Friday, December 07, 2007

The Irresistible Revolution, by Shane Claiborne

This book challenged me in ways I am still working to digest.
It is forcing me to really look into my core and decide if I am living the life I truly believe.
How much courage and conviction do I have to live life the way I believe it should be lived?
I do not identify as Christian, but reading quotes from the Bible in this context have made me rethink my relationship to Jesus and Christianity. I am not sure where this is leading, but it is interesting to ponder.
Some quotes...
147 For us, belief is only the beginning. What really matters is how we live, how what we believe gets fleshed out...
149 We need converts in the best sense of the word, people who are marked by the renewing of their minds and imaginations, who no longer conform to the pattern that is destroying our world. 150 Conversion is not an event but a process, a process of slowly tearing ourselves from the clutches of the culture.
163 Simplicity is meaningful only inasmuch as it is grounded in love, authentic relationships, and interdependence.
167 The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away.
What I am struggling most with in all of my readings is the need for community. Claiborne's whole premise is that life is based in community, that we will only all prosper in community. Right now, I do not have a community engaged in these thoughts or work. I am unsure how to find it. I guess if I begin to live the life I want, the community and I will find each other.


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