinking about their own life choices or ministering to those who are. A good resource for clergy, teachers, chaplains, you

Editorial Reviews

Review

For those wrestling with their calling, this gentle book illuminates the subject, giving helpful insights into how Jesus crossed the Jordan to preach, teach, and heal. (Christianity and The Arts )

This thought-provoking book is a good read for all of us who ponder the unfolding of our lives. (Hermitage )

About the Author

SAM PORTARO is the Episcopal chaplain to the University of Chicago and director of Brent House. He is the author of several books and articles, including Conflict and a Christian Life, Brightest and Best: A Companion to the Lesser Feasts and Fasts, and Inquiring and Discerning Hearts.

SAM PORTARO is the Episcopal chaplain to the University of Chicago and director of Brent House. He is the author of several books and articles, including Conflict and a Christian Life, Brightest and Best: A Companion to the Lesser Feasts and Fasts, and Inquiring and Discerning Hearts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 103 pages
• Publisher: Cowley Publications (January 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561011703
• ISBN-13: 978-1561011704
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,616,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sam Portaro is a priest of the Episcopal Church. A graduate of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, he was Episcopal Chaplain to the College of William & Mary and Associate to the Rector of Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, Virginia, from 1976 until 1982.

As Episcopal Chaplain to The University of Chicago and Director of Brent House from 1982 to 2004, he oversaw the restoration and modernization of this historic property and a revitalization of its program as a vibrant center on its own campus and a national resource for student and young adult ministry.

Currently serving on a faculty team of The CREDO Institute, he also conducts Quiet Days, retreats and has served as a consultant and preacher nationwide and in England, and has filled interim posts on the faculties of both Seabury Western Theological Seminary and The University of Chicago Divinity School. He is a Trustee of the Pullman Educational Foundation in Chicago.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Meditations on Vocation, September 20, 2010

By 

J Martin Jellinek (Memphis, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Crossing the Jordan: Meditations on Vocation (Cloister Books) (Paperback)

Sam Portaro writes as a chaplain at the University of Chicago. He discusses vocation - that which we are called to do in our lives. As one who is changing careers late in life, Partaro's message still rings true. He talks about being true to the essence of who we are - finding vocation which satisfies our need to be true to our inner being as opposed to finding vocation which satisfies criteria that are imposed by society at large. We do this by Crossing the Jordan - moving into territory that is other than what we know, other than where others' expectations place us. This is deeply challenging and deeply disturbing.

We do have a definite role model of one who crossed the Jordan in Jesus. Jesus moved away from life in a small rural village and away from family and friends. He was challenged by temptations yet remained true to his calling, even to the point of death. We are not necessarily called to death by our vocations, but we are called to our place on the cross - a place of chaos at the intersection of all we know and all we are called to. This is a true and difficult challenge which Portaro raises up for us to investigate and live into.

Although Crossing the Jordan is a small book, it is very well written and very thought provoking for those at a vocational crossroad in their lives.