“Occupy Spirituality”–Book review
We invite you to deep listening and deep acting.
Please remember you are not alone. Move from “me” to “we.”
– Bucko and Fox
Occupy Spirituality is a spiritual dialogue between a 72-year-old priest, Rev. Matthew Fox, and a 37-year-old mentor to homeless youth, Adam Bucko.
Elders are only useful if they first listen. Then truly dialogue as equals. Spirit works through the young, not just through the old.
As Thomas Aquinas put it in the thirteenth century, “the experience of God must not be restricted to the few or to the old.”
Prompted by the Occupy movements that have taken place around the globe since 2011, Fox and Bucko talk to each other about how to make a spiritual difference for good in the world.
- How to connect experiences and concepts
- Where to seek the God of life instead of the false god of religion
- What to do next both in and outside of organizations to make a difference
The Aboriginals say that God sings every being into existence, and your job is to find your song and then find how it matches up with other people’s songs, so that you make music together.
It’s not a comfortable read. Sometimes I couldn’t follow their points. Other times I disagreed with their conclusions. And other times I too clearly understood when I would rather not have.
The question is not “Who is angry and why?” but “What are we doing with our anger? What is the most effective use of it?”
But that made it a profitable read because it pushed me out of my comfort zone.
I challenge education that does not lead to creativity, since creativity is what most distinguishes us as a species. There is no excuse for education (or worship) that bores people.
Should you read it, too? If you have any interest in spiritual activism, yes. If you like learning of new outlets for moral outrage, yes. If you want a glimpse inside the hearts of many young people, yes.
I define the priest archetype as being “a midwife of grace” so that means that all of us, when we are doing work that is healthy for others, are priests because we are midwives of grace.
. . . Often it is better to start new “institutions” than to waste one ’s limited time and energy trying to convince dead ones. Jesus said, “Let the dead bury the dead.” You need to be able to smell death. And to smell where new life is also.
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Occupy Spirituality will be available September 3, 2013.
Thanks to Above the Treeline
for the advance review copy of this book
Some of those quotes from the book piqued my interest… Might have to add this to my growing pile!
Well, I’m still not sure exactly what I think about this one. I’d like to see it get a little more editing before it goes into full publication so the strongest points could be more recognized. But it did keep my interest, that’s for sure, and I did learn from it.
The premise sounds interesting, as do the quotes, like Floyd said. I know of a fair number of people around my neck of the woods who would see the title and (a) get really pissed off about the book’s very existence, (b) think it a liberal thing, and (c) wonder what I’m doing with it. Not good reasons for buying a book, but then again – maybe – just maybe -it might make one of those folks think a little bit differently.
I know my *to read* list keeps growing…slow down, folks, and let me get caught up 🙂
I’m not sure exactly why I chose this book myself but yeah, it did make me think a little bit differently. And at least see how others think differently.
I already have more books on my to-read list than I’ll ever have time to read, unless I live to be 200. And Lord, please don’t let me live here that long. ha.
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