Hidden in Plain Sight: The Secret of More [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Mark Buchanan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2007

Even for the religious, life is full of questions: What is faith? Can my life be more satisfying? How can I deepen my walk with Christ? What does it mean to be happy? These bubble and boil underneath the surface of our everyday life. And though we ignore them, we know they point us to realms of wisdom or even mystery-to something more.

Author Mark Buchanan asked these same questions. "I want more, God," he prayed-and the answer was more than he was looking for. It was right there, hidden in plain sight among the syllables and syntax of a few words of advice from the apostle Peter. With time and experience, Buchanan learned to tease it out, this secret of more, and he wrote a book about it: Hidden in Plain Sight. The answer, he discovered, is an investigation of the cross. The answer is an excavation of the virtues. The answer urges us passionately to "make every effort." And, Buchanan tells us, the answer is worth it.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A book on virtue may seem a thing of the past, but pastor Buchanan (Your God Is Too Safe; Things Unseen) puts a modern twist on its study and practice. "How do I get more of God in my life?" he asks himself. The answer has been obvious since the Apostle Peter, a follower of Jesus Christ, reputedly penned the words of the Bible's 2 Peter 1:1–9 nearly 2,000 years ago. Peter, who Buchanan describes as "by turns rash, dithering, cocky, [and] cowering," lists in that passage seven virtues faithful Christians must seek to grow closer to God: goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. Buchanan first digs deeply into the faith that undergirds these virtues, then studies each one in depth. He defines, explains, details and applies each virtue to the Christian life, building one upon the other with the expertise of a master. Buchanan's creative and image-filled writing brings life to what could be a dry subject, and his spiritual depth reveals Peter's heart: "Possess [these virtues] in increasing measure, and the life of Christ can flow unimpeded through you" (2 Peter 1:8). This is a startlingly honest, newly revealing look at both Peter and these virtues left unmined for too long. (Mar. 13)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Preface
Come in Here with Me

I went spelunking last summer with my daughter Nicola, 9-years old at the time, and 40 of her classmates. Spelunking is cave exploring. Spelunking means you find some pleat in earth's crust and slither, lizard-like, into it. You thread your way down shafts narrow as the grave, shimmy your way up holes tights as chimney flues. You emerge into vaults and caverns hidden forever from sun and wind, hewn by the brute violence of tectonics, the solemn patience of melting ice, the slow burnish of trickling water.

I didn't think I'd be up for it. I suffer mild claustrophobia, and can easily relive the terror of a childhood event when my brother and his friend locked me in a trailer's closet. I panicked. I rammed my shoulder against the thin mahogany door, splintered it off its hinges. The trailer belonged to the parents of my brother's friend, and he stood to catch trouble for the damage. I couldn't have cared less.

So spelunking held no initial charm. To enter one cave I had to flatten my body to a knife blade, insert it between a thin cleft of rock, and step into the underworld's thick silence and thicker darkness. I picked my way down a staircase of boulders. I descended twisting chutes, squeezed between narrowing shafts, shoehorned myself through rock eyelets, duck walked damp tunnels. The trail led nowhere, just further in, deeper down.

Why did I come?

It was unclear at first. I came to test something, to prove something, to overcome something. I came to see things daylight can't produce. I came because it's shameful to fear the dark at my age. I came because my daughter and her classmates needed me in some vague, loose way, and I couldn't let them down. Nor let them show me up.

And what did I discover?

Beauty beyond imagining. Stalactites long and sharp as Zeus's thunderbolts. Stalagmites tall and jagged as tigerpit stakes. Snowy-white cascades of calcite. Filigrees of encrusted mineral. Exotic rock sculptures finessed by seepage, as though by fingertips, over eons. And then, when all the lights turned out, a blackness so complete it is one of the few holy and perfect things I've touched in this unholy, imperfect world.

 

This is a book about practicing virtue, which at first may seem -- it did to me -- a descent into something narrow and dark and enclosing, a world without wind, without open spaces where weather dances its varied moods. The word virtue almost made me claustrophobic. By temperament and against better instinct, I still have moments where I think the good life is seeking my own pleasure at my own convenience, and so the very thought of practicing virtue chafed me. I pictured Victorian women bound in corsets. I pictured Mormon boys in starched white shirts and crisp ties, earnestly soliciting at the door. I pictured primness and stiffness and pursed lips and arched eyebrows.

I never imagined life to the full.

But that's what I'm discovering: a world vast, and beautiful, and holy, and that all along has been hidden in plain sight.

Why don't you come in here with me, and see for yourself?

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (March 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 084990174X
• ASIN: B0013L4DK8
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #443,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I began my career as a writer at age 12 - the year a remarkably creative grade 5 teacher awakened in me the possibilities of language and story. I eventually took a degree in writing, but that was simply to refine and hone what I felt compelled to do anyways, whether well or poorly, paid or unpaid, appluaded or scorned.

I ended up, enroute to being a published author, a pastor. My seven books (the 7th is due out February 2012) have so far all come out of that world - though watch in early 2013 for a novel. (For the record, I'm not the Mark Buchanan who writes science books).

I enjoy hearing from readers, even when they take issue with something I've written. It lets me know that, at least, the line hasn't gone dead at that end.

Thanks for being one of those readers, even if only in this instance.

Mark Buchanan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeping looking for the good life, March 11, 2007

By 

Mel Lawrenz (Brookfield, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hidden in Plain Sight: The Secret of More (Hardcover)

It is always so helpful when an author points his finger at a passage of Scripture that has probably gone unnoticed by most of us, but is a treasure that has been waiting all along. Buchanan accomplishes that in his explication of a detailed statement on living in the good in 2 Peter. Inside is a list of virtues based on authentic faith--so they are not merely good intentions, but real virtues. The book is a pleasure to read, moving between vivid storytelling and principle.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 Stars...Deceptively Light, May 27, 2007

By 

Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hidden in Plain Sight: The Secret of More (Hardcover)

With his fifth book, Buchanan proves to be one of the best Christian authors you've never heard of. He writes with humor and grace. He makes a lofty promise in "Hidden in Plain Sight," offering "the secret of more." More what? More rules to Christian living?

Buchanan states up front that this book is about practicing virtue. However, he quickly sidesteps Victorian stereotypes and invites us to explore dark, haunting, beautiful, and life-changing truths contained in a few verses from II Peter. He leads us through these precepts, connecting the dots of virtue, building one upon the other, until we have a clear picture of what it means to have godly love. Along the way, Buchanan gives us insights into this outspoken disciple. Peter is more human than we remember--and more godly than we might assume. Peter shows us an example of what to do and what not to do.

Buchanan uses this example to great effect. He offers hope for those who feel discouraged in their Christian progress, as well as correction for those who have lost their focus, or become spiritual workaholics. He raises questions. He deals honestly with life's difficulties. In a deceptively light 200 pages, he gives meaty bites of practical theology, bites that require thorough chewing to produce the most efficient nourishment. Don't rush through these pages. Mull them over. Enjoy each savory word picture. These concepts are ones to live by.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He makes the hard look easy, April 2, 2007

By 

William Russell - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hidden in Plain Sight: The Secret of More (Hardcover)

Mark Buchanan is my favorite author for a solid reason. He tackles tough subjects ... here taking on the whole subject of godliness (not real trendy), yet he always captures my imagination and propels me toward more lofty goals with his vivid writing. His real life examples are gripping. I can relate to this writer. And I end up better as a human and closer to God for the journey. After "Holy Wild," "Your God is Too Safe" and "The Rest of God" I wondered if he might lose steam. No way. I can't wait for the next book.