Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli

Author:Mike Yaconelli
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2020-03-13T00:00:00+00:00

A young college girl with a past meets the Jesus of the present. As with the woman at the well, nothing had changed and everything had changed. Abuse was still part of her past, but hope was now part of her present. I can see her saying to her friends, see a man who liberated me from my past.” As messy as this woman’s past had been, she was now free to seek the spiritual life.

5

Odd Discipleship

The Consequence of a Lopsided Spirituality

Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.

Parker Palmer,

Let Your Life Speak

When artists discover as children that they have inappropriate responses to events around them, they also find, as they learn to trust those responses, that these oddities are what constitute their value to others.

Kathleen Norris,

The Cloister Walk

He got all “A’s” and flunked life.

Walker Percy

It is not going to be easy to listen to God’s call. Your insecurity, your self-doubt, and your great need for affirmation make you lose trust in your inner voice and run away from yourself. But you know that God speaks to you through your inner voice and that you will find joy and peace only if you follow it.

Henri Nouwen,

The Inner Voice of Love

One of my favorite stories is about a boy named Norman in Robert Fulghum’s book Uh-Oh.

Remember in elementary school when the teacher would announce the spring play? Every student’s hand would shoot into the air volunteering to be one of the characters. Of course, the choice characters would be handed out first. In Fulghum’s book, Norman’s teacher announced the play for the year—Cinderella. Chaos ensued as a sea of arms waved wildly, each student trying to get the teacher’s attention. “I want to be Cinderella!” every girl yelled. “I want to be the handsome prince!” the boys shouted. Realizing that not everyone could have the same part, the students soon erupted into urgent requests for other parts. “I want to be the wicked stepmother!” “I want to be an ugly stepsister!” Somehow the teacher was able to wade through all the requests, and soon everyone was assigned a part.

Except for Norman. Norman was a quiet young man who didn’t talk much in class. He wasn’t shy or bashful; he just didn’t feel like talking a lot of the time. Talking about nothing was a waste of time to Norman; he talked only when he had something to say. Norman had a mind of his own and was perfectly comfortable just being himself.

Concerned because there weren’t any characters left (even though she had made up many extra parts) and knowing Norman very well, the teacher said, “Norman, I’m afraid all the main parts have been taken for Cinderella. I’m sure we can find an extra part for you. What character would you like to be?”

Norman didn’t hesitate. “I would like to be the pig,” he declared.

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