Spotting the Sacred

D. Main Bruce

Description

Most people these days are overwhelmed by the busyness of life, and so they often miss the little evidences of God's presence and activity around them. In contrast, Jesus led a full life but never hurried. He took time to notice his surroundings, and he often saw and then pointed out great spiritual truths in the everyday experiences of life. Using Jesus as a model, Bruce Main explores the act of noticing as a means for spiritual growth. Filled with engaging, often poignant stories that illustrate acts of godly virtue, Spotting the Sacred will challenge and encourage readers to go through their day more attuned to God's work in their lives and the lives of others.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781585585069
• Langue: English

Extrait

Bruce Main writes out of a wealth of experience coming from years of ministry in one of the desperately needy cities in America. He is a master storyteller and biblical scholar, and in this book he is at the top of his game.
Tony Campolo, professor emeritus of sociology, Eastern University
Bruce Main has learned to look beyond the sacred page to discover what God is doing in the world around him. And what he has found in his looking is exciting stuff. This is a book for all of us who need help in spotting the sacred.
Richard J. Mouw, president and professor of Christian philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary
Bruce Main has offered all of us a generous gift-the reminder to notice God at work through ordinary people living in extraordinary ways. The eyes of my heart have been opened and I am truly grateful.
Dr. Stephen Macchia, president, Leadership Transformations, Inc.; author, Becoming a Healthy Church , Becoming a Healthy Disciple , and Becoming a Healthy Team
Bruce Main is a storyteller. Always has been. That s why so many people, including me, have been drawn to his life-changing ministry in Camden, New Jersey. In Spotting the Sacred , Bruce turns his storytelling to the spiritual discipline of notice. I didn t know it was a spiritual discipline either, but it is. Bruce tells us why and why we should embrace it as our own. I loved the book and encourage you to read it with your eyes wide open.
Jon R. Wallace, president, Azusa Pacific University
The rich and wonderful gift of spiritual wisdom from Bruce found in Spotting the Sacred , written from the crucible of decades of serving Christ in an extremely complex urban setting, serves as a practical guide for all of us seeking to walk with God each day. Bruce has given the church a gift. Thank you!
Peter Scazzero, senior pastor, New Life Fellowship Church; author, Emotionally Healthy Church
SPOTTING the SACRED
Noticing God in the Most Unlikely Places
BRUCE MAIN
2006 by Bruce Main
Published by Baker Books a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakerbooks.com
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-for example, electronic, photocopy, recording-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Main, Bruce. Spotting the sacred : noticing God in the most unlikely places / Bruce Main. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 10: 0-8010-6631-X (pbk.) ISBN 978-0-8010-6631-3 (pbk.) 1. Christian life. I. Title. BV4501.3.M247 2006 248.4-dc22
2006000296
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture marked NASB is taken from the New American Standard Bible , Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture marked NLT is taken from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture marked NRSV is taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture marked TNIV is taken from the Holy Bible, Today s New International Version Copyright 2001 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Living stories worthy of notice, continually-
Pamela Burgess Main-
for letting me ride in your wake of spontaneity,
thank you.
C ONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Beginning the Practice of Notice
2. Jesus and the Practice of Notice
3. Love Noticed
4. Gratitude Noticed
5. Children Noticed
6. Compassion Noticed
7. Courage Noticed
8. Contrition Noticed
9. Faith Noticed
10. Sacrifice Noticed
11. The Unnoticed Noticed
12. Conclusion: Praying with Our Eyes Open
Notes
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
F or daily reminders of courage, hope, and perseverance, I thank the children, teens, and families of Camden, New Jersey.
For daily glimpses of commitment, sacrifice, and passion for justice, I thank the community of faith at UrbanPromise Ministries.
For the constant sounds of laughter and joy, I thank my children, Calvin, Erin, and Madeline.
For providing our family with a steady diet of divinely inspired moments and for her intuitive sense of God s prompting, I thank my wife, Pamela.
And to my friend, critic, and editor, Paul Keating: thanks for your willingness to review my stories.
My life is enriched by the witness of all your lives. May this book in some small way share this gift with others.
I NTRODUCTION
We must also keep our eyes open for the saints of our own culture. Their witness will be close enough to our concerns, or what should be our concerns, to leave us uncomfortable with our spiritual compromises.
Charles Hoffacker
I wonder if you can relate to my dilemma: life has become somewhat of a blur.
Not that I am complaining. My life is full-family, friends, a job. But events and happenings seem to occur so rapidly that I have little time to ponder their significance and their meaning for my life. Information comes in torrents, not trickles. It is hard to know what to process, what to digest, and what-if anything-can add spiritual value to my life. I think I am becoming a little numb, especially when bombarded by all the bad news in the media.
Am I missing something?
If I take the time to scratch beneath the surface of the bad news or to reflect more deeply on the events of my life, will I have an opportunity to discover something more life-giving and spiritually enriching? If I really take the time to notice what is going on around me, will I find opportunities to discover a glimpse of God s presence?
S ISTER H ELEN N OTICED
The front-page New York Times article was doubly depressing because it was about the city in which I work. Camden, New Jersey, was described in dismal and frightening detail as the most dangerous city in America: more murders, aggravated assaults, rapes, and violent crimes per capita than any other city. This small, postindustrial, East Coast city of eighty thousand had again beat out East St. Louis, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; and Flint, Michigan, for the dubious honor. The reporter honed in on drug trafficking, gangs, and urban blight through paragraphs four, eight, and twelve.
But then, buried in the middle of the piece, the name Sister Helen Cole caught my eye. I blinked twice. Three times. Why was a Catholic sister being mentioned in an article about crime and violence? A Nun s Blessing, announced the new paragraph, and then it continued to tell about a notorious neighborhood where there lives a nun attuned to another reality. The reporter talked of a woman who did not run from her neighborhood but instead walks with care and love. She had not shut herself away in a cloister; instead, to the surprise of the reporter, Sister Helen lives among the suffering and brokenness of her neighborhood, absorbing the pain of those who have lost themselves in the violence. She said, I enjoy taking away pain. I hold out my hands and tell people, give me your pain, put it in my hands, let it go. 1 It is a process called companioning -an ancient practice of bearing the burdens of those who are overwhelmed with grief and sorrow.
Not only was the reporter amazed by Sister Helen s capacity to companion , but he continued by describing how this nun walks the streets of North Camden blessing the sidewalks where people s lives have been stolen through violence. Sister Helen sprinkles holy water, lights a candle, and prays that these defiled places become holy ground.
The idea of taking something ordinary (like a slab of concrete, a weed-strewn field, or a street corner) that had been tainted with evil and praying that it would again become holy seemed revolutionary to me. This kind of spirituality is a little outside my doctrinal box. The thought of a nun walking up and down the streets of my city, sprinkling water on bloodstained sidewalks, and praying for these places was an image of devotion radically new to my sense of faith. But there was Sister Helen expressing her faith in a unique and powerful way-an expression that not only caught my attention but also grabbed the heart and pen of a surprised New York Times reporter. After all, how many of us take the time to think about the spiritual dimensions of our neighborhoods? Most of us see little connection between the sacred and the cement. Sure, we ll quote a Bible verse that reminds us that the earth is the L ORD s and everything in it (Ps. 24:1). But the notion that a strip of sidewalk can be a garden of life or death, a place for evil or good, is one that few of us would ever consider.
As I closed the newspaper, I had to wonder, was this usually unheralded woman a living parable of the good Samaritan? Was she a modern-day example of the woman Jesus noticed in the temple offering all she had to God? Was she a living, breathing, contemporary embodiment of Jesus s command to be merciful (Luke 6:36)? I wondered, had Sister Helen lived in Jesus s neighborhood, would he have elevated her as a person to notice, to watch, to emulate?
The article sparked something inside me. I felt a need to dwell on this unique life and to meet this Sister Helen Cole. I scheduled a visit.
M EETING S ISTER H ELEN
I have come to realize that often my deepest spiritual discoveries can be found in observing the lives of ordinary people who seek to practice their faith in ways that are authentic, truthful, and unheralded. The be