We Make the Road by Walking

Having a friend with bi- polar disorder, I experienced seeing her highs and lows. I wanted to talk with her about what she could do herself to minimize her times of crisis. I thought the author covered the 4 main areas that not only were helpful for someone with bi-polar disorder but with any depression in general. I told my friend about SNAP and she was intrigued to read this book for herself. The author was very helpful to also provide great links to resources for anyone who has or knows someone with no-polar disorder. I highly recommend this book to both someone wanting to maintain control of their bi-polar disorder, or someone who wants to walk along side them to provide helpful support. I received this title free for review and offer my honest review.

This is a perfect book for a church group or book group who wants to go a little deeper into the seasons of Christian discipleship. Not a book to be devoured immediately, but where each chapter can be meditated on and help start a conversation.

Lots of valuable insight for personal use, but wouldn't seem to work for the group dynamic of erratically meeting book groups.

Brian McLaren has been one of the most influential people in my spiritual life over the last decade. He’s the founding pastor of the church I attend whenever I’m back in the States (Cedar Ridge Community Church) and, starting with his A New Kind of Christian trilogy, his books have had a huge impact on my life. He and Marcus Borg are probably the only reason I still consider myself ‘Christian’. A New Kind of Christianity is still McLaren’s magnum opus, but in terms of his most practical books, this one is right up there with Finding Our Way Again and Naked Spirituality. And, as with all of his books, this one is well-organized and erudite but also poetic and impassioned.

One title McLaren originally considered for his new book was “Catechesis,” which reveals what he’s hoping for it to be – a thorough, methodical introduction to Christian faith in daily practice. It’s set up in 52 sections and thus can be read as a weekly devotional. The goal is ‘aliveness,’ an interesting word that I think captures the universal longing for spiritual thriving. This book would certainly be an excellent resource for new Christians, but I agree with McLaren that for disillusioned religious folk, it should also provide a perfect “reorientation from a fresh and healthy perspective.”

The chapters roughly follow the Church calendar and the biblical chronology, and each opens with one to four recommended Bible passages. The balance of references shifts as the book progresses: in the first section, dwelling on Creation (plus crisis, calling, captivity and conquest), there is usually one from the Old Testament and two from Psalms or the New Testament. The second part of the book, coinciding with Advent, incorporates passages from the Prophets, Gospels and Epistles. A third section, leading through Lent and Easter to the Ascension, relies primarily on close reading (or lectio divina) of the Gospel story, and encourages readers (“we”) to imagine themselves into the Passion story. The fourth and last part, inspired by the post-Pentecost spiritual life of the Church, mostly draws on Wisdom Literature and the Epistles.

In two of my favorite passages, McLaren discusses the Tree of Life as a symbol of the quest for aliveness and emphasizes the importance of keeping Herod in Christmas – remembering the ways in which institutional violence keeps the poor oppressed and reminding us that the kingdom of God has not yet come. I also loved this anti-prosperity Gospel declaration: “The Spirit leads us downward” into humble service, rather than raising us up.

I had access to an ARC through NetGalley, but made no attempt to sit down and read this book the whole way through. That is because I firmly believe that would not be how it is meant to be read. I would need a paper copy of my own to read deliberately and meditatively. For one thing, it needs to be read in community, even if that’s just a book club with one other person. The Bible readings and discussion questions should not be thought of as optional. For another thing, I think the book does indeed lend itself to being read over one Church year – not as some alternative program to reading the whole Bible through in a year (thankfully, by carefully selecting its passages, it skips the long slog of books like Leviticus), but as a reintroduction to the basics of the Christian story.

“We make the road by walking” is a phrase McLaren encountered from Paulo Freire, a Brazilian philosopher. I think it’s a beautiful way of thinking about faith. We rarely see the road clearly ahead of us, but as we take small steps forward, using the skills we already have and inhabiting the story we are already a part of, our way emerges. “You are not finished yet. You are ‘in the making.’ You have the capacity to learn, mature, think, change, and grow. You also have the freedom to stagnate, regress, constrict, and lose your way. Which road will you take?”