How can you not like a book that begins in the prologue with this quote?
It is about a God of surprises, of One who comes in ordinary and the seamy. It is about a God who will goose you. It is about mystical moments when clearly the only thing that finally matters is this God who will never leave us alone, especially in the ordinary and angular places of life. It is, I hope, a spirituality for unspiritual people.
A God that will goose you… what a refreshing picture. This book, Earthy Mysticism by Tex Sample is a breath of fresh air. What it inspired me again was the idea that there is a God of surprises, a God who deals with the icky affairs of life. It reminds me that the Old Testament is akin more to a modern day soap opera than the highly refined religiousness that we like to imprint on it. And that is my life and the lives of those around me.
Tex shares stories of his life that hint at the tragedy and injustices and hopes and dreams that real life is made of.
The sub title for this book is titled, “Spiritually for Unspiritual People”. If one thing that I am convinced of is that there are very few spiritual people. Come on, let’s just admit the reality, we are unspiritual people. The life stories represented in this book rekindles the hope for a spirituality that would come regardless of my deservedness. A spirituality that is and intersects life in unexpected places.
Tex shares a story about the height of the civil rights movement. He tells his experience of joining Martin Luther King on his march from Selma to Montgomery. This story is amazing, a must read for sure. Another chapter ends like this…
Protest implies that the world is meant to be different. The world is not created for futility and death. It is not a place finally of cynicism and despair. The silence and absence of God point to a different destiny, a different aim for the world. Death, bondage and alienation do not have the last word. The world doe snot end that way. In this strange and paradoxical sense, I see God’s grieving, absent Silence as good news.
That is good news that we need to hear more from.
Out of the desert and into the Sun... 