 |
|||||
Reviewed by Andrew D. Kinsey, Senior Pastor of Community United Methodist Church in Vincennes, Indiana. Longing for Enough in a Culture of More by Paul L. Escamilla Fred Craddock is right: Please read this book slowly! In fact, please find a quiet room and ponder what Paul Escamilla has to say. Here is a book that deserves a careful, even prayerful, reading, and that reminds us all to slow down and listen to the voice of wisdom, a voice that speaks to the depths of our minds and hearts. Here is a person who is on a journey and invites us the rest of us to come along. Paul Escamilla is the Senior Pastor of Spring Valley United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. His book Longing for Enough in a Culture of More is a series of sermon-like reflections and meditations on the Christian life. Throughout, there is an extended invitation to probe the depths of God’s love and to examine the wonders of the journey of faith. Again and again, there is the summons to take the plunge and bask in the mystery of the Spirit’s promptings, especially as they pertain to The Good Book, The Good Life, The Good Work, The Good Society, and The Good Earth. A vast array of topics waits thoughtful consideration. This is a helpful little book. Clergy and laity will find in it much to consider. In a highly consumerist culture, there is a great deal to examine as persons ask questions about what constitutes having “enough”: How much is enough? How do we find rest and peace for anxious hearts? How do we discover a depth of being in a society always bent on “doing” and “having” more? For persons who are searching and exploring what the next step in the journey of faith is, this book will provide an instructive pathway to growth by someone who has also “been there and done that.” And what they will receive is not an indicting finger but a gentle and persuasive hand. For pastors in the grip of busy schedules and crammed calendars, this book can also serve as a helpful stimulus for sermon preparation. The turn of phrase and topics of consideration give pastors and other leaders much food for thought. It is also a book that persons in the local church can use in small groups, or classes, or even retreats. In fact, a helpful study guide is available at www.cokesbury.com/teachablebooks. Escamilla has written a delightful book for use across the church. He has written a book that deals with the problems of what it means to live with a sense of peace and contentment in a culture that defines worth and purpose in terms of having more stuff – and not simply having more stuff but of doing more things as well. Therefore, as a way to capture this struggle, it is good to let Escamilla speak for himself, letting the Spirit move where it wills: “When we’re longing for this, that, and the other, chances are what we are really longing for is a sense of enough. And when we are longing for enough, odds are what we are really longing for is the One who longs for us as well, longs to be our sufficiency from cradle to grave. This is the One who alone can lighten our appetites, order our longings, and bring our restless hearts the one thing for which they are practically engineered to yearn: rest in God” (p. 40).
|
