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65 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it, May 28, 2008
So, all in all, I loved Finding Our Way Again. Loved it. Been carrying it around, sneaking pages when I could... I think I want to make it the text for our Life in the Way of Jesus theology pub, the one designed to introduce folks in our church to the disciplines. Not because the book itself is an exhaustive treatment of spiritual disciplines, but because in the whole sense of "If you want some people to build a boat, don't give them the plans, give them a love of the sea" this book will, I think, give people a passion for Christianity as a way of life which includes a set of common practices that enrich us, change us, and form us.
First, the quibble, then the good stuff.
The book is heavy on seeing commonality between the spiritual practices of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Our beliefs about many things, most notably the person of Jesus, may divide us in some senses, but Brian brings out at the beginning and end of the book the fact that when it comes to practices like prayer, fasting, sabbath, reading/meditating on/memorizing the Scriptures, we have much in common. I asked him why he emphasized this and he gave me two reasons- 1st, the editor of the series asked him to. But second, Brian says he's an evangelist at heart. His desire is to tell everyone who wants to hear it about Jesus. In his mind, emphasizing our commonalities leads to friendships and relationships... and those are the lines along which the Gospel flows best. Imagine trying to talk to your Muslim neighbor about Jesus. Sound tough?
Now imagine trying to have the same conversation after you have shared meals together, walked and talked about how you pray, what things you pray for, how you try to order your life around times of fasting and sabbath... Makes it a bit easier.
The third reason this emphasis, which Brian didn't mention but that the book makes clear is Brian's desire to see peace reign in the world. The last words of the book:
"What if there is a treasure hidden in the field of our three great monotheisms, long buried but waiting to be rediscovered? And what if the treasure is a way... a way that can train us to stop killing and hating and instead to work together, under God, joining God, to build a better world, a city of God? What if our suffering and fear are not intended to inspire deadly cycles of defense and counterattack in a vain search for peace through domination, but instead, what if they can serve to break and soften us like a plowed field after rain so that the seed of God's kingdom- a few notes of God's eternal harmony- can grow within us and among us?
This is my hope. And this is our hope. Amen."
I was actually looking forward to writing a completely positive review of this book, but that last little bit, while I agree completely with the end goal of peace, is lacking so much the active ingredient of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, that it feels... not just incomplete, but actually off the mark. Do I want Christians, Muslims and Jews to (as Bono and the bumper stickers suggest) "coexist"? Absolutely? Do I think the way to accomplish that is through a focus on shared spiritual disciplines? Well, it certainly couldn't hurt. But simply focusing on our commonalities isn't enough- not without dealing with the one, huge, undeniable difference between us.
Our hope isn't shared practice- our hope is Jesus.
But...
I think that within the context of this book, and his desire to see us stop the suicidal spiral of violence and hatred, what Brian says makes sense- I might have said it differently, sure...
Other than really that last paragraph, I just ate this book up. McLaren begins by talking through why spiritual practices matter- "Spiritual practices are a way of exercising intention regarding the kinds of people we are becoming at every turn."
He moves through the origins of spiritual practice, and into practicing the way of Jesus. "I am a follower of Jesus," he writes." My spiritual formation has taken place in a Christian context. That's not to say I haven't learned from and been inspired by Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Native Peoples, atheists, and others. But it is to say (in the language of Anne Lamott) that I am at heart a Jesus-y person, and my view of God and spiritual practices has most deeply been formed in the context of the life, message , and mission of this Galilean Jew who is seen by many Jews and all Muslims as a great man and uniquely gifted prophet, and confessed by Christians as the Savior of the world...
By a new kingdom, Jesus meant a new way of life, a new arrangement and set of values, a new order and a new array of priorities and commitments, a new vision of peace and how to achieve it. It was, in short, a new way that called for new practices."
From there McLaren talks about the idea that practicing disciplines in small ways and areas that don't matter much makes a big difference when it comes to those make-or-break moments and the areas that really do matter. His chapter on "Practice Makes Possible" was so dang good, I gave a pdf of it to our elders (who loved it) and used it as a starting point for discussing how our communal practices form and shape us.
The next few chapters are taken up with contemplative, communal and missional practices- a three-fold distinction I found particularly helpful, especially the discussion of communal practices. It's trendy to talk these days about abandoning formal community for being a free-range Christian who hangs out and talks spirituality with a few close buddies... McLaren doesn't exactly "take on that" idea- but the picture he presents of a community sharing a rhythm and disciplines together which then launch them out into mission is so appealing, so attractive... it brings the pain and struggle of community into perspective and, in a sense, shows how "worth it" it can be.
The book's final third is spent discussing the ancient, three-fold ways of katharsis, fotosis and theosis... basically, and ancient way of looking at spiritual growth and maturity that I found fascinating, both for its focus on, not step by step instructions, but concrete spiritual practices and mindsets that lead to growth- and again- not the instant growth of the new and trendy- which often fades as the novelty does, but the slow steady growth of good habits and practice that eventually, over years, bears the kind of fruit we all want and helps us be the kinds of people we dream of being.
Again- I loved this book and highly recommend it. There's not only enough in here to drive the heretic hunters batty, but also enough to move you into thinking about your own spiritual practices, your own journey with God and ultimately, how your disciplines, and the disciplines you commit to with your community can form and transform not just you, but all those around you.
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Walking the proved paths, June 15, 2008
Brian McLaren never ceases to amuse me because he keeps on popping up in unexpected places and writing/speaking of unexpected topics. This time, he is speaking of the ancient spiritual practices or spiritual disciplines of the ancient church. However, I am not surprised because I see the coming convergence of the ancient-evangelical future church movement, the missional ecclesiology, and the emerging church movement.
I find McLaren's thesis for this book important for all Christians, if only they will stop criticising him long enough to listen to what he has to say. It was in the first chapter that he dropped the bombshell. He was telling a story about him conducting an interview with Dr. Peter Senge (father of systems theory and author of The Fifth Discipline). Senge was saying that in any bookstore, the best selling books will be on how to get rich and the second will be on Buddhism. Why Buddhism? Senge replied "I think it's because Buddhism presents itself as a way of life, and Christianity presents itself as a system of belief.'
McLaren went on to explain that what is important is not either/or but both/and. Christianity needs a system of belief and a way of life or else it is not relevant. It will not give to what people are searching for today. McLaren suggests that we (Christians) have to rediscover our faith as a way of life, shaped and strengthened by ancient practices (p.6).
In any discussion about the ancient practices, one usually comes to the contemplative versus the active life or the Mary/Martha conflict. McLaren's solution was rather simplistic in that he lumps it all in a circle and place it in heaven and earth. What he did was to repeat what Ignatius of Loyola was teaching the Jesuit during the counter-Reformation times of Martin Luther: the sacredness of the everyday life. This was also the teachings of other Christian mystics such as Margery Kempe. Recently discovered by the Protestants, it is now strongly advocated by Richard Foster, Diana Bass and Phyllis Tickle. The way of the Christian life is to be both active and contemplative at the same time.
As in other McLaren's books, I learned a number of new words to the English language such as `open-source spirituality' which McLaren use to mean Christians learning and mentoring from each other; `faithing our practices'; `otherliness' (mean love); and this memorable quote from Doug Pagitt "preaching without speeching."
This is a good introductory book to Christian spirituality and Christian spiritual disciplines. It is highly readable, written in McLaren's conversational style with lots and lots of stories to illustrate his points.
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28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Thoughts along "the Way" for the spiritually mature, September 8, 2008
One of the earliest terms with which early followers of Jesus described themselves was that they were followers of "the Way." Many of us who are engaging in a new-found spiritual sense or who are trying to jump the spiritual wagon wheel rut we have been in look first for a "way," a process, or a list of ingredients to follow.
"The Ancient Practices" series from Thomas Nelson publishing seeks to aid people who are seeking a refresher course on some of the older spiritual practices of Christianity (and possibly of all the Abrahamic faiths). "Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices" by Brian McLaren seeks to be the introductory guide to this burgeoning series.
McLaren is overt about his belief that these ancient practices are not solely the property of the Christian faith, but are rather shared in common by the three Abrahamic faiths: Christianity, Islam, and Judaisim. It is for that reason that I will not be reviewing this book as a Christian book per-se, but as a devotional guide for members of all three of these faiths written by one who identifies with Christianity.
In this introduction, McLaren introduces several spiritual practices in the hopes that the reader will find a new sense of spiritual life and open the possibilities of that person's life. "Practice (or exercise) may not make us perfect," McLaren comments, "but...it does make currently impossible things possible." (p. 46). McLaren's point is that these practices do not in of themselves create a spiritually wise person, but that they are good habits to pick up which will promote a more spiritually healthy life. In other words, these practices won't buy you the gym membership, but they are good things to try out while you're there.
At the end of every chapter, there are a list of questions which seek to elicit responses from the reader. These questions are generally good introspective looks at how one has previously been practicing religion, and how a new set of practices may build upon one's religious life.
McLaren's writing is a clear 1st person testimony of one who has attempted to include many of these practices in his own life. He seeks to take the role of mentor, someone who has gone before with successes and failures, in order to explain the coming path.
The last few chapters are riddled with McLaren's own imaginary mentor, an old abbess, who seeks to show him a way of spirituality that involves catharsis (letting things go), illumination (new things being brought to light), and theosis (coming into a "oneness" with the divine). It is through her imagined conversation with McLaren that one comes to point of the book, that practices can and do affect our lives and our awareness of spiritual realities.
As an ordained Lutheran pastor, however, I was disappointed in a few things about McLaren's book theologically. McLaren seems to open the door of "spirituality" wide enough for those of all three Abrahamic faiths in for the party. While I do not quibble with the ideas that Jews as well as Christians and Muslims practice a Sabbath, I do believe that a Sabbath without God's complete word including the divinity and sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin - is really no more than an empty day off. For this theological reason, I cannot recommend McLaren's book as primary material for those who are looking into beginning these practices. Practices without Jesus are empty, just as those who have books and do not read them are as empty as those who cannot read.
My church affirms Martin Luther's teaching to speak well of our neighbor and "put the best construction on everything," (Small Catechism, Explanation of the 8th Commandment). I have found that I can say some positive things about McLaren's work. "Finding Our Way Again," seeks to promote disciples in disciplines that have been lost by quite a few in our culture. Early Christians did take the Abrahamic practices of prayer, fasting, Sabbath, common meals, pilgrimage, the observance of holidays and tithing from the people of Israel. For this reason, we do well to follow suit and ask ourselves how these practices might form us as disciples of Jesus Christ as they formed disciples from the earliest of days.
"Finding Our Way Again" could benefit the spiritually mature in Christ Jesus in finding some new things to add to their "spiritual workout," perhaps some things that we have left in our collective pasts for too long.
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