Friday, September 29
Two sorts of traveler...
I'm in a book club on Tuesday mornings...7:30 am...Church of Panera is what we call it. What a great time each week...(you really should find something like this where you live...it's a highlight of my week)We are beginning a new book this coming Tuesday... Simply Christian by N.T. Wright. I've heard great things about Wright, but have never read anything by him. That appears to be my loss.
He begins on page one..."There are two sorts of traveler...
The first sets off in the general direction of the destination and is quite happy to figure things out on the way, to read the signposts, ask directions, and muddle through.
The second wants to know in advance what the road will be like, where it changes from a country road to a busy multilane highway, how long it will take to complete the different sections, and so on."
In the literal sense...give me a destination and general direction and I'm good to go...(that would explain my tendency to feel like a trip hasn't been good unless I've uncovered some 'timeless treasure' on a backroad somewhere in southern Indiana.)
In the spiritual sense...I think the first 30 years of my life was spent as the 'second sort of traveler'. Tell me exactly how far, exactly how long it will take, etc. It was always about the answers, always about knowing for sure...
Somewhere around 30 I learned that the questions meant far more to me than the answers... I learned, spiritually speaking, that uncovering 'timeless treasures' on the first sort of road was sadly missing from my faith in God.
Or as Frederick Buechner writes..."Faith is homesickness. Faith is a lump in the throat. Faith is less a position on than a movement toward…"
shalom
Mark Nelson at 9:50 PM 3comments
3 Comments
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at 12:26 PM
said... Yes, I'm the first comment again. No shame.
Your new book has been a pleasant surprise to me. I wish I were there to go through it with you guys. I bought it several months ago and it was a good read. Now, for the 245th time...
Eugene Peterson's "eat this book." Simply great.-
at 2:53 PM
Clinton said... "in the world of rabbinic education, the focus was on questions, which demonstrated that the student not only understood the information but could then take the subject a step further..."
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at 9:32 AM
said...
Happy Belated Birthday!