Waging Peace: One Soldier’s Story of Putting Love First by Diana Oestreich
I’ve read so many good books this summer that i didn’t think it was possible to read one more. This invitation to read this book from a class I am taking at Houghton College. It resonated for me because like the author I was a military medic though in a different war. Like the author I too was conflicted about killing for my country. It was counter to all I had been taught and what I believed. This gripping story of conversion is a must read.
Finding wholeness and holiness from a cranky and beautiful woman
Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint by Nadia Bolz-Weber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have now read three of her books this summer. She’s an incredible author who really speaks to me and my understanding of God and creation. She has forced me out of some of my comfort zones and challenged me to think in new ways. I recommend her to anyone. There will be some who will be put off by her profanity. As Mark Twain proclaimed, “profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.” In that spirit Nadia Bolz-Weber’s writing is a call to conversion for those of us more at home with profanity than pious ‘church speak.’
Called to be a Franciscan
In the past year I’ve looked more and more what it is to be called to be a Secular Franciscan. I was professed into the order in April of 2002 and since then I’ve grown in fits and starts. What is it that I’m called to be? Am I to be a pious “stick in the mud?” I hope not. As a Secular Franciscan I’m called to live the Gospel and to move from “Gospel to life” and “life to the Gospel.” That’s a tall order most of the time, but that’s the ideal. I’m blessed to be a member of the Secular Franciscan Order and refer to myself as the “least of the brothers.” I’m drawn to shrines, monasteries, quiet chapels and working with people. My heart breaks when I’m confronted with injustice. Being a Franciscan is a blessing of tremendous consequence in my life.
United by their vocation as “brothers and sisters of penance” and motivated by the dynamic power of the gospel, let them conform their thoughts and deeds to those of Christ by means of that radical interior change which the gospel calls “conversion.” Human frailty makes it necessary that this conversion be carried out daily.
My life is one of conversion and each day I become a little more converted. I can live with that. A simple daily walk of conversion that has produced a radical interior change. Not perfect. Perfection is not the mark of the creator. Imperfection is a blessing bestowed by God.